Florida new business study
Florida is having its biggest year ever for new businesses
518,102 new companies and LLCs registered with the state from January through August 2026, more than in the same months of any earlier year. Here's where they're forming, how many survive, and what Floridians are naming them.
Key findings
- Florida registered 518,102 new corporations, LLCs, partnerships and nonprofits from January through August 2026, the most for those eight months in the state's records. That's up 8.7% from 2025 and 4.7% above the previous high (495,050 in 2023). It also tops the 2021 pandemic boom (482,756) and is 68% above 2019.
- The surge came in spring: March filings ran 17.8% ahead of a year earlier. Summer was close to flat: July +2.4% and August +4.9%.
- 41 of Florida's 67 counties are at record highs for January through August, including Hillsborough (31,972), Lee (17,121), Polk (12,738), Osceola (9,807) and Pasco (9,403). Miami-Dade, the busiest county by far with 98,908, is just under its 2023 high. Broward, Palm Beach and Duval are still below their 2021 peaks.
- Fastest growth from 2025 among counties with at least 1,500 filings: Clay +19.3%, Flagler +19.3%, Citrus +18.6%, Walton +18.2%, Charlotte +17.5%.
- 1 in 18 of this year's new Florida companies (29,578 from January through August) lists the same principal address: one office building on 4th Street North in St. Petersburg used by registered-agent services. That's 65% of Pinellas County's filings and why Pinellas looks like the state's growth leader. Without that address, Pinellas is up 10.4% from 2025, not 27.1%.
- Many don't last: of the 689,907 companies formed in 2023, 47% are still active. Of 2025's, 65% are, so about a third are already inactive.
- Company names follow the trends: 1,244 new companies named for AI through September, already more than all of 2025 (1,100) and up from 76 in 2022. Companies with "peptide" in the name went from 24 in 2024 to 99 in 2025 and 247 so far this year. New solar companies fell from 859 in 2022 to 334 last year.
Statewide, January through August
| Year | New filings, Jan.-Aug. |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 279,577 |
| 2018 | 306,118 |
| 2019 | 308,576 |
| 2020 | 352,041 |
| 2021 | 482,756 |
| 2022 | 473,100 |
| 2023 | 495,050 |
| 2024 | 456,498 |
| 2025 | 476,457 |
| 2026 | 518,102 |
Every county, January through August
| County | 2025 | 2026 | Change | Previous high (year) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 95,431 | 98,908 | +3.6% | 99,782 (2023) | |
| Broward | 49,649 | 51,467 | +3.7% | 60,996 (2021) | |
| Pinellas | 36,000 | 45,756 | +27.1% | 36,000 (2025) | Record |
| Palm Beach | 32,963 | 36,285 | +10.1% | 36,394 (2021) | |
| Orange | 33,307 | 35,140 | +5.5% | 35,612 (2023) | |
| Hillsborough | 29,463 | 31,972 | +8.5% | 29,463 (2025) | Record |
| Lee | 15,924 | 17,121 | +7.5% | 15,984 (2023) | Record |
| Duval | 15,394 | 16,549 | +7.5% | 18,649 (2021) | |
| Polk | 11,252 | 12,738 | +13.2% | 11,575 (2023) | Record |
| Osceola | 9,330 | 9,807 | +5.1% | 9,578 (2023) | Record |
| Pasco | 8,316 | 9,403 | +13.1% | 8,467 (2023) | Record |
| Brevard | 7,930 | 8,976 | +13.2% | 8,228 (2023) | Record |
| Sarasota | 7,891 | 8,386 | +6.3% | 7,912 (2023) | Record |
| Collier | 7,713 | 8,233 | +6.7% | 8,169 (2023) | Record |
| Manatee | 7,642 | 8,190 | +7.2% | 7,642 (2025) | Record |
| Volusia | 7,476 | 8,047 | +7.6% | 7,877 (2023) | Record |
| Seminole | 6,765 | 7,083 | +4.7% | 7,324 (2023) | |
| St. Lucie | 6,118 | 6,895 | +12.7% | 6,521 (2023) | Record |
| Lake | 5,867 | 6,610 | +12.7% | 5,997 (2023) | Record |
| Marion | 5,503 | 6,105 | +10.9% | 5,503 (2025) | Record |
| St. Johns | 5,233 | 6,019 | +15.0% | 5,343 (2023) | Record |
| Escambia | 3,411 | 3,881 | +13.8% | 3,929 (2023) | |
| Leon | 3,228 | 3,646 | +12.9% | 4,754 (2021) | |
| Bay | 3,073 | 3,561 | +15.9% | 3,467 (2023) | Record |
| Alachua | 2,987 | 3,335 | +11.7% | 3,356 (2023) | |
| Okaloosa | 3,042 | 3,243 | +6.6% | 3,420 (2023) | |
| Charlotte | 2,750 | 3,231 | +17.5% | 2,927 (2023) | Record |
| Martin | 2,637 | 2,951 | +11.9% | 2,834 (2023) | Record |
| Clay | 2,459 | 2,934 | +19.3% | 2,765 (2023) | Record |
| Hernando | 2,458 | 2,792 | +13.6% | 2,458 (2025) | Record |
| Santa Rosa | 2,232 | 2,548 | +14.2% | 2,357 (2023) | Record |
| Walton | 2,111 | 2,495 | +18.2% | 2,120 (2023) | Record |
| Indian River | 2,224 | 2,402 | +8.0% | 2,362 (2023) | Record |
| Flagler | 1,808 | 2,157 | +19.3% | 1,927 (2023) | Record |
| Monroe | 1,916 | 1,966 | +2.6% | 2,101 (2022) | |
| Citrus | 1,586 | 1,881 | +18.6% | 1,701 (2023) | Record |
| Nassau | 1,208 | 1,477 | +22.3% | 1,277 (2023) | Record |
| Sumter | 1,162 | 1,346 | +15.8% | 1,162 (2025) | Record |
| Highlands | 1,147 | 1,237 | +7.8% | 1,147 (2025) | Record |
| Columbia | 718 | 849 | +18.2% | 814 (2021) | Record |
| Putnam | 689 | 794 | +15.2% | 756 (2023) | Record |
| Hendry | 674 | 691 | +2.5% | 751 (2024) | |
| Okeechobee | 493 | 575 | +16.6% | 511 (2023) | Record |
| Levy | 552 | 531 | −3.8% | 552 (2025) | |
| Suwannee | 496 | 503 | +1.4% | 496 (2025) | Record |
| Gadsden | 416 | 480 | +15.4% | 829 (2021) | |
| Jackson | 356 | 450 | +26.4% | 468 (2021) | |
| Wakulla | 424 | 441 | +4.0% | 436 (2022) | Record |
| DeSoto | 351 | 336 | −4.3% | 351 (2025) | |
| Gulf | 295 | 290 | −1.7% | 295 (2025) | |
| Baker | 279 | 271 | −2.9% | 279 (2025) | |
| Washington | 267 | 263 | −1.5% | 267 (2025) | |
| Bradford | 209 | 253 | +21.1% | 211 (2023) | Record |
| Hardee | 218 | 242 | +11.0% | 218 (2025) | Record |
| Holmes | 187 | 239 | +27.8% | 233 (2021) | Record |
| Jefferson | 211 | 229 | +8.5% | 211 (2025) | Record |
| Gilchrist | 189 | 204 | +7.9% | 204 (2023) | |
| Madison | 177 | 189 | +6.8% | 189 (2021) | |
| Franklin | 179 | 188 | +5.0% | 221 (2023) | |
| Taylor | 160 | 171 | +6.9% | 204 (2024) | |
| Dixie | 130 | 154 | +18.5% | 147 (2023) | Record |
| Calhoun | 115 | 140 | +21.7% | 133 (2021) | Record |
| Hamilton | 121 | 129 | +6.6% | 127 (2021) | Record |
| Union | 121 | 120 | −0.8% | 121 (2025) | |
| Liberty | 64 | 78 | +21.9% | 65 (2024) | Record |
| Glades | 71 | 68 | −4.2% | 71 (2025) | |
| Lafayette | 33 | 53 | +60.6% | 54 (2023) |
County is the principal address on file. Pinellas includes the St. Petersburg registered-agent address below (29,578 filings in January through August 2026).
One address, 1 in 18 new Florida companies
Registered-agent services let owners anywhere form a Florida company using the agent's address. One office building on 4th Street North in St. Petersburg (ZIP 33702) is now the principal address on file for 29,578 of this year's January-August filings, 5.7% of the state's total and 65% of Pinellas County's. In 2015 the same address appeared on 442 new filings all year.
| Year | New filings at the address |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 442 |
| 2016 | 621 |
| 2017 | 948 |
| 2018 | 1,649 |
| 2019 | 3,753 |
| 2020 | 5,630 |
| 2021 | 11,941 |
| 2022 | 16,457 |
| 2023 | 22,533 |
| 2024 | 25,269 |
| 2025 | 31,952 |
| 2026 (through Sept.) | 33,008 |
Without that address, Pinellas County had 16,178 new filings in January through August 2026, +10.4% from 2025 and +46% from 2019. With it, the county's numbers look like +27.1% and +236%.
How many are still active
| Year formed | New filings | Still active today | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 432,273 | 139,742 | 32% |
| 2019 | 439,184 | 156,386 | 36% |
| 2020 | 530,106 | 185,425 | 35% |
| 2021 | 677,972 | 255,047 | 38% |
| 2022 | 669,435 | 280,273 | 42% |
| 2023 | 689,907 | 322,514 | 47% |
| 2024 | 641,466 | 353,550 | 55% |
| 2025 | 686,213 | 446,984 | 65% |
What new companies are named
| Name contains | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (through Sept.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI (e.g. "... AI LLC", "AI Solutions", "AI Agency") | 76 | 302 | 483 | 1,100 | 1,244 |
| Peptide | 4 | 8 | 24 | 99 | 247 |
| Solar | 859 | 815 | 539 | 334 | 243 |
| Gulf of America | 0 | 2 | 0 | 93 | 14 |
Full calendar years except 2026. "Gulf of America" names appeared after the federal renaming in January 2025.
Questions about this study
Is 2026 really a record year for new Florida businesses?
For January through August, yes: 518,102 new filings, against a previous high of 495,050 in 2023. The full year isn't over, and filings slowed over the summer, so the full-year record isn't settled yet.
Why are these numbers higher than FiledToday's weekly reports?
This study counts every entity in the state's corporate file, as the state records it. Our weekly reports leave out holding and investment companies, filing-service names and addresses shared by many filings (like the St. Petersburg registered-agent address), to show the businesses a local company would actually call on.
Can I use this data?
Yes. It's free to cite or republish with a link to this page. The county table is downloadable below.
Source: Florida Division of Corporations quarterly corporate data file, downloaded October 20, 2026, with filings through late September 2026. Counts include every corporation, LLC, limited partnership and nonprofit (Florida and out-of-state) with a filing date in the period, active or not. County comes from the principal address on file today. Year-to-date comparisons use January through August for every year; the state's file goes back decades, and no earlier January-August had more filings. "Still active" is the entity's status in the file; inactive includes companies dissolved by their owners, merged away, or administratively dissolved by the state (usually for not filing an annual report). Name trends count names containing the term, so they're lower bounds. Download the county data (CSV) · Methodology. Free to cite or republish with a link to this page.
See this week's new businesses with the owner's contact info.
FiledToday sends each weekday's new filings for your county with the owner's phone number and mailing address. Start with a free county sample. No card, no subscription.