Maryland recorded 9,314 seasonally adjusted business applications in September 2026, up from 8,951 in August, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics. This article explains what that number measures, how it compares with the national count, and why it is a signal about entrepreneurship rather than a tally of new companies.
What do the latest figures show?
The Census Bureau released its most recent monthly Business Formation Statistics report on October 14, 2026, covering September. The figures below are seasonally adjusted, which means the Bureau has smoothed out predictable calendar patterns so that one month can be compared with another. They come from the Census Bureau series as republished by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
| Month (2026) | Maryland applications | United States applications |
|---|---|---|
| May | 9,765 | 528,929 |
| June | 9,176 | 533,453 |
| July | 9,121 | 576,264 |
| August | 8,951 | 532,051 |
| September | 9,314 | 534,947 |
As of the October 14 release, the next report, covering October and including an annual update, is scheduled for November 12, 2026.
What counts as a “business application”?
The Census Bureau defines a business application as “an EIN application made predominantly for business purposes.” An EIN, or Employer Identification Number, is a unique nine-digit tax identification number that the Internal Revenue Service assigns to entities. In practice, anyone who starts a company, hires a first employee or opens certain kinds of accounts may need one.
The headline series is a core subset of all EIN applications. According to the series notes, it leaves out applications for tax liens, estates, trusts and certain financial filings, as well as applications from outside the 50 states and the District of Columbia or without state and county location codes. It also excludes some agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting codes, some public administration codes, and certain industries such as private households and civic and social organizations.
The result is a count of paperwork filed, not of storefronts opened. That distinction matters for everything that follows.
How did Maryland move from August to September?
Illustrative arithmetic using the table above shows the size of the changes:
- Maryland, August to September: 9,314 minus 8,951 is 363 additional applications, an increase of about 4.1%.
- United States, August to September: 534,947 minus 532,051 is 2,896 additional applications, an increase of about 0.5%.
- Maryland, May to September: 9,314 compared with 9,765 is 451 fewer applications, a decline of about 4.6%.
Maryland’s September count was equal to roughly 1.7% of the national total (9,314 divided by 534,947). A change of a few hundred applications is small for a state of this size, and monthly series of this kind move up and down. Across the five months shown, Maryland’s count stayed in a fairly narrow band between 8,951 and 9,765.
Why did the national count jump in July?
The national series shows an unusually large swing over the summer. The count rose from 533,453 in June to 576,264 in July, an increase of about 8.0%, then fell to 532,051 in August, a drop of about 7.7%. Maryland did not show the same spike; its count slipped slightly in July, from 9,176 to 9,121.
The data reviewed does not explain the July surge, and no cause should be assumed. What the pattern does show is why analysts prefer to look at several months at a time. A single large month can be followed quickly by a return to the earlier level, and by September the national figure of 534,947 was close to where it stood in May and June.
Is an application the same as a new business with employees?
No. Many applications come from people who never hire anyone, and some never become active businesses at all. To address this, the Census Bureau publishes two companion measures.
High-propensity business applications
The Bureau describes high-propensity business applications as those “that have a high-propensity of turning into businesses with payroll.” It identifies them using details from IRS Form SS-4, the form used to apply for an EIN, such as whether the applicant is a corporation, indicates planned hiring, lists a first date for paying wages, or operates in specified industries. As of the January 2026 monthly release, the Bureau excludes applications associated with internet sales from both the high-propensity series and the corporation applications series, and it updated those definitions across the entire time series.
Projected business formations
The Bureau also publishes projected business formations within four quarters, which it defines as the projected number of employer businesses that originate from business applications within four quarters of the month the application was submitted. An eight-quarter version uses the same approach over a longer window.
Together, these measures help separate a rush of sole proprietors or side ventures from filings that are more likely to lead to payroll. The headline count is the broadest and fastest of the three, which is why it is the one most often quoted.
What does the data not tell Maryland readers?
The business application count leaves out a good deal:
- Closures. It measures arrivals, not exits. A rise in applications says nothing about how many companies shut down in the same period.
- Location of activity. Applications are assigned to places using state and county codes, but a company registered in Maryland may do most of its work elsewhere, and an out-of-state firm may open a Maryland location.
- Quality and size. A one-person consulting practice and a biotech startup each generate one application.
- Revisions. The Bureau’s next release, due November 12, 2026, includes an annual update, so earlier figures may be adjusted.
For a longer-run view of firm births and deaths, the Census Bureau separately publishes its Business Dynamics Statistics, which tracks job creation and destruction, establishment births and deaths, and firm startups and shutdowns each year. The latest data year in that program, according to the Bureau, is 2023, so it trails the monthly series by a wide margin.
A simple way to read the series
Readers who follow the monthly release can apply three habits. First, compare the latest month with the average of the prior few months rather than with a single earlier month. Second, check whether the national and state series moved together, as they did between August and September, or diverged, as they did in July. Third, wait for the annual update before drawing firm conclusions, since the Bureau may revise earlier figures when it publishes it.
What happens after someone applies in Maryland?
An EIN is only one early step. A Maryland entrepreneur who forms a company must also register it with the state, and the process is laid out in this publication’s guide on how to register a business in Maryland. Financing is a separate question, and the state’s offerings are summarized in Maryland state business loan programs explained.
Startups are one part of a larger picture of jobs and trade in the state. The Port of Baltimore by the numbers looks at one of Maryland’s biggest employment anchors, while the September jobs report analysis covers the national labor market that new businesses ultimately feed into.
Reading business application numbers with care
Business applications are among the fastest public indicators of entrepreneurial activity, arriving within weeks of the month they describe. Maryland’s September increase of 363 applications is modest, and the national July spike is a reminder that single months can mislead. The most useful reading looks at several months together, pairs applications with the high-propensity and projected-formation measures, and remembers that an EIN request is the start of a business, not proof that one will open or last.
This article is general information about public data and is not financial or investment advice.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
