How can California’s economy endure the seemingly regular departures of corporate headquarters from the Golden State?

My trusty spreadsheet looked at federal business metrics that show the state’s economy is more than big-name companies, and instead a curious mix of big, small and new enterprises.

Let’s remember the Golden State’s business heft. It had 2 million business establishments as of September 2025, No. 1 among the states and 16% of the nation’s 12.4 million.

So, the loss of a few headquarters isn’t pretty – nor is it a huge dent. After California, Florida’s businesses come in at 892,100, Texas at 854,900, New York at 720,800, and Georgia at 397,200.

And while California is known for its corporate titans, its typical business is actually quite modest.

The state’s average establishment has 9.2 employees, the fifth-smallest staffing among the states. Only Montana (8), Idaho (8.5), Vermont (9), and Wyoming (9.1) have typical businesses with fewer workers.

Contemplate that the national norm is 12.6 workers per establishment, 37% bigger than in California. Texas is tops at 16.4 workers, then Indiana at 16.2, Ohio at 16, Illinois at 15.7 and Pennsylvania at 15.2.

Starting up

No state is more entrepreneurial than California in terms of the number of new businesses it has.

The state’s 44,300 business formations in 2025 ranked No. 1 and equals 14% of the nation’s 310,900. It’s a good bet that among those startups, at least a few will eventually become corporate behemoths.

Next was Texas at 31,100, Florida at 28,000, New York at 19,000 and North Carolina at 10,100.

Now, another way to look at entrepreneurship is the ratio of formations to established operations.

In California, there are 22 business starts for every 1,000 existing establishments. That ranked 28th best and trailed the nation’s 25 per 1,000 pace.

Best for new businesses, by this math was Wyoming at 82 per 1,000, then Delaware at 51, Texas and Washington state at 36 and Nevada at 33.

Worst for business starts? The District of Columbia at 10 per 1,000, Hawaii at 12, West Virginia at 15, Louisiana at 16 and Wisconsin at 18%.

Nothing new

This business creation heft is not a new leadership role for California.

Since 2005, it’s averaged 40,000 new businesses yearly, tops in the nation and 15% of the 269,300 U.S. pace. After California, Florida came in at 24,000, Texas at 22,300, New York at 18,200, and Illinois at 9,400.

The warning signal is that other states are catching up to California.

Ponder the Golden State’s 2025 business starts to its 2005-24 average. The 11% increase was just the 27th-best and trailed the 16% national growth rate.

The biggest gains? Wyoming at 157%, Delaware at 106%, Texas at 40%, Arizona at 32%, and Tennessee at 29%.

Five states were below par for business creation last year. Hawaii was 10% below average, followed by North Dakota, off 4%, Louisiana, off 3%, and Michigan and Vermont, down 1%.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com