Larry Ribstein has posted some fascinating state-by-state business filing data from the International Association of Commercial Administrators. Of the 35 states with filing data for the past four years, 32 reported increases in LLC filings and 21 reported decreases in corporation filings. In the six largest states. the growth in LLC filings from 2002 to 2005 ranged from 60.3% to 237.9%, while three of the states experienced declines in the number of corporate filings ranging from (11.4%) to (27.3%) and the three states with growth in the number of corporate filings ranged from 4.6% to 23.7%:
Wisconsin’s data:
- Business & Professional Corporations: 12/31/2004: 5,571 ($1,8M); 12/31/2005: 5,104
- Nonprofits: 12/31/2004: 1,927 ($73K)
- Limited Liability Copmanies (LLC): 12/31/2004: 25,268 ($3,484,515); 12/31/2005: 26,653
- Limited Partnerships: 12/31/2004: 203 ($20K); 12/31/2005: 203
Minnesota had more than twice as many corporate filings and about 1/3 less LLC formations than Wisconsin. Illinois has a significantly larger annual number of corporate filings than Minnesota or Wisconsin.
It would be interesting to see what the numbers look like over time, attrition rates and the correlation to taxes and jobs.