Which states publish their business register, and what the rest charge
Last updated .
Every state runs a public business search. Far fewer will give you the underlying register. We checked all 51 jurisdictions while deciding which ones to buy, and the spread is wider than you would expect: 10 publish it free, 19 sell it, and 15 offer nothing at all.
Why anyone cares
A public search answers one question at a time. The bulk file answers all of them at once, which is what anyone building a lookup, running due diligence at scale, or doing research on business formation actually needs. It is also the difference between a search that takes twenty seconds and one that takes twenty milliseconds.
What each state does
| Jurisdiction | Bulk register | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Published free | commerce.alaska.gov direct CSV, 106,201 rows |
| Colorado | Published free | data.colorado.gov 4ykn-tg5h, Public Domain |
| Connecticut | Published free | data.ct.gov n7gp-d28j, 1,294,132 rows, daily |
| Florida | Published free | Sunbiz FTP, free downloads |
| Illinois | Published free | apps.ilsos.gov ZIPs, free by statute – unreachable from the droplet, needs the BD proxy |
| Mississippi | Published free | free Excel export, 300k row cap per export |
| New York | Published free | data.ny.gov n9v6-gdp6, 4,273,719 rows, daily |
| Oregon | Published free | data.oregon.gov tckn-sxa6, 564,554 rows, daily |
| Pennsylvania | Published free | data.pa.gov xvd7-5r2c, 2,347,229 rows |
| Vermont | Published free | free bulk download, but requires an account |
| Virginia | Published free but not maintained | data.virginia.gov free, but files last written Nov/Dec 2024 – 21 months stale, unusable |
| Arizona | Sold | $1,000, and commercial requests may be refused |
| Georgia | Sold | $500-$1,000 |
| Hawaii | Sold | vendor FTP; the free Socrata copy is a 2022 snapshot |
| Indiana | Sold | — |
| Kansas | Sold | $200, plus a K.S.A. 45-230 commercial-use restriction |
| Kentucky | Sold | — |
| Louisiana | Sold | $6,900-$12,500/year, or ~$7k one-off at 1c/record |
| Maine | Sold | $100 names-only list |
| Montana | Sold | — |
| Nebraska | Sold | $15 per 1,000 records, query-scoped |
| Nevada | Sold | $125 full database dump |
| North Carolina | Sold | $750 setup + $2,000/year |
| Rhode Island | Sold | — |
| South Dakota | Sold | $1,500 setup |
| Tennessee | Sold | $1,000 full database |
| Texas | Sold | — |
| Utah | Sold | $125/yr subscriber + $0.01/record |
| Washington | Sold | — |
| Wisconsin | Sold | $40 one-time via form CORP51 |
| Arkansas | Unclear | Corporation Bulk Data Download, CSV/XML, price behind link |
| California | Unclear | — |
| District of Columbia | Unclear | — |
| New Mexico | Unclear | — |
| Oklahoma | Unclear | — |
| West Virginia | Unclear | bulk program, terms unclear |
| Alabama | Not offered | — |
| Delaware | Not offered | — |
| Idaho | Not offered | — |
| Iowa | Not offered | — |
| Maryland | Not offered | — |
| Massachusetts | Not offered | no bulk product |
| Michigan | Not offered | no bulk product; FOIA only |
| Minnesota | Not offered | — |
| Missouri | Not offered | no bulk product |
| New Hampshire | Not offered | no bulk product |
| New Jersey | Not offered | — |
| North Dakota | Not offered | — |
| Ohio | Not offered | monthly increments only, not a registry snapshot |
| South Carolina | Not offered | — |
| Wyoming | Not offered | — |
The range is remarkable
- Free and self-service. Ten states, including New York, Colorado and Pennsylvania, publish the complete register as open data with no account and no fee.
- Cheap. Wisconsin asks $40 for the full corporate database, by post, with a cheque.
- Expensive. Louisiana runs $6,900 to $12,500 a year. South Dakota charges $1,500 to set up. North Carolina is $750 plus $2,000 annually.
- Conditional. Arizona charges $1,000 and reserves the right to refuse a request made for a commercial purpose. Kansas attaches a statutory restriction on using the names commercially.
- Free but not maintained. Virginia publishes complete files at no charge and advertises a monthly refresh. The files have not actually changed since late 2024.
What this says about the public searches
A state that sells its register has a commercial interest in the search being the only free route to the data, which is part of why some portals are slow, rate-limited, or wrapped in verification steps. It is not usually hostility to the public. It is a filing office funding itself.
Common questions
Which states offer bulk business data downloads?
A minority publish the whole register as a downloadable dataset. Most offer only a search interface, and some charge for bulk access. The table on this page lists what each state actually provides.
Is business register data free?
Searching is free almost everywhere. Bulk access is not: some states publish it openly, some charge, and some do not offer it at all.
Can I download a list of all businesses in a state?
Only where the state publishes one. Where it does, the file is normally the full register with names, numbers, status and dates, refreshed on the state’s own schedule.
Sources reviewed
The sources below were retrieved and confirmed in August 2026. Filing requirements and fees change with legislative sessions and agency rulemaking; check the state’s own page before acting on anything here. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.
- Each state’s published bulk data, records request, or subscription page, retrieved and read directly.
- Fee schedules and request forms published by each Secretary of State or equivalent office, including several available only as PDF forms.
- Where a state’s live pricing page could not be reached, the figure is marked in the table and should be confirmed with the office before relying on it.
Related
More on finding and reading the record, and the registers behind it: