Data Report
The Big 4
CA vs NY vs FL vs TX
Business formation, nonprofit sectors, SBA lending, and federal spending compared side-by-side across the four largest US business states. 2024-2026 data.
Sources: U.S. Census BFS, IRS Exempt Organizations BMF, SBA 7(a) FOIA, USASpending.gov, NewFilingAlerts.com
BFS Apps (2025)
2.0M
4 states combined
Nonprofits
586K
IRS BMF registered
SBA 7(a) Loans
117K
FY2020-present
Federal Spending
$1382B
FY2024 combined
Why This Matters
California, New York, Florida, and Texas account for roughly a third of US economic activity. Comparing them side-by-side across business formation, nonprofit sectors, SBA lending, and federal spending reveals fundamentally different economic models. Florida leads in raw business applications, California dominates in nonprofits and federal grant funding, Texas draws the largest SBA loans, and New York punches above its weight in per-capita federal spending. These patterns matter for anyone making decisions about where to start a business, pursue contracts, or allocate investment.
Monthly Business Applications (Census BFS, 2024-2026)
EIN applications by state, unadjusted. Florida leads; Texas and California trade second place.
| Year | CA | NY | FL | TX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 517,133 | 291,884 | 634,356 | 490,959 |
| 2025 | 553,931 | 301,047 | 647,734 | 544,146 |
| 2026 (YTD) | 108,430 | 55,547 | 113,771 | 100,164 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (series BA_BA, unadjusted)
Entity Type Breakdown by State (NewFilings Database)
Florida (6,787 filings), New York (1,000), Texas (203). California coming Q2 2026. LLC share: FL 90%, NY 75.6%.
Source: Palavir NewFilings database (Secretary of State filings). CA not yet indexed.
Key Findings
Florida leads in raw business applications
647,734 Census BFS applications in 2025, ahead of California (553,931), Texas (544,146), and New York (301,047).
California has the most nonprofits
199,740 IRS-registered nonprofits with $540B in total revenue. Texas is second at 151,565. Florida and NY trail at 111K and 123K.
Texas borrowers get the largest SBA loans
Average SBA 7(a) loan in Texas: $729K. California avg: $631K. New York lowest at $370K. TX total approved: $19.76B.
California dominates federal spending
$482.7B in FY2024 federal spending (contracts + grants). Florida $327.8B, NY $260.9B, Texas $310.9B. TX leads in contracts ($86.6B).
Nonprofit Sector Comparison (IRS BMF)
IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File. Top NTEE categories by state.
CA
200K
nonprofits
$540B revenue
NY
123K
nonprofits
$414.9B revenue
FL
112K
nonprofits
$167.2B revenue
TX
152K
nonprofits
$196.9B revenue
Full nonprofit sector breakdown across all 4 states in the complete report
SBA 7(a) Lending Comparison (FY2020-Present)
Loan counts, total approved dollars, and average loan size by state.
CA
42K
loans
$26.2B total
avg $631K
NY
22K
loans
$8.22B total
avg $370K
FL
26K
loans
$14.77B total
avg $557K
TX
27K
loans
$19.76B total
avg $729K
Full SBA lending breakdown with year-by-year trends in the complete report
Federal Spending by State (USASpending.gov, FY2024)
Contracts and grants/other awards. Billions of dollars.
Per-capita spending analysis and full breakdown by award type in the complete report
Head-to-Head Scorecard
Rankings across all six metrics. Lower rank = stronger performance.
| Metric | CA | NY | FL | TX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFS Apps (2025) | 553,931 | 301,047 | 647,734 #1 | 544,146 |
| Nonprofits | 199,740 #1 | 123,297 | 111,704 | 151,565 |
| SBA Loans | 41,504 #1 | 22,213 | 26,494 | 27,103 |
| SBA $ Approved | $26.2B #1 | $8.2B | $14.8B | $19.8B |
| Fed Contracts | $61.4B | $11.9B | $33.1B | $86.6B #1 |
| Fed Grants | $421.3B #1 | $249.0B | $294.7B | $224.3B |
| Overall Rank | #1 | #4 | #2 | #3 |
Full scorecard with weighted rankings and methodology in the complete report
The Bottom Line
California, New York, Florida, and Texas run on fundamentally different economic models. Florida leads in raw business formation but has smaller average company sizes. New York receives the most federal spending per capita but has the slowest business growth. California dominates in total economic output but is losing businesses to other states. Texas grows fastest across nearly every metric.
These are not just geographic differences. They reflect different regulatory philosophies, tax structures, and workforce compositions that produce measurably different outcomes.
Download the Full Report
All six metrics compared. Nonprofit sector breakdowns, SBA lending trends, federal spending by award type, and a weighted head-to-head scorecard. Free, instant access.
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Data products used in this report
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics (series BA_BA, unadjusted), IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, SBA 7(a) FOIA dataset (FY2020-present), USASpending.gov FY2024, Palavir NewFilings database (FL, NY, TX SOS filings).
Report by Palavir LLC. Published March 2026. Terms · Privacy