Northwest Arkansas lags nation in new businesses
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Northwest Arkansas metro area saw about 12 new business applications filed per 1,000 residents in 2022, per new Census Bureau and IRS data, Kavya Beheraj and Alex Fitzpatrick report.
- That's up about 1.5% from 2021, but below the national average of 15.1 per 1,000 residents.
Why it matters: New business applications are an important measure of an area's perceived economic health. If lots of people are trying to start new companies in a given city, it's a sign that they're bullish on the area's prospects.
- "Startup" tends to evoke buzzy Silicon Valley tech ventures. But young companies of all stripes, from stores and restaurants to software and manufacturing firms, play a big economic role.
- As of 2021, more than 66.7 million Americans worked for companies with fewer than 100 employees, and those companies posted nearly $3.6 trillion in annual payroll, per census data.
The big picture: Just over 5 million new business applications were filed nationwide in 2022, or 15.1 for every 1,000 residents.
- That's down about 6.6% from 2021, when nearly 5.4 million applications were filed nationwide, or 16.2 for every 1,000 residents.
Zoom in: There were more than 7,200 new business applications in the NWA metropolitan statistical area.
- More than 4,000 of those were in Benton County and more than 2,800 in Washington County.
- Pulaski County alone had nearly 8,000 applications. Combined with Faulkner County to the north and Saline county to the south, there were more than 11,100 applications in central Arkansas.
Between the lines: Many of the hottest spots for new business applications also have booming populations.
- That makes sense, as economic growth and population increases tend to go hand in hand.
Yes, but: A filed application is no guarantee of a healthy, thriving business to follow — but at the very least it's a sign of economic optimism.