NewBizAlert Florida Insights
Florida New Business Formation Report: February 2026
By NewBizAlert by Success Driven Media, from Florida Division of Corporations filings. How we built this.
Total formations, Feb 2026
60,619
all business types, statewide
Year over year
+5.8%
+3,343 vs Feb 2025 (57,276)
Month over month
-6.7%
-4,364 vs Jan 2026 (64,983), seasonal
Trailing 12 months
691,908
rising vs prior window 688,565
Tampa Bay YoY
+18.9%
11,140 formations, fastest major region
Property holding share
12.0%
7,216 formations of the sorted mix
Florida recorded 60,619 new business formations in February 2026, up 5.8% from the 57,276 of February 2025 and down 6.7% from January's 64,983. The year over year gain is the clean read. The month to month dip is Florida's well worn January to February step down, visible in both years of records. Growth is spreading away from the southeastern anchor: Tampa Bay formations rose 18.9% year over year and the Panhandle rose 18.4%, against Southeast Florida's 6.0%, even as Southeast still holds 36.8% of every filing in the state. Property holding LLCs proved the most seasonally stubborn category, down just 3.3% on the month, and the short term rental piece inside it grew 2.8% to 549 formations as Florida headed into peak tourism season. A short term rental is a home rented to guests for brief stays.
- Year over year, Florida formation is still up 5.8%, but the pace is easing. The trend is growing more slowly, with one month of decline so far, and the 3 month average of 58,578.7 sits well under January's 64,983 spike. The direction is up. The pace is compressing.
- Geography is redistributing. Tampa Bay (+18.9% year over year) and the Northwest Panhandle (+18.4% year over year) grew roughly three times as fast as Southeast Florida (+6.0%), and Pasco County climbed three county ranks year over year, the largest top 10 rank move. Southeast remains the volume play at 36.8% of the state. Tampa Bay is where the rate is hottest.
- Property holding and asset protection formations held their floor. Asset protection means setting up a business so a lawsuit or debt against one property cannot reach the owner's other money. The category fell only 3.3% on the month against a 6.7% statewide drop, its short term rental piece rose 2.8% to 549 formations, and the word 'property' became the fastest rising word in new business names at 12.34 per 1,000, up 2.68 over its usual level.
- Activity stays broad based. The clustering score for industries is 1,057 and for counties 879. This score shows how spread out or clustered the activity is, where lower means more spread out, and both sit well below the line that would signal heavy clustering. Still, the top five industries claim 59.9% of sorted formations and Southeast Florida alone holds 36.8% of geography.
- One in eight filings (12.8%, 7,743 formations) carries a blank or out of state main address and maps to no Florida county. That unassigned group grew 18.4% year over year, matching the Panhandle, and is shown on its own so the seven named regions plus unassigned add up to the total.
Section 1
Statewide overview
Total formations
60,619
Month over month
-6.7%
-4,364 filings
Year over year
+5.8%
3,343 filings
3 month average
58,578.7
Trailing 12 mo
rising
Momentum
1x decline
decelerating-down
Florida formations spike in January and step down in February every year. January 2025 ran 62,753 and January 2026 ran 64,983, each followed by a February pullback. The -6.7% month over month move is seasonal; the +5.8% year over year is the cleaner directional read.
Florida produced 60,619 new business formations in February 2026. Against February 2025's 57,276 that is a gain of 3,343, or 5.8%. Against January's 64,983 it is a drop of 4,364, or 6.7%. Lead with the year over year figure. The month to month decline is almost entirely a calendar effect: January spikes in Florida every year (62,753 in 2025, 64,983 in 2026) and February steps down behind it, a pattern that shows up in both years. Florida's strong seasonal rhythm drives the month to month swing, and the year over year comparison controls for it.
Direction and pace are two different stories. The trailing 12 month total of 691,908 edges above the prior comparable window's 688,565, so the longer trend is still rising. But the pace is easing, with one month of decline so far, the first back to back decline in the current run, and the 3 month average of 58,578.7 sits far below January's peak and only modestly above the summer 2025 low. Growth is real and slowing at the same time. February's 60,619 is neither a high nor a low across the 25 months observed. The window floor is December 2024 at 42,756 and the ceiling is January 2026 at 64,983. This is not a record month in either direction.
The mix shrank nearly across the board as January's surge unwound, but unevenly. Finance and Insurance fell 15.9% month over month and Professional Services 13.0%, the steepest declines among named categories. Two grew: Education at 9.0% and Wholesale and Distribution at 5.9%. Property Holding and Asset Protection was the most seasonally stubborn major category, down just 3.3%, and the short term rental piece inside it rose 2.8%.
The picture stayed broad based. The clustering score is 1,057 for industries and 879 for counties, both below the 1,500 line that would signal heavy clustering. Standard LLCs account for 85.9% of filings and drove nearly the entire headline drop. Registered agent companies handled 14.1% of formations, with no single agent above 4.18%. A registered agent is the person or company a business names to receive legal mail. Out of state owners made up 4.1% of filings that listed an owner's state. And 'property' led the naming trends, an independent confirmation of the asset protection theme running through the rest of the data.
Industry mix (friendly categories)
When a business registers, it reports a standard government industry code, the same kind of classification the U.S. Census Bureau uses. We take those codes and group them into our own plain everyday categories. A business lands in 'Other' when its code does not fit one of our named categories. Every business is still counted, so 'Other' is a labeling matter, not missing data.
Flagship signal: Property Holding & Asset Protection
7,216 holding entities (12% of formations)-3.3%, including 549 seasonal / short term rental holdings (7.6% of the bucket).
Property Holding and Asset Protection is the second largest named category at 12.0% of active formations and the most seasonally resilient, down only 3.3% on the month against a 6.7% statewide drop. The short term rental piece rose 2.8% to 549, or 7.6% of property holding. The short term rental count is a piece of property holding, not added on top of it. Property holding entities tend to hold and protect a single asset, so most businesses are not property holdings, which is why this category is a smaller share of the whole.
Industry HHI
1057.2
broad-based
Top 5 industry share
59.9%
County HHI
878.8
broad-based
Out of state
4.1%
2,445 filings
Both clustering scores sit below the 1,500 line that would signal heavy clustering, which shows the formation wave is not driven by one sector or one cluster. A clustering score reads how spread out or clustered the activity is, where lower means more spread out. The qualification: the top five industries together hold 59.9% of sorted formations, and Southeast Florida alone holds 36.8% of geography. Broad based does not mean balanced. The large group of formations that did not sort into a named category (14,815 formations, 24.5%) is held out of the top list, so the 1,057 score reflects the sorted set.
Entity type mix
- LLC (standard Florida)51,833(85.9%)
- Corporation (Florida, for profit)4,943(8.2%)
- Out of state LLC1,527(2.5%)
- Florida non profit corporation1,357(2.2%)
- Out of state for profit corporation579(1%)
Registered agent concentration
- NORTHWEST REGISTERED AGENT LLC4.18%
- REGISTERED AGENTS INC2.82%
- INC AUTHORITY RA1.97%
- ZENBUSINESS INC.1.75%
- UNITED STATES CORPORATION AGENTS, INC.1.52%
Registered agent companies, the firms a business names to receive its legal mail, together handled 14.1% of February's active formations. No single agent stands out: the top one, Northwest Registered Agent LLC, holds 4.18%, well below the 10% level that would raise a flag, so the month's counts are not skewed by a single filer. The top two combined hold 7.0%. Mainstream consumer business setup platforms appear in the list, and using an agent service is not itself a sign of unusual activity. No prior month agent share is on hand, so the direction of movement cannot be stated.
Trending words in new names
Address named LLCs (a holding company tell): 2.6% of new names.
Industry by region
The same grid, read three ways: raw volume, what each region specializes in, and a bubble view that lets the eye compare across both axes at once.
Chart 1: Volume (absolute counts)
| Industry | Northwest Florida | North Central Florida | Northeast Florida | Central Florida | Tampa Bay | Southwest Florida | Southeast Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management of Companies & Enterprises | 283 | 167 | 429 | 1,489 | 1,977 | 481 | 4,307 |
| Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 158 | 79 | 255 | 793 | 978 | 245 | 1,962 |
| Real Estate and Rental & Leasing | 197 | 101 | 180 | 643 | 839 | 278 | 1,356 |
| Construction | 208 | 111 | 243 | 633 | 707 | 306 | 1,211 |
| Administrative & Support and Waste Management & Remediation Services | 128 | 111 | 205 | 590 | 588 | 251 | 1,153 |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 88 | 61 | 127 | 405 | 546 | 161 | 1,244 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 117 | 61 | 165 | 442 | 470 | 176 | 1,020 |
| Transportation & Warehousing | 86 | 78 | 155 | 527 | 410 | 156 | 971 |
| Retail Trade | 73 | 46 | 94 | 317 | 368 | 100 | 665 |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 101 | 43 | 103 | 301 | 323 | 90 | 611 |
New business counts by industry and region. A darker cell marks the stronger region for that industry.
Chart 2: Specialization (share within each region)
| Industry | Northwest Florida | North Central Florida | Northeast Florida | Central Florida | Tampa Bay | Southwest Florida | Southeast Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management of Companies & Enterprises | 20% | 19% | 22% | 24% | 27% | 21% | 30% |
| Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 11% | 9% | 13% | 13% | 14% | 11% | 14% |
| Real Estate and Rental & Leasing | 14% | 12% | 9% | 10% | 12% | 12% | 9% |
| Construction | 14% | 13% | 12% | 10% | 10% | 14% | 8% |
| Administrative & Support and Waste Management & Remediation Services | 9% | 13% | 10% | 10% | 8% | 11% | 8% |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | 6% | 7% | 6% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 9% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 8% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 7% |
| Transportation & Warehousing | 6% | 9% | 8% | 9% | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| Retail Trade | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 7% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
Each region column is read on its own terms: a cell is the percentage of that region taken by the industry, so the shading shows what each part of Florida specializes in rather than its raw size. The darkest cell in a column marks the leading sector for that region.
Chart 3: Bubble matrix
| Industry | Northwest Florida | North Central Florida | Northeast Florida | Central Florida | Tampa Bay | Southwest Florida | Southeast Florida |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management of Companies & Enterprises | |||||||
| Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | |||||||
| Real Estate and Rental & Leasing | |||||||
| Construction | |||||||
| Administrative & Support and Waste Management & Remediation Services | |||||||
| Health Care & Social Assistance | |||||||
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | |||||||
| Transportation & Warehousing | |||||||
| Retail Trade | |||||||
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation |
Circle area scales to the number of formations, so a large bubble is a busy pairing of industry and region, and the eye can compare across both the rows and the columns at once. Hover a circle for the exact count.
Government & policy
- Florida HB 803, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, exempts an owner of a single-family dwelling from the requirement to obtain a building permit for work valued at less than $7,500, and deems a permit approved as a matter of law if the local building official does not provide written notice within 10 business days. It also requires the local enforcement agency to reduce permit fees by at least 25% for partial private-provider services and at least 50% when a private provider handles all required services on commercial projects. The change streamlines small-dollar construction and trades permitting and coincides with the 3,923 new construction-sector formations recorded statewide in February 2026. Adams and Reese LLP, Florida HB 803: Beyond the $7,500 Exception, 2026-05-07
- Governor DeSantis signed SB 316 on June 20, 2025, creating Florida's Protected Series LLC law effective July 1, 2026. The structure lets a single parent LLC form internal series, each able to independently hold assets and assume liabilities, with liability segregation between series. The firm gives real estate investors who own multiple properties as the example use, each property associated with a separate series. This aligns with the 7,216 property-holding formations and 1,572 address-named LLCs recorded in February 2026. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, Client Alert SB 316, 2025-07-07
- Florida HB 1389 (Live Local Act 4.0), approved by the Legislature March 13, 2026 and becoming law July 1, 2026, extends affordable-housing zoning preemptions to land owned by a city, county, or school board and to land owned by religious institutions, and moves tax-exemption vesting to the building-permit stage. As of March 9, 2026, 55,000 units across 182 projects were proposed statewide, with 6,316 units in 14 projects under construction, led by Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Broward, Palm Beach, and Orange, the same counties that lead February 2026 formation volume. Bilzin Sumberg, Florida Passes House Bill 1389 Updating Live Local Act, 2026-03-13
- Florida SB 290, the 2026 Farm Bill signed March 23, 2026 (effective July 1, 2026), bans cities and counties from outlawing gas-powered landscape equipment such as leaf blowers, though local governments may still encourage alternatives like battery power. It passed the Senate unanimously and the House 94-10. This removes a potential operating-cost variable for landscaping and grounds-maintenance businesses, a segment within the Administrative & Support Services category that posted 3,397 formations in February 2026. WUSF, DeSantis signs wide-ranging Florida farm bill into law, 2026-03-23
Section 2
Region by region
Northwest Florida (Panhandle & Capital)
2,238 formations(3.7% of state)
Northwest Florida posted an 18.4% year over year gain in February 2026, 2,238 formations versus 1,890 in February 2025. That is the second largest year over year gain among Florida's named regions, behind only Tampa Bay at 18.9%. Holmes County, a small rural Panhandle county, ran far above its normal level, with a z-score of 3.04, which shows how far above its usual pace a county ran. Gulf County posted a 30.0% month over month gain, the largest percentage jump of any rising county in the region.
Northwest Florida recorded 2,238 new business formations in February 2026, a 3.7% share of the statewide total. The month over month decline of 5.4%, from 2,367 in January, fits Florida's statewide seasonal pattern: January runs high on year start filings, and the February pullback is normal across every region.
The year over year story is the stronger read. February 2026 topped February 2025 by 348 formations, an 18.4% gain. Only Tampa Bay, at 18.9%, outpaced that growth rate among Florida's seven named regions. Northwest Florida, a region often in the shadow of the state's population centers, matched the growth pace of one of Florida's fastest expanding metros on a percentage basis.
County makeup within the region shows spread rather than clustering. Leon County (Tallahassee) led with 411 formations, followed by Escambia (Pensacola area) at 408, Bay County (Panama City) at 395, and Okaloosa (Destin and Fort Walton Beach corridor) at 370. No single county dominates the way Miami-Dade dominates Southeast Florida. Escambia was also a riser, up 5.2% month over month, so the Pensacola market added to the region's growth rather than inheriting it.
Holmes County ran far above its normal level, with a z-score of 3.04, more than three steps above its own usual pace. Small county risers carry noise alongside signal, but Holmes is one of only two county level standouts statewide in February 2026. Gulf County, also in this region, posted a 30.0% month over month jump from 20 to 26 formations. Both are low volume counties where a single cluster of filings can move the needle. The direction lines up with the region's broader year over year gain.
By industry, Management of Companies led at 283 formations, followed by Construction at 208 and Real Estate at 197. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services registered 158 formations, and Administrative & Support Services added 128. The construction count sits above what the region's population weight alone would predict, in step with active home and commercial building across the Panhandle's coastal corridors. Tallahassee's government and services economy anchors the Management and Professional Services counts.
Tourism and seasonal demand
Northwest Florida's February calendar falls inside the peak snowbird and winter visitor window for Panhandle beach markets, particularly Destin, Santa Rosa Beach, and Panama City Beach. Visit Florida reported an estimated 39.88 million travelers statewide in Q1 2026, down 1.0% from Q1 2025, with overseas visitation rising 8.5% to 2.3 million and hotel room sales up 0.6% year over year. Florida also set a full year visitor record in 2025 at approximately 143.3 million visitors. The Okaloosa and Bay County formation counts, 370 and 395 respectively, reflect hospitality and services activity in the Panhandle's primary tourist corridors. A separate tourism only formation count for the region apart from those county totals is not available.
Property holding and short term rentals
Property holding and short term rental counts are reported for the state as a whole rather than for each region. Statewide, the short term rental piece within property holding totaled 549 formations in February 2026, up 2.8% from 534 a year earlier, the highest single month count in the trailing 25 month window. A short term rental is a home rented to guests for brief stays. Northwest Florida's coastal counties, particularly Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay, have active vacation rental markets. Real Estate and Rental and Leasing recorded 197 formations in the northwest region. Florida's 2011 preemption framework, unchanged after Governor DeSantis vetoed SB 280 in June 2024, continues to prevent local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating duration and frequency of stays except for ordinances in place before June 1, 2011, which sustains demand for separately structured rental holding entities in Panhandle beach markets.
Emerging counties: Gulf (+30%), Holmes (+14.7%), Escambia (+5.2%).
Government & policy
- Florida HB 803, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, exempts an owner of a single-family dwelling from the building-permit requirement for work valued under $7,500 and deems a permit approved as a matter of law if the local building official does not respond within 10 business days. It also requires permit fee reductions of at least 25% to 50% when private providers handle inspections. These changes streamline small-dollar construction and trades permitting and coincide with the 3,923 new construction-sector formations recorded statewide in February 2026. Adams and Reese LLP, Florida HB 803: Beyond the $7,500 Exception, 2026-05-07
- Florida's SB 280, which would have centralized statewide standardization of short-term rental regulations, passed the Legislature in 2024 but was vetoed by Governor DeSantis in June 2024. As a result, the preemption clause in Florida Statutes 509.032(7)(b) still prevents local governments from prohibiting or regulating the duration and frequency of short-term rentals unless the ordinance was in place before June 1, 2011. This preserved patchwork aligns with continued demand for compliant, separately structured rental-holding entities. Avantio, Florida Short-Term Rental Laws 2026, 2026-01-01
Corroboration
- Visit Florida reported that an estimated 39.88 million travelers visited Florida in Q1 2026 (January 1 through March 31), down 1.0% from Q1 2025. Canadian visitation is estimated at 1.05 million for the quarter, and overseas visitation rose 8.5% year over year to 2.3 million. Florida hotels sold 0.6% more rooms in Q1 2026 than in Q1 2025. February sits inside the peak snowbird window. Visit Florida, Q1 2026 Tourism Data press release, 2026-05-22
- Florida set a new annual visitor record in 2025 with approximately 143.3 million visitors, a 0.2% increase over 2024. Full-year Canadian visitation was revised to about 3.17 million. The record visitor base supports continued demand for short-term accommodation supply, which aligns with the elevated short-term-rental property-holding formation count in the February 2026 filing data. WJHG, Florida sets new tourism record in 2025; early 2026 visits hold steady, 2026-05-26
North Central Florida (Nature Coast & Heartland)
1,296 formations(2.1% of state)
Levy County posted the sharpest month over month gain in the region at +28.9%, reaching 58 formations from 45 in January 2026, the highest single month percentage jump among North Central counties and one of three statewide rising counties in this region.
North Central Florida produced 1,296 new business formations in February 2026, 2.1% of the statewide total. The region is up 3.8% from February 2025 (1,248 formations), a gain that holds even as the month over month reading shows a 5.3% pullback from January's 1,368. That January to February step down fits Florida's statewide seasonal pattern: January is usually the strongest formation month of the calendar year, and February almost always contracts from it.
Marion County carries the bulk of the region with 610 formations, followed at a distance by Columbia County (104) and a cluster of smaller counties. The region's logistics and warehousing activity placed seventh in its industry ranking at 78 formations, in step with Marion's spot along the I-75 freight corridor.
The year over year gain of 3.8% is the softest among Florida's named regions this month. Tampa Bay led at +18.9%, Northwest Florida and the unassigned group both ran +18.4%, and the other regions outpaced North Central. That relative lag is not a contraction. The count is higher than any February in the visible 25 month window before 2026. It means North Central is growing more slowly than the rest of the state right now.
Construction (111 formations) and Administrative and Support Services (111) tied for second in the industry count, just behind Management of Companies at 167. Real estate activity (101 formations) rounded out the top four. The region's mix reflects its character: equestrian and farm land draws property structuring activity, and the university presence in Gainesville (Alachua County, inside the region) feeds professional and administrative service formation.
Tourism and seasonal demand
North Central Florida's tourism economy centers on springs, state parks, and equestrian destinations rather than coastal resort activity. The region does not appear in the Visit Florida Q1 2026 coastal and hotel occupancy data, and a tourism only formation figure for this region is not available. Hospitality and lodging formation here trails the state's coastal regions by a wide margin, in step with the region's character as a nature destination and farm corridor rather than a high volume visitor market.
Property holding and short term rentals
The statewide property holding formation count stood at 7,216 in February 2026, with 549 of those flagged as short term or seasonal rental entities, up 2.8% from 534 a year earlier. A region level property holding split for North Central is not available. The broader statewide cost context, persistently high homeowners insurance premiums and the Florida Protected Series LLC law signed June 2025 and effective July 2026 creating fenced off per property liability structures, applies here as elsewhere, though North Central's equestrian parcels and rural land holdings differ in form from the coastal short term rental formations that dominate the statewide count.
Emerging counties: Levy (+28.9%), Columbia (+11.8%), Gilchrist (+9.1%).
Government & policy
- Florida HB 803, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, exempts an owner of a single-family dwelling from the building-permit requirement for work valued under $7,500 and deems a permit approved as a matter of law if the local building official does not respond within 10 business days. It also requires permit fee reductions of at least 25% to 50% when private providers handle inspections. These changes streamline small-dollar construction and trades permitting and coincide with the 3,923 new construction-sector formations recorded statewide in February 2026. Adams and Reese LLP, Florida HB 803: Beyond the $7,500 Exception, 2026-05-07
Corroboration
- no corroborating event found (no corroborating event found)
Northeast Florida (First Coast)
2,935 formations(4.9% of state)
Northeast Florida's 11.4% year over year gain was the second strongest of any Florida region in February 2026, behind only Tampa Bay's 18.9%. The month over month decline of 9.2% is steeper than the statewide 6.7% drop and reflects Florida's normal seasonal step down from January's surge, not a structural reversal. The region added 301 net formations over February 2025, with Duval anchoring volume at 1,792 and Clay County posting a modest rising signal at 299 formations, up 3.1% from the prior month.
Northeast Florida recorded 2,935 new business formations in February 2026, equal to 4.9% of the statewide total of 60,619. The region was down 9.2% from January 2026 (3,234 formations), but that month over month reading mirrors Florida's statewide seasonal step down from a January surge. The year over year comparison tells the fuller story. February 2026 came in 11.4% above February 2025's 2,634 formations, a 301 unit gain that places the First Coast second among all Florida regions for year over year growth, trailing only Tampa Bay at 18.9%.
Duval County anchored the region at 1,792 formations, the 8th largest county in Florida by February volume, down one rank from 7th a year earlier. St. Johns County contributed 374. Clay County added 299, a 3.1% month over month gain that earned it a spot on the statewide rising county list, one of only two northeast counties flagged. Baker County, at 23 formations, posted a 4.5% month over month gain and also appeared on that list, a small base signal worth tracking.
The industry picture fits the region's port and logistics, finance back office, and professional services character. Management of Companies led at 429 formations, followed by Professional, Scientific & Technical Services at 255 and Construction at 243. Administrative & Support Services came in at 205, Real Estate at 180. Transportation & Warehousing posted 155. Health Care reached 127, and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation hit 103.
The commercial real estate market provided a concrete backdrop. St. Johns County retail vacancy sat at 2% across a 13.9 million square foot market, and the Jacksonville metro accounted for more than 5% of U.S. retail demand in 2025 while making up just 0.5% of U.S. population. Industrial leasing ran to 213 deals totaling 6.3 million square feet, with up to 7 million square feet of largely speculative space hitting the market in 2025, and overall office leasing rose 37.7% year over year, per Jax Daily Record reporting from February 2026. Tight retail vacancy and surging office demand create fertile ground for new service and distribution entrants.
The Jacksonville Jaguars moved business operations into One Tower Court in February 2026, taking the second through fourth floors of the six story, 137,000 square foot building across Bay Street from EverBank Stadium. The move was driven by the $1.4 billion Stadium of the Future renovation. A project of that scale ripples through construction, professional services, food and beverage, and event related formation activity in the surrounding blocks.
Tourism and seasonal demand
Northeast Florida's tourism footprint is anchored by St. Augustine, which draws heritage and cultural visitors year round. February sits within the peak winter season for the First Coast, coinciding with the broader statewide Visit Florida data showing an estimated 39.88 million travelers visited Florida in Q1 2026, down 1.0% from Q1 2025, though overseas visitation rose 8.5% to 2.3 million for the quarter. Arts, Entertainment & Recreation formations in the region reached 103 in February 2026, and Hospitality & Tourism formations added to the broader regional count, in step with a winter season formation pulse for visitor facing businesses.
Property holding and short term rentals
Property Holding and Asset Protection formations are solid for February 2026. The short term and seasonal rental piece accounted for 549 statewide property holding formations in February 2026, or 7.6% of the 7,216 statewide property holding entities, up 2.8% from the prior year month's 534. The cost of holding short term rental assets inside a dedicated LLC remains a structural formation driver: first time short term rental violations now commonly draw $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day, and annual licensing overhead ranges from $175 to $980 or more depending on jurisdiction, per Hampton Real Estate Advisors' 2026 regulatory update. The northeast region's Real Estate and Rental & Leasing formations came in at 180, in step with the region's steady but not outsized role in the state's investment property market.
Emerging counties: Clay (+3.1%), Baker (+4.5%).
Government & policy
- The Jacksonville Jaguars moved business operations into One Tower Court in Downtown Jacksonville in February 2026, taking the second through fourth floors of the six-story, 137,000-square-foot building across Bay Street from EverBank Stadium, a move driven by the $1.4 billion Stadium of the Future renovation. This coincides with Northeast Florida recording 2,935 new business formations in February 2026, an 11.4% year-over-year gain. Jax Daily Record, 2026-02-24
- Northeast Florida's commercial real estate market in early 2026 saw St. Johns County retail vacancy at 2% across a 13.9-million-square-foot market, the Jacksonville metro representing more than 5% of U.S. retail demand in 2025 while comprising 0.5% of U.S. population, industrial leasing of 213 deals totaling 6.3 million square feet, and office leasing up 37.7% year over year. These conditions align with Duval County recording 1,792 new formations in February 2026. Jax Daily Record, 2026-02-13
- Florida HB 803, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, exempts an owner of a single-family dwelling from the building-permit requirement for work valued under $7,500 and deems a permit approved as a matter of law if the local building official does not respond within 10 business days. These changes streamline small-dollar construction and trades permitting, coinciding with the 3,923 new construction-sector formations recorded statewide in February 2026, including 243 in Northeast Florida. Adams and Reese LLP, Florida HB 803: Beyond the $7,500 Exception, 2026-05-07
Corroboration
- The Jacksonville Jaguars moved into One Tower Court in Downtown Jacksonville in February 2026, taking the second through fourth floors of the six-story, 137,000-square-foot building, a move driven by the $1.4 billion Stadium of the Future renovation at EverBank Stadium. This coincides with Northeast Florida recording 2,935 new business formations in February 2026, an 11.4% year-over-year gain. Jax Daily Record, 2026-02-24
- Northeast Florida's commercial real estate market in early 2026 showed St. Johns County retail vacancy at 2% across a 13.9-million-square-foot market, the Jacksonville metro representing more than 5% of U.S. retail demand while comprising 0.5% of U.S. population, and office leasing growing 37.7% year over year. These conditions align with Duval County recording 1,792 new formations in February 2026. Jax Daily Record, 2026-02-13
Central Florida (I-4 Corridor & Space Coast)
9,491 formations(15.7% of state)
Brevard County posted 938 formations, up 2.0% from January, one of the only counties in Central Florida to gain ground month over month while every other major county in the region fell. Separately, Orange County slipped two spots in the statewide county ranking year over year, from 3rd to 5th, even as its formation count reached 3,964.
Central Florida recorded 9,491 new business formations in February 2026, 15.7% of the statewide total. The region fell 7.0% from January, roughly in line with the statewide month over month drop of 6.7%. Year over year, the picture is better: 8.4% above February 2025's 8,758, the second strongest gain rate among Florida's seven named regions, behind only Tampa Bay's 18.9%.
Orange County anchors the region with 3,964 formations, followed by Polk (1,290), Brevard (938), Osceola (901), Volusia (876), Seminole (711), and Lake (669). Seven counties plus an unassigned group add up to the region total; a small share of filings carry a blank or out of state main address. Seminole had the sharpest county level drop in the region, down 19.3% from January. Lake moved the other direction, up 6.4%, the only central county flagged as a riser this month.
Orange's year over year ranking is worth a look. It was the third largest county statewide in February 2025. It is fifth in February 2026, displaced by Pinellas and Palm Beach. Its 3,964 formations represent growth over the prior year, so the rank slip reflects faster acceleration elsewhere rather than contraction here.
Management of Companies leads the regional industry mix at 1,489, well ahead of Professional and Technical Services at 793. Real Estate and Rental and Leasing (643) and Construction (633) are nearly tied at third and fourth. Transportation and Warehousing at 527 runs higher here relative to its statewide share, a reflection of the logistics and aerospace supply chain activity concentrated near the Space Coast. Arts, Entertainment and Recreation at 301 rounds out the top ten, a category with outsized relevance in a market anchored by theme park and entertainment operators.
Tourism and seasonal demand
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation produced 301 formations in the central region, a high share of that category for an inland Florida region. The theme park corridor around Orange and Osceola counties is the backbone of Florida's largest domestic tourism market. Visit Florida reported an estimated 39.88 million travelers statewide in Q1 2026, down 1.0% from Q1 2025, with overseas visitation rising 8.5% to 2.3 million and hotel room sales up 0.6%. February sits at the center of the peak winter travel window, and Accommodation and Food Services formations statewide stood at 1,603, off 7.6% month over month but in step with the broader seasonal pattern. On the Space Coast side, Port Canaveral expects a record 9 million cruise passengers in 2026, supporting the hospitality and transportation formation flow in Brevard County.
Property holding and short term rentals
A region level property holding and short term rental split is not available. Statewide, 7,216 formations fell into the Property Holding and Asset Protection category in February 2026, with 549 of those flagged as short term or seasonal rental entities, 7.6% of the property holding group and up 2.8% from the prior year's 534. Central Florida's mix of vacation corridor communities (Osceola, Kissimmee) and Space Coast beach markets (Brevard) makes it a steady contributor to that statewide short term rental count. The compliance cost context is real: active platform data sharing arrangements exist in Orange County, and first time short term rental violations commonly result in fines of $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day, reinforcing the incentive to hold rental assets inside a dedicated LLC rather than personally.
Emerging counties: Lake (+6.4%).
Government & policy
- Blue Origin's Project Horizon expansion on Florida's Space Coast involves a $600 million capital investment and an 830,000-square-foot upper stage manufacturing facility at Rocket Park, expected to support 500 aerospace jobs. Blue Origin has invested more than $2.3 billion across 500 Florida suppliers and expanded to 11 sites across Brevard and Orange Counties. Brevard County recorded 938 new formations in February 2026, a 2.0% month-over-month gain, one of the few Central Florida counties posting positive growth that month. Space Florida, 2026-05-01
- Florida HB 1389 (Live Local Act 4.0), approved March 13, 2026, expands qualifying development sites to include city, county, school-board, and religious-institution land and moves tax exemption vesting to the building permit stage. Orange County is among the top counties for Live Local activity statewide, aligning with 643 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing formations in the central region in February 2026. Bilzin Sumberg, Florida Passes House Bill 1389 Updating Live Local Act, 2026-03-13
- A December 2025 Florida permitting forecast noted Orange County among the counties anticipated to face increased commercial permit review queues in 2026, with residential permit approvals trending 10 to 20% longer in review time. The forecast recommends submitting permit applications 90 to 120 days in advance for 2026 projects. Suncoast Permits, Florida Construction Permit Industry Forecast, 2025-12-05
Corroboration
- Port Canaveral is building a $93 million, 3,732-space cruise parking garage scheduled to open in fall 2026, part of a $912 million five-year transformation program, and expects a record 9 million cruise passengers in 2026. Brevard County posted 938 new business formations in February 2026, up 2.0% from the prior month, one of the few major Florida counties to record a month-over-month gain in the period. Space Coast Daily, Port Canaveral's 2026 Transformation, 2026-03-01
- Blue Origin's Project Horizon expansion on Florida's Space Coast involves a $600 million capital investment and an 830,000-square-foot upper stage manufacturing facility expected to support 500 aerospace jobs. Brevard County recorded 938 new formations in February 2026, a 2.0% month-over-month gain. Space Florida, 2026-05-01
Tampa Bay (Gulf Coast)
11,140 formations(18.5% of state)
Tampa Bay posted an 18.9% year over year gain, the largest of any Florida region in February 2026, reaching 11,140 formations against 9,369 in February 2025. The month over month reading of -6.7% matches the statewide seasonal pullback from January. Pinellas alone ranked 3rd among all Florida counties at 4,757 formations, climbing one spot year over year.
11,140 new entities filed in Tampa Bay in February 2026, 18.5% of all Florida formations and an 18.9% year over year gain over the 9,369 recorded in February 2025. No other Florida region posted a larger year over year increase this month. The month over month figure of -6.7% follows Florida's seasonal pattern: January is usually the strongest filing month, and the February step down is steady across every region in the state.
Pinellas County ranked 3rd statewide with 4,757 formations, up from 4th a year earlier. Hillsborough contributed 3,341, steady at 6th. Together those two counties account for more than 8,000 formations in a single month. Pasco (950), Sarasota (914), and Manatee (766) round out the five largest contributors within the region, though the region total of 11,140 exceeds the sum of these five named counties, reflecting smaller counties also filing within the Tampa Bay footprint.
Management of Companies & Enterprises leads the region at 1,977 formations (17.7% of the regional total), in step with the broad use of holding company structures for asset separation. A holding company is a business set up mainly to own other businesses or assets rather than to sell anything itself. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services follows at 978 (8.8%), then Real Estate and Rental & Leasing at 839 (7.5%). Construction posted 707 formations (6.3%). Administrative & Support Services (588) and Health Care & Social Assistance (546) round out the top six.
Citrus County is the one riser within Tampa Bay, up 15.7% month over month to 81 formations from a prior base of 70. At 81 filings it is a small figure, but the rate of change marks it as a notable mover against its own pace. The county sits on the Nature Coast edge of the Tampa Bay market.
The region's 18.9% year over year gain stands against Southeast Florida's 6.0% gain over the same period. Tampa Bay now accounts for 18.5% of Florida formations, while the unassigned group (filings with a blank or out of state main address) accounts for another 12.8% statewide. The seven named regions plus unassigned add up to the statewide total of 60,619.
Tourism and seasonal demand
Port Tampa Bay is tracking toward approximately 1.8 million cruise passengers and 394 total cruise ship calls in 2026. The port scheduled 51 cruise ship visits in March 2026, its all time monthly record, and expects 53 days with three ships in port at once. Annual cruise operations generate more than $648 million in economic impact for the West Central Florida region, per the port. February sits squarely in the peak snowbird and cruise season window. The region's 323 Arts, Entertainment & Recreation formations and 410 Transportation & Warehousing formations reflect the service network built around this visitor volume.
Property holding and short term rentals
Statewide, 7,216 property holding formations were recorded in February 2026, with 549 sorted as short term or seasonal rental entities (7.6% of the property holding total). That 549 figure is up from 534 in February 2025, a 2.8% year over year gain, and is the highest single month count in the trailing 25 month window. Sarasota sits within Tampa Bay and is covered by Sarasota City Ordinance 25-5560, which carries a $500 initial registration fee plus a $200 late application fee for the certificate of registration and requires owners to contact the city within 30 days to schedule any required inspection. Pinellas County is one of four Florida counties with active platform data sharing arrangements as of early 2026, where first time violations commonly result in fines of $1,500 to $5,000 per day. This compliance cost structure gives property investors a direct reason to form a dedicated LLC for each short term rental asset rather than hold it personally. The statewide property holding counts are solid for February 2026.
Emerging counties: Citrus (+15.7%).
Government & policy
- Construction began in January 2026 on Tampa's estimated $1 billion Westshore Interchange project, connecting I-275 to the Howard Frankland Bridge and State Road 60 or Kennedy Boulevard near Tampa International Airport, with phase one completion expected by 2030. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties combined for more than 8,000 new business formations in February 2026. FOX 13 Tampa Bay, 2026-01-01
- Florida HB 1389 (Live Local Act 4.0), approved March 13, 2026 and becoming law July 1, 2026, extends affordable-housing zoning preemptions to city, county, school-board, and religious-institution land and moves tax exemption vesting to the building permit stage. Hillsborough is among the top counties for Live Local project activity statewide. Bilzin Sumberg, Florida Passes House Bill 1389 Updating Live Local Act, 2026-03-13
- Sarasota City Ordinance 25-5560 sets a $500 application fee for the initial certificate of registration for vacation rentals, a $200 late fee for an untimely application, and requires the owner to contact the city within 30 days to schedule any required inspection. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, Client Alert: Sarasota Vacation Rental Ordinance 25-5560, 2025-07-21
Corroboration
- Port Tampa Bay is tracking toward approximately 1.8 million cruise passengers and 394 total cruise ship calls in 2026, with 51 cruise ship visits scheduled in March 2026 (its all-time monthly record) and 53 days with three ships in port at once, and annual cruise operations generating more than $648 million in economic impact for the West Central Florida region. This cruise growth aligns with Tampa Bay accounting for 18.5% of Florida new formations in February 2026. Port Tampa Bay official press release, 2026-03-10
- Construction began in January 2026 on Tampa's estimated $1 billion Westshore Interchange project, connecting I-275 to the Howard Frankland Bridge and State Road 60 or Kennedy Boulevard near Tampa International Airport, with phase one completion expected by 2030, funded by state and federal dollars. FOX 13 Tampa Bay, 2026-01-01
- Sarasota City Ordinance 25-5560 sets a $500 application fee for the initial certificate of registration for vacation rentals, a $200 late fee, and requires the owner to contact the city within 30 days to schedule any required inspection, coinciding with elevated STR property-holding formation activity in the Tampa Bay market. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, Client Alert: Sarasota Vacation Rental Ordinance 25-5560, 2025-07-21
- As of early 2026, Pinellas County has an active platform data-sharing arrangement for short-term rental enforcement. First-time STR violations that previously drew $250 to $500 fines now commonly result in $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day, annual licensing overhead ranges from $175 to $980 or more depending on jurisdiction, and combined tax obligations reach 9% to 17% of gross rental revenue. Hampton Real Estate Advisors, Short-Term Rental Regulations in Florida 2026 Update, 2026-01-01
Southwest Florida
3,322 formations(5.5% of state)
Lee County posted a 14.5% month over month decline to 1,840 formations, the steepest single month drop of any top 10 Florida county in February 2026, pulling the region's month over month figure to -10.6% against a statewide -6.7%. Year over year the region gained 12.7%, the third largest year over year gain among the seven named regions, so the February step back sits against an otherwise improving twelve month trend.
Southwest Florida recorded 3,322 new business formations in February 2026, 5.5% of the statewide total of 60,619. The region fell 10.6% from January's 3,714, steeper than the statewide month over month decline of 6.7%. January to February softening is a recurring seasonal pattern in Florida, and the year over year read is the cleaner signal: 3,322 versus 2,947 a year earlier, a 12.7% gain. That places Southwest Florida third among the seven named regions for year over year growth, behind only Tampa Bay (18.9%) and Northwest Florida (18.4%).
Lee County drove the headline. Its 1,840 formations were down 311 from January's 2,151, a 14.5% monthly decline, the largest of any top 10 Florida county. Collier County held steadier at 904, off 4.9% from 951 in January. Together Lee and Collier account for 2,744 of the region's 3,322 formations; the remaining 578 are spread across smaller counties in the southwest footprint.
The top industry in the region is Management of Companies and Enterprises at 481 formations, in step with the LLC holding company pattern that dominates statewide. Construction and Trades ranks second at 306. Real Estate and Rental and Leasing follows at 278, and Administrative and Support Services at 251. Professional, Scientific and Technical Services rounds out the top five at 245. That ordering closely mirrors the statewide ranking, with one difference: Construction holds the second spot locally rather than the fifth it occupies statewide, reflecting the region's ongoing build out cycle.
The February pullback in Lee County reads as a seasonal step back against a 12.7% year over year gain rather than a loss of momentum. Business formation in these markets tends to move in waves rather than steady monthly flows. The year over year figure is the more durable read on the region's path.
Tourism and seasonal demand
February sits in peak snowbird season for the Gulf Coast, and the statewide tourism backdrop frames the local picture. Visit Florida reported approximately 39.88 million travelers in Q1 2026, down 1.0% from Q1 2025, with Canadian visitation estimated at 1.05 million for the quarter and overseas visitation up 8.5% to 2.3 million (Visit Florida Q1 2026 press release, https://www.visitflorida.org/about-us/media/news-releases/article-details/?releaseId=21322). Southwest Florida's Gulf Coast hospitality market draws heavily on Canadian and seasonal visitors, so the broader visitor mix is a relevant input for lodging and food service business formation in the region. Statewide, Arts, Entertainment and Recreation counted 90 new formations in the southwest column. Florida set a new annual visitor record in 2025 at approximately 143.3 million visitors, the multi year baseline against which February's single month softness should be read (WJHG, https://www.wjhg.com/2026/05/26/florida-sets-new-tourism-record-2025-early-2026-visits-hold-steady/).
Property holding and short term rentals
Property Holding and Asset Protection is a significant formation category statewide, with 7,216 entities filed in February 2026, of which 549 carry the short term rental flag, up from 534 a year earlier (+2.8%). For Southwest Florida specifically, the region's 278 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing formations and 481 Management of Companies formations include entities in the holding company and short term rental segments; a region specific property count is not available. The regulatory context is relevant: Florida's 2011 preemption framework (Florida Statutes 509.032(7)) remains in effect after Governor DeSantis vetoed SB 280 in June 2024, so cities and counties cannot prohibit vacation rentals or regulate duration and frequency of stays except under grandfathered ordinances from before June 2011 (Avantio, https://www.avantio.com/blog/florida-vacation-rental-laws/). The preserved patchwork of local rules, licensing fees ranging from $175 to $980 or more, combined tax obligations of 9% to 17% of gross revenue, and fines now commonly reaching $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day in counties with active enforcement (Hampton Real Estate Advisors, https://www.hamptonrea.com/guides/short-term-rental-regulations-in-florida-what-investors-need-to-know-2026-update/), keeps a persistent reason to hold Gulf Coast rental assets inside a dedicated LLC. Citizens Property Insurance Corp.'s board voted in December 2025 to file for a 2.6% average rate decrease for personal lines effective June 1, 2026, with nearly half of personal lines customers projected to see an average reduction of about 11.5%, roughly $359 per year, which may ease one cost for Southwest Florida property holders (Insurance Journal, https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2025/12/11/850645.htm). Florida's average annual homeowners insurance premium reached $8,292 in 2025, up 18% over 2024, and is projected at $8,458 by year end 2026 (Insurify, https://insurify.com/homeowners-insurance/news/florida-2026-home-insurance-report/).
Government & policy
- Florida HB 803, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, exempts an owner of a single-family dwelling from the building-permit requirement for work valued under $7,500 and deems a permit approved as a matter of law if the local building official does not respond within 10 business days. It also requires permit fee reductions of at least 25% to 50% when private providers handle inspections. These changes streamline small-dollar construction and trades permitting and coincide with the 3,923 new construction-sector formations recorded statewide in February 2026. Adams and Reese LLP, Florida HB 803: Beyond the $7,500 Exception, 2026-05-07
- Governor DeSantis signed SB 316 on June 20, 2025, creating Florida's Protected Series LLC law effective July 1, 2026. The structure allows a single parent LLC to form internal series, each able to independently hold assets and assume liabilities, with liability segregation between series. The firm gives real estate investors who own multiple properties as the example use, each property associated with a separate series. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, Client Alert SB 316, 2025-07-07
- In the South region, including Florida, combined single-family and multifamily housing starts were 4% lower in 2025 than 2024 and total building permits were 5.2% lower, while national single-family starts totaled 943,000, down 6.9%. This softer 2025 construction backdrop frames the February 2026 step-back in Southwest Florida, where Construction & Trades nonetheless ranked second in the region at 306 formations. Florida Realtors, Overall Housing Starts Inched Lower in 2025, 2026-02-18
Corroboration
- In the South region, including Florida, combined single-family and multifamily housing starts were 4% lower in 2025 versus 2024, total building permits were 5.2% lower, and national single-family starts totaled 943,000, down 6.9%. This softer construction backdrop coincides with Lee County's 14.5% month-over-month formation decline in February 2026. Florida Realtors, Overall Housing Starts Inched Lower in 2025, 2026-02-18
- Visit Florida reported approximately 39.88 million travelers visited Florida in Q1 2026, down 1.0% from Q1 2025. Canadian visitation is estimated at 1.05 million for the quarter, and overseas visitation rose 8.5% to 2.3 million. Florida hotels sold 0.6% more rooms in Q1 2026 than in Q1 2025. February sits at the center of the peak snowbird window. Visit Florida, Q1 2026 Tourism Data press release, 2026-05-22
- Citizens Property Insurance Corp.'s board voted to file for a 2.6% average rate decrease for personal lines taking effect June 1, 2026; nearly half of personal-lines consumers are projected to see an average reduction of about 11.5%, saving roughly $359 per year. Citizens expects to end 2025 with about 385,000 policies, its lowest count ever. Insurance Journal, 2025-12-11
Southeast Florida (Gold Coast, Treasure Coast & Keys)
22,205 formations(36.8% of state)
Management of Companies & Enterprises produced 4,307 formations in Southeast Florida, by far the highest regional share of that category statewide. That holding company density, combined with 22,205 total formations and a 36.8% state share, confirms the region's role as Florida's primary capital structuring address.
Southeast Florida posted 22,205 new business formations in February 2026, 36.8% of the statewide total of 60,619. The region is the uncontested formation center of Florida. The next closest region, Tampa Bay, finished at 11,140.
Month over month, the region fell 6.8% from January's 23,819 formations. That decline mirrors the statewide pattern: January is usually the strongest filing month of the year, so a February pullback is the norm, not a sign of softening demand. The year over year read is the more useful benchmark. Against February 2025's 20,957 formations, this month is up 6.0%. The region grew faster than the statewide 5.8% year over year gain.
Miami-Dade anchors the region at 11,338 formations, down 6.1% from January. Broward added 5,592, Palm Beach 4,134, and St. Lucie 440. Those four counties add up to the regional figure. None appear in the rising county list for this month, so the growth came through the region's established base, not a sudden surge in any single market.
The industry profile here is distinctive. Management of Companies & Enterprises accounted for 4,307 formations in Southeast Florida, the highest count of any industry and region pairing. That category includes holding companies, LLCs formed to own investment assets, and multi entity management structures. A holding company is a business set up mainly to own other businesses or assets rather than to sell anything itself. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services followed at 1,962, then Real Estate and Rental & Leasing at 1,356. Those three categories together account for most of the region's separation from the rest of the state per formation.
Wells Fargo's January 2026 announcement that it is moving its wealth management headquarters to West Palm Beach, signing a 50,000 square foot lease at One Flagler with about 100 people including senior executives, is a concrete example of the institutional pull that reinforces entity formation in this corridor. A unit whose business generated $16 billion in revenue last year, about a fifth of the company total, choosing Palm Beach County sends a signal the broader formation data reflects. (Source: Insurance Journal, https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2026/01/21/855045.htm)
CBRE's 2026 update documented six company headquarters relocations to Miami from other U.S. metropolitan areas during 2025, drawn from metros such as Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Boston, and Florida ranked 5th nationally on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index. That relocation activity is one structural driver behind the Management of Companies share in the February filing data. (Source: CBRE Insights, https://www.cbre.com/insights/viewpoints/business-insights-the-shifting-landscape-of-headquarters-relocations-2026-update)
PortMiami recorded 8,564,225 cruise passengers in Fiscal Year 2025, a 4.02% increase over the prior year and the highest annual count in the seaport's history. MIA and PortMiami together generate more than $242.8 billion in combined economic impact and support nearly 1.2 million jobs across Florida. That infrastructure base creates sustained demand for service, logistics, and hospitality sector entities in Miami-Dade. (Source: Miami-Dade County official press release, https://www.miamidade.gov/global/release.page?Mduid_release=rel1764622080449470; Miami International Airport newsroom, https://news.miami-airport.com/mia-and-portmiami-fuel-miami-dades-economy-with-record-2428-billion-impact/)
Tourism and seasonal demand
Hospitality and tourism formations are not broken out separately in the region level industry list. At the statewide level, Accommodation & Food Services posted 1,603 formations and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation posted 1,801 formations in February 2026. In Southeast Florida, Arts, Entertainment & Recreation accounted for 611 formations. February sits at the peak of South Florida's high season. PortMiami's record fiscal year 2025 cruise volume (8,564,225 passengers, up 4.02% year over year) and new vessels for the 2025 to 2026 season, including Norwegian Luna and Star Seeker, align with formation activity in Miami-Dade's hospitality corridor. Visit Florida reported 39.88 million travelers visited Florida in Q1 2026, with February at the center of the peak snowbird window. (Source: Visit Florida Q1 2026 Tourism Data press release, https://www.visitflorida.org/about-us/media/news-releases/article-details/?releaseId=21322)
Property holding and short term rentals
Property holding and short term rental entity counts are not available at the region level. Statewide, the property holding category produced 7,216 formations in February 2026, and 549 of those sorted as short term or seasonal rental entities, 7.6% of the property holding group and the highest single month count in the trailing 25 month window. Southeast Florida's density of holding company and asset protection entities shows in the 4,307 Management of Companies formations and the 1,356 Real Estate and Rental & Leasing formations in the region. The compliance cost environment reinforces the LLC holding structure: active platform data sharing arrangements exist in Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, and Pinellas counties, first time short term rental violations now commonly result in $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day, and combined tax obligations reach 9% to 17% of gross rental revenue depending on jurisdiction. (Source: Hampton Real Estate Advisors, https://www.hamptonrea.com/guides/short-term-rental-regulations-in-florida-what-investors-need-to-know-2026-update/) Florida's SB 316, signed June 20, 2025 and effective July 1, 2026, creates the Protected Series LLC structure, letting a single parent LLC form internal series each with independently held assets and segregated liability, particularly relevant to multi property real estate investors. (Source: Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, https://www.shumaker.com/insight/client-alert-governor-desantis-signs-sb-316-2025-allowing-formation-of-florida-series-llcs-starting-july-1-2026/)
Government & policy
- Wells Fargo announced on January 21, 2026 that it is moving the headquarters for its wealth-management business to West Palm Beach, signing a lease for 50,000 square feet at the One Flagler office building, with about 100 people including senior executives to relocate by year-end. The wealth unit generated $16 billion in revenue last year, about a fifth of the company total. This coincides with Palm Beach County's February 2026 formation count of 4,134. Insurance Journal, 2026-01-21
- Florida HB 1389 (Live Local Act 4.0), approved by the Legislature March 13, 2026 with an effective date of July 1, 2026, extends Florida's affordable-housing zoning preemptions to city, county, school-board, and religious-institution land and moves tax exemption vesting to the building permit stage. As of March 9, 2026, 55,000 housing units across 182 projects were proposed statewide, with 6,316 units under construction in 14 projects. The top counties for activity were Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Broward, Palm Beach, and Orange, the same counties that lead February 2026 formation volume. Bilzin Sumberg, Florida Passes House Bill 1389 Updating Live Local Act, 2026-03-13
- Governor DeSantis signed SB 316 on June 20, 2025, creating Florida's Protected Series LLC law effective July 1, 2026. The structure allows a single parent LLC to form internal series, each able to independently hold assets and assume liabilities, with liability segregation between series. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick gives real estate investors who own multiple properties as the example use, each property associated with a separate series. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, Client Alert SB 316, 2025-07-07
- As of early 2026, active platform data-sharing arrangements exist in Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, and Pinellas counties. First-time STR violations that previously drew $250 to $500 fines now commonly result in $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day. Annual licensing overhead ranges from $175 to $980 or more depending on jurisdiction, with combined tax obligations reaching 9% to 17% of gross rental revenue. This compliance cost environment aligns with the incentive to hold STR assets inside a dedicated LLC rather than personally. Hampton Real Estate Advisors, Short-Term Rental Regulations in Florida 2026 Update, 2026-01-01
Corroboration
- PortMiami recorded 8,564,225 cruise passengers in Fiscal Year 2025, a 4.02% increase over the prior year (8,233,056) and the highest annual passenger count in the seaport's history. The 2025-2026 cruise season introduced new vessels including Norwegian Luna and Star Seeker. The port's cruise activity aligns with Miami-Dade County leading Florida business formation in February 2026 at 11,338 new entities. Miami-Dade County official press release, 2026-01-01
- MIA and PortMiami together generate more than $242.8 billion in combined economic impact and support nearly 1.2 million direct, indirect, induced, and related jobs across Florida, with MIA's individual impact at $181.4 billion and 842,703 jobs. This infrastructure backdrop coincides with Southeast Florida accounting for 36.8% of all Florida new business formations in February 2026. Miami International Airport newsroom, 2026-01-01
- CBRE's 2026 update documented six company headquarters relocations to Miami from other U.S. metropolitan areas during 2025, from metros such as Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Boston, and Florida ranked 5th overall on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index. This corporate migration aligns with Southeast Florida generating 22,205 new business formations in February 2026, 36.8% of the statewide total and a 6.0% year-over-year gain. CBRE Insights, 2026-02-01
- Wells Fargo announced on January 21, 2026 that it is moving its wealth-management headquarters to West Palm Beach, signing a 50,000-square-foot lease at One Flagler with about 100 people including senior executives moving by year-end. The wealth unit generated $16 billion in revenue last year. This coincides with Palm Beach County's February 2026 formation count of 4,134. Insurance Journal, 2026-01-21
Section 3
Industry spotlights
Property holding LLCs held the floor as insurance and rules pushed assets into entities
Property Holding and Asset Protection was the most seasonally stubborn major category in February. It fell just 3.3% from January, to 7,216 formations, while the statewide total dropped 6.7% and operating categories like Professional Services and Finance and Insurance shed 13.0% and 15.9%. Property holding LLCs do not follow the seasonal filing rhythm of operating businesses because their purpose is structural: hold and protect an asset, manage tax exposure. Asset protection means setting up a business so a lawsuit or debt against one property cannot reach the owner's other money.
Inside that group, the short term rental piece moved against the tide. Short term rental formations rose 2.8% to 549, now 7.6% of property holding, even as broad volume contracted. A short term rental is a home rented to guests for brief stays. February is the center of Florida's snowbird window, and founders stood up new rental holding entities during the high season rather than waiting. The 7,216 and the 549 are solid counts for the month.
The backdrop is cost and rules. Florida's average annual homeowners premium reached $8,292 in 2025, up 18%, per Insurify. The new Protected Series LLC law (SB 316) takes effect July 1, 2026, letting one parent LLC fence off each property in a separate series, a structure the law firm describes as built for investors holding multiple properties. On the short term rental side, first time violation fines that once ran $250 to $500 now commonly reach $1,500 to $5,000 per day, per Hampton Real Estate Advisors, raising the reason to hold each rental inside a dedicated entity. Naming data backs it up: 'property' was the fastest rising word in February filings.
Region concentration: Real Estate placed 1,356 of its 4,321 statewide formations in Southeast Florida (31.4%), slightly below Southeast's 36.8% overall share, so the category is more evenly spread than average.
The most reliable lead segment in the month's filings is asset structuring activity: property holding LLCs and the 1,572 address named entities whose asset is in the name. These are unlikely B2B or B2C prospects but are prime for vendors selling to real estate investors, landlords, and property managers.
- Florida's average annual cost of home insurance hit $8,292 in 2025, an 18% increase over 2024, with the state average projected at $8,458 by year-end 2026. Insurify, 2026-03-18
- Governor DeSantis signed SB 316 on June 20, 2025, creating Florida's Protected Series LLC law effective July 1, 2026, allowing a single parent LLC to form internal series each able to independently hold assets and assume liabilities, which the firm gives as particularly useful for real estate investors who own multiple properties in separate series. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, Client Alert SB 316, 2025-07-07
- As of early 2026, first-time short-term-rental violations that previously drew $250 to $500 fines now commonly result in $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day, with annual licensing overhead of $175 to $980 or more and combined tax obligations reaching 9% to 17% of gross rental revenue. Hampton Real Estate Advisors, Short-Term Rental Regulations in Florida 2026 Update, 2026-01-01
- Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corp. expects to end 2025 with about 385,000 policies, its lowest count ever, and its board voted to file for a 2.6% average rate decrease for personal lines effective June 1, 2026, with nearly half of personal-lines consumers seeing an average reduction of about 11.5%. Insurance Journal, 2025-12-11
The support trades that service property and rentals stayed near the top of the mix
Property and rental assets need servicing, and the categories that do that work held meaningful share in February. Administrative and Support Services posted 3,397 formations (5.6%), Transportation and Logistics 2,654 (4.4%), and Personal and Other Services 2,771 (4.6%). Each fell broadly in line with the seasonal pullback (down 7.2%, 6.3%, and 3.1% respectively), none collapsing the way Finance and Insurance did.
A precise tie between this support work and property holding or short term rental formation by region is not something these records measure. We will not invent a link the records do not show.
What the regional table does show: support and trades activity clusters where the property does. Tampa Bay led Construction count at 707 formations, and Southwest Florida ran 306 Construction formations on only 5.5% of statewide volume, running above its weight. The cleanest read is shared geography, not a measured link.
Region concentration: Construction is comparatively spread: Tampa Bay leads count at 707, while Southwest Florida's 306 on a 5.5% regional share runs above its overall weight. Southeast leads the table at 1,211 Construction formations.
Service trade formation tracks the property and construction footprint by geography, which makes Tampa Bay and the property heavy Southeast the densest pools for vendors selling to landscapers, cleaners, haulers, and property managers. The exact cross category link is not a February number.
- Florida SB 290, the 2026 Farm Bill signed March 23, 2026 (effective July 1, 2026), bans cities and counties from outlawing gas-powered landscape equipment such as leaf blowers, removing a potential operating-cost variable for landscaping and grounds-maintenance businesses. WUSF, DeSantis signs wide-ranging Florida farm bill into law, 2026-03-23
- Florida HB 803, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, exempts an owner of a single-family dwelling from the building-permit requirement for work valued under $7,500 and deems a permit approved as a matter of law if the local building official does not respond within 10 business days, streamlining small-dollar trades permitting. Adams and Reese LLP, Florida HB 803: Beyond the $7,500 Exception, 2026-05-07
- A December 2025 Florida permitting forecast noted residential permit approvals trending 10 to 20% longer in review time, with Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, and Orange counties anticipated to face increased review queues in 2026, and recommended submitting applications 90 to 120 days in advance. Suncoast Permits, Florida Construction Permit Industry Forecast, 2025-12-05
Hospitality formation softened modestly while the cruise and visitor base stayed near records
Hospitality and Tourism formations came in at 3,364 (5.6% of the active mix), down 5.7% from January, a milder pullback than the 6.7% statewide drop. Accommodation and Food Services specifically registered 1,603 formations, down 7.6%. February is peak season, and the data reads as steady high season entity formation rather than retreat.
The visitor base supporting that activity stayed near records. Florida set an annual visitor record in 2025 at roughly 143.3 million, and an estimated 39.88 million traveled to the state in Q1 2026, down 1.0% year over year, with overseas visitation up 8.5% to 2.3 million and Florida hotels selling 0.6% more rooms than a year earlier, per Visit Florida. The cruise side is expanding: Port Tampa Bay is tracking toward about 1.8 million passengers and 394 calls in 2026, and PortMiami logged 8,564,225 passengers in FY2025, its highest ever.
The hospitality formation read connects to the short term rental story. The 549 short term rental holding entities formed in February sit at the lodging supply end of the same tourism economy, and they grew while the broader hospitality category eased.
Region concentration: Arts, Entertainment and Recreation placed 611 of its 1,801 statewide formations in Southeast Florida and 323 in Tampa Bay, tracking the coastal tourism corridors.
Hospitality formation is holding up better than the statewide average heading into the tourism peak, and the short term rental sub segment is the growth edge. Vendors serving lodging operators and visitor facing services find the densest activity in the coastal metros.
- Visit Florida reported an estimated 39.88 million travelers visited Florida in Q1 2026, down 1.0% year over year, with overseas visitation up 8.5% to 2.3 million and Florida hotels selling 0.6% more rooms than in Q1 2025; February sits at the center of the peak snowbird window. Visit Florida, Q1 2026 Tourism Data press release, 2026-05-22
- Florida set a new annual visitor record in 2025 with approximately 143.3 million visitors, a 0.2% increase over 2024, with full-year Canadian visitation revised to about 3.17 million. WJHG, Florida sets new tourism record in 2025; early 2026 visits hold steady, 2026-05-26
- Port Tampa Bay is tracking toward approximately 1.8 million cruise passengers and 394 cruise ship calls in 2026, scheduled 51 cruise calls in March 2026 (its highest monthly total), and generates over $648 million in annual cruise economic impact for West Central Florida. Port Tampa Bay official press release, 2026-03-10
- PortMiami recorded 8,564,225 cruise passengers in Fiscal Year 2025, a 4.02% increase over the prior year and the highest annual count in its history, with new vessels including Norwegian Luna and Star Seeker in the 2025-2026 season. Miami-Dade County official press release, 2026-01-01
Healthcare formation eased on the month but climbed in the year over year ranking against a deep care worker gap
Healthcare formations totaled 2,962 in the sorted mix (4.9%), down 8.2% from January. A second view, Health Care and Social Assistance, shows 2,966 formations, and the category climbed one rank year over year to 7th from 8th. The month over month dip is seasonal. The rank climb is the cleaner signal, and it points up.
Florida's care worker gap keeps pressure on the sector. A 2025 America's Health Rankings Senior Report cited by the Home Care Association of Florida put Florida 50th, last, for availability of home health and personal care aides, at 16.0 aides per 1,000 seniors versus a national average of 62.0. That is a structural demand and supply gap, not a seasonal one.
Policy attention tracked the sector through the formation window. HB 693, a health care deregulation bill that would eliminate remaining Certificate of Need requirements for nursing homes, hospice, and intermediate care facilities, cleared the House Health Care Facilities and Systems Subcommittee 12-4 on January 29, 2026. Its January advance overlapped the period these healthcare entities were forming.
Region concentration: Health Care concentrated in Southeast Florida at 1,244 of 2,966 statewide (41.9%), above Southeast's 36.8% overall share, running higher there than average. Tampa Bay was next at 546.
Healthcare climbed in the year over year industry ranking, and the aide shortage plus aging population point to durable demand for new home care and social assistance entities. The data captures formation, not staffing, so the workforce gap is context, not a measured count here.
- A 2025 America's Health Rankings Senior Report cited by the Home Care Association of Florida found Florida ranks 50th in the nation for availability of home health and personal care aides, at 16.0 aides per 1,000 seniors versus a national average of 62.0. Home Care Association of Florida, 2025-05-06
- Florida's House Health Care Facilities and Systems Subcommittee approved HB 693 in a 12-4 vote on January 29, 2026, eliminating the state's Certificate of Need process that restricts the addition of nursing homes, hospice providers, and intermediate care facilities, and expanding scope of practice for advanced practice nurses. Observer Local News, Florida house panel approves major health care bill, 2026-01-30
Education and Wholesale bucked the tide; Finance and Insurance led the decline
In a month where almost every category fell, two grew. Education rose 9.0% to 632 formations and Wholesale and Distribution rose 5.9% to 759. Both are small in absolute terms but moved against a broad contraction, the clearest counter trend signals in the mix.
On the downside, Finance and Insurance fell hardest at 15.9% month over month, to 860 formations, far steeper than the 6.7% statewide drop. Professional Services fell 13.0% to 5,017, Retail 10.3% to 1,864, and Technology and Media 10.0% to 1,084. The pattern points to a January season effect that skewed heavily toward white collar and financial formation, with February's pullback sharpest in those same categories. The rank order across the top 10 was completely stable month over month, so these are proportional moves, not a structural reshuffle.
Note one cross current. Finance and Insurance fell as a category, but 'advisory' nearly tripled its naming rate to 3.68 per 1,000, a hint that the mix within finance is tilting toward smaller, founder run advisory entities even as the headline count drops. Industry level month over month figures are best read as directional.
Region concentration: Transportation and Warehousing placed 527 formations in Central Florida, outpacing Central's 15.7% overall geographic share, a logistics lean along the I-4 corridor.
The down moves are a seasonal pullback from January's white collar surge, not a demand collapse, since the year over year statewide read is still up 5.8%. Education and Wholesale are the genuine February standouts on the upside.
- Blue Origin's Project Horizon expansion on Florida's Space Coast involves a $600 million capital investment and an 830,000-square-foot upper stage manufacturing facility expected to support 500 aerospace jobs, with Blue Origin having invested more than $2.3 billion across 500 Florida suppliers and expanded to 11 sites across Brevard and Orange Counties. Space Florida, 2026-05-01
Section 4
Anomalies & notables
The standout story this month is about shifts among existing players, not the arrival of new ones. Both the new industry and new county lists are empty: every industry group and every county that appears in February also appeared in the trailing 25 months. There is no genuinely new segment or place breaking in.
The cleanest signal is Holmes County. It recorded 39 formations against a usual level of 18.1, with a z-score of 3.04, more than three steps above its own norm and the single most significant county standout this month. A z-score shows how far above or below its normal level a county ran. The caveat is volume: at 39 filings, a single batch of submissions could explain the whole spike.
On the industry side, Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction posted 27 formations against a usual level of 15.0, a z-score of 2.78, just above the threshold that draws attention. Treat this one as directional only. At 27 filings, a handful of registrations swings the score. We do not call this an organic spike.
The naming color reinforces the structural read rather than introducing a new one. 'property' led the trending words at 12.34 per 1,000, up 2.68, and 1,572 address named LLCs (2.6% of named formations) are the cleanest sign of a property holding entity, roughly 53 such filings per day. The property naming signal and the property holding count point the same way, which makes both reads more reliable.
| Series | This month | Baseline | z | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holmes | 39 | 18.1 | 3.04 | above |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil & Gas Extraction | 27 | 15 | 2.78 | above |
Artifact check: No single registered agent stands out. The top registered agent, Northwest Registered Agent LLC, handled 2,522 formations, a 4.18% share, well under the 10% level that would flag a possible batch filing. The month's counts are not skewed by a single filer. There is no county by county breakdown of agent share, so a local batch behind the Holmes County spike cannot be ruled out from this alone.
Naming color: 'property' was the fastest rising business name word at 745 occurrences, 12.34 per 1,000, up 2.68 over its usual level, the largest lift in the month. 'collective' roughly doubled to 5.32 per 1,000 and 'advisory' nearly tripled to 3.68. The 1,572 address named LLCs (2.6% of named entities) are the most reliable sign of a property holding entity because they come straight from the name itself. A trending word captures naming behavior, not a formal category: a name containing 'property' does not guarantee a property holding business.
Section 5
What it means
February 2026 reads as a healthy month losing a little altitude. Year over year formation is up 5.8%, the trailing 12 month total is rising, and the month over month dip is the seasonal January to February step down Florida shows every year. The honest qualifier is pace: this is the first back to back decline in the current run, so the growth margin is likely to narrow before it widens. A new filing is a leading sign of business intent. It is a founder committing to a legal entity, which usually comes before hiring, leasing, and spending.
The geographic signal is the one to act on. Tampa Bay and the Panhandle grew near 19% year over year against Southeast Florida's 6.0%, and Pasco County climbed three ranks. The center of gravity stays in Southeast Florida at 36.8% of volume, but the rate of new activity is shifting north and west along the Gulf. For anyone targeting new businesses, Southeast is the volume pool and Tampa Bay is the momentum pool.
The most durable, identifiable segment is property and asset protection structuring. Property holding formations held their floor, the short term rental piece grew into peak season, address named LLCs ran near 53 a day, and 'property' led the naming trends. High insurance costs, the new Protected Series LLC law, and tightening short term rental rules all push assets into dedicated entities. That group is the cleanest lead segment in the filings, with the registered agent or signer as the contact point.
Honest limits
- This is identity and address data only. Each filing carries a business name, business type, main address, and registered agent. It does not contain revenue, employment, payroll, or any contact email or phone. Every count is a formation count, not a measure of active operation, jobs, or money.
- Florida's official business records do not include email or phone. Any statement about hiring, spending, or revenue is an inference from formation behavior, not a measured figure in this data.
- Per resident formation rates are not available. County population is not part of these records, so all regional comparisons are plain counts and shares. Smaller regions may rank differently per resident.
- Month over month figures carry Florida's strong January to February seasonal pattern. The year over year read is the cleaner directional signal and should anchor any trend judgment.
- Industry level month over month and z-score figures are best read as directional. County level standouts are reliable.
- The sorted mix total (60,370 active formations) is slightly under the headline total (60,619 all formations); the headline total is the report number and the mix sits over active formations.
- Window records are records within the rolling 25 month window (Feb 2024 through Feb 2026), never all time. February 2026 set no window record in either direction.
Section 6
Methodology & sources
Florida new business formations for the calendar month of February 2026 (February 1 through February 28, 2026), drawn from the official Florida Division of Corporations business registration records, also known as Sunbiz. Totals cover all business types statewide: 60,619 formations. Comparisons use January 2026 (prior month, 64,983) and February 2025 (prior year, 57,276). The trailing analysis window spans 25 months, February 2024 through February 2026.
Two views of industries are reported. The first keeps the 'Other' group, businesses that do not sort into a named category, in the totals but holds it out of the top list per the standard breakdown. The second is a plain category rollup that surfaces the Property Holding and Asset Protection category and its short term rental piece. 'Other' in that view is simply businesses whose records do not map to a named category. Every business is sorted; this is not missing data.
- Identity and address data only: business name, business type, main address, registered agent. No revenue, employment, payroll, email, or phone. All figures are formation counts, not measures of active operation.
- Per resident formation rates cannot be computed; county population is not part of these records, so all regional comparisons are plain counts and shares.
- Businesses are sorted into categories based on what each one does; industry level month over month changes and z-scores are best read as directional. County level standouts are reliable.
- Property holding and short term rental counts are solid for February 2026. Most businesses are not property holdings, so this is a smaller share of the whole, not a gap in the records.
- The sorted category mix total (60,370 active formations) sits slightly below the headline total (60,619); the headline total is the report number.
- The unassigned geography group (7,743 formations, blank or out of state main address) is shown on its own so the seven named regions plus unassigned add up to the total; it is not silently dropped.
- Window records are within the 25 month rolling window only, never all time. February 2026 set no window record.
- A direct link between the support service group and property holding or short term rental formation by region is not measured in these records.
External sources
- Adams and Reese LLP, Florida HB 803: Beyond the $7,500 Exception (2026-05-07) Florida HB 803, signed May 7, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, exempts an owner of a single-family dwelling from the building-permit requirement for work valued under $7,500 and deems a permit approved as a matter of law if officials do not respond within 10 business days; it also requires permit fee reductions of at least 25% for partial private-provider services and 50% for full private-provider commercial services.
- Bilzin Sumberg, Florida Passes House Bill 1389 Updating Live Local Act (2026-03-13) Florida HB 1389 (Live Local Act 4.0), approved March 13, 2026, extends affordable-housing zoning preemptions to city, county, school-board, and religious-institution land; as of March 9, 2026, 55,000 units across 182 projects were proposed statewide with 6,316 units in 14 projects under construction, led by Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Broward, Palm Beach, and Orange.
- WUSF, DeSantis signs wide-ranging Florida farm bill into law (2026-03-23) Florida SB 290, the 2026 Farm Bill signed March 23, 2026 (effective July 1, 2026), bans cities and counties from outlawing gas-powered landscape equipment; it passed the Senate unanimously and the House 94-10.
- Observer Local News, Florida house panel approves major health care bill (2026-01-30) Florida's House Health Care Facilities and Systems Subcommittee approved HB 693 (eliminating the Certificate of Need process for nursing homes, hospice, and intermediate care) 12-4 on January 29, 2026.
- Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP, Client Alert SB 316 (2025-07-07) Governor DeSantis signed SB 316 on June 20, 2025, creating Florida's Protected Series LLC law effective July 1, 2026, particularly useful for real estate investors holding multiple properties in separate ring-fenced series.
- Insurify (2026-03-18) Florida's average annual cost of home insurance hit $8,292 in 2025, an 18% increase over 2024, projected at $8,458 by year-end 2026.
- Insurance Journal (2025-12-11) Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corp. expects to end 2025 with about 385,000 policies, its lowest count ever, and voted to file for a 2.6% average rate decrease effective June 1, 2026, with nearly half of personal-lines consumers seeing an average reduction of about 11.5% (about $359 per year).
- Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, Client Alert: Sarasota Vacation Rental Ordinance 25-5560 (2025-07-21) Sarasota City Ordinance 25-5560 sets a $500 application fee for the initial certificate of registration, a $200 late fee for an untimely application, and requires the owner to contact the city within 30 days to schedule any required inspection.
- Hampton Real Estate Advisors, Short-Term Rental Regulations in Florida 2026 Update (2026-01-01) As of early 2026, first-time STR violations that previously drew $250 to $500 fines now commonly result in $1,500 to $5,000 per violation per day, with combined tax obligations reaching 9% to 17% of gross rental revenue, and active data-sharing arrangements in Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, and Pinellas counties.
- Avantio, Florida Short-Term Rental Laws 2026 (2026-01-01) Florida's SB 280 (statewide STR standardization) passed in 2024 but was vetoed in June 2024, leaving the preemption clause in Florida Statutes 509.032(7)(b), which prevents local governments from prohibiting or regulating duration and frequency of short-term rentals unless the ordinance predates June 1, 2011.
- Visit Florida, Q1 2026 Tourism Data press release (2026-05-22) Visit Florida reported an estimated 39.88 million travelers in Q1 2026, down 1.0% YoY, with overseas visitation up 8.5% to 2.3 million and hotels selling 0.6% more rooms than Q1 2025.
- WJHG, Florida sets new tourism record in 2025 (2026-05-26) Florida set a new annual visitor record in 2025 with approximately 143.3 million visitors, a 0.2% increase over 2024, with full-year Canadian visitation revised to about 3.17 million.
- Port Tampa Bay official press release (2026-03-10) Port Tampa Bay is tracking toward about 1.8 million cruise passengers and 394 calls in 2026, scheduled 51 calls in March 2026 (its highest monthly total), expects 53 three-ship days, and generates over $648 million in annual cruise economic impact.
- Miami-Dade County official press release (2026-01-01) PortMiami recorded 8,564,225 cruise passengers in FY2025, a 4.02% increase over the prior year (8,233,056) and the highest annual count in its history, with new vessels including Norwegian Luna and Star Seeker in the 2025-2026 season.
- Miami International Airport newsroom (2026-01-01) MIA and PortMiami together generate more than $242.8 billion in combined economic impact and support nearly 1.2 million jobs across Florida, with MIA's individual impact at $181.4 billion and 842,703 jobs.
- Government Market News, Miami-Dade advances $927M Northeast rapid transit corridor (2026-02-17) Miami-Dade provided a February 2026 update on its $927.3 million Northeast Corridor Rapid Transit project, a 13.5-mile commuter rail line, with 60% design due May 2026 and operations projected for 2032.
- FOX 13 Tampa Bay (2026-01-01) Construction began in January 2026 on Tampa's estimated $1 billion Westshore Interchange project connecting I-275 to the Howard Frankland Bridge, SR-60, and Kennedy Boulevard, with phase-one completion expected by 2030.
- Space Coast Daily, Port Canaveral's 2026 Transformation (2026-03-01) Port Canaveral is building a $93 million, 3,732-space cruise parking garage scheduled to open in fall 2026, part of a $912 million five-year transformation program, and expects a record 9 million cruise passengers in 2026.
- Space Florida (2026-05-01) Blue Origin's Project Horizon expansion on Florida's Space Coast involves a $600 million investment and an 830,000-square-foot upper-stage manufacturing facility expected to support 500 aerospace jobs, with more than $2.3 billion invested across 500 Florida suppliers and 11 sites across Brevard and Orange Counties.
- Jax Daily Record (2026-02-24) The Jacksonville Jaguars moved business operations into One Tower Court in Downtown Jacksonville in February 2026, taking the second through fourth floors of the six-story, 137,000-square-foot building, driven by the $1.4 billion Stadium of the Future renovation at EverBank Stadium.
- Jax Daily Record (2026-02-13) Northeast Florida's early-2026 commercial real estate market saw St. Johns County retail vacancy at 2% across a 13.9-million-square-foot market, the Jacksonville metro at more than 5% of U.S. retail demand in 2025 (0.5% of U.S. population), industrial leasing of 213 deals totaling 6.3 million square feet, and office leasing up 37.7% year over year.
- Insurance Journal (2026-01-21) Wells Fargo announced January 21, 2026 it is moving its wealth-management headquarters to West Palm Beach, signing a 50,000-square-foot lease at One Flagler with about 100 people moving by year-end; the wealth unit generated $16 billion in revenue last year.
- CBRE Insights (2026-02-01) CBRE documented six company HQ relocations to Miami from other U.S. metros in 2025, and Florida ranked 5th nationally on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index.
- Florida Realtors, Overall Housing Starts Inched Lower in 2025 (2026-02-18) In the South region, including Florida, combined single-family and multifamily housing starts were 4% lower in 2025 versus 2024, and total building permits were 5.2% lower; national single-family starts totaled 943,000, down 6.9%.
- Suncoast Permits, Florida Construction Permit Industry Forecast (2025-12-05) A December 2025 Florida permitting forecast noted residential permit approvals trending 10 to 20% longer in review time, with Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, and Orange counties facing increased 2026 review queues and a recommendation to submit applications 90 to 120 days in advance.
- Home Care Association of Florida (2025-05-06) A 2025 America's Health Rankings Senior Report cited by the Home Care Association of Florida found Florida ranks 50th for availability of home health and personal care aides, at 16.0 aides per 1,000 seniors versus a national average of 62.0.
Frequently asked questions
- How many new businesses formed in Florida in February 2026, and was that up or down?
- 60,619 new business formations statewide. That is up 5.8% from February 2025 (57,276) and down 6.7% from January 2026 (64,983). The year over year gain is the real signal; the month over month drop is Florida's normal January to February seasonal step down, visible in both years of records.
- Is Florida business formation slowing down?
- The level is still rising year over year and the trailing 12 month total (691,908) edges above the prior window (688,565), so the direction is up. The pace is compressing, though. This is the first back to back decline in the current run, and the 3 month average of 58,578.7 sits well below January's spike. Growing and slowing at once.
- Which Florida regions grew fastest?
- Tampa Bay led major region year over year growth at 18.9% (11,140 formations), followed by the Northwest Panhandle at 18.4% (2,238). Southeast Florida grew 6.0% but still holds the largest share at 36.8% of all formations (22,205). Pasco County climbed three ranks year over year, the largest top 10 county rank move.
- What is the 'unassigned' region and why does it matter?
- 7,743 formations (12.8% of the total) carry a blank or out of state main address and map to no Florida county. It is the third largest geographic group and grew 18.4% year over year. It is shown on its own so the seven named regions plus unassigned add up to the 60,619 total. Of these, 2,445 are explicitly coded out of state.
- Why is property holding formation a standout?
- Property Holding and Asset Protection formations (7,216, 12.0% of the active mix) fell just 3.3% on the month against a 6.7% statewide drop, the short term rental piece inside it grew 2.8% to 549, and 'property' was the fastest rising word in business names. High insurance costs, the new Protected Series LLC law effective July 1, 2026, and tighter short term rental rules all push assets into dedicated entities.
- What does this data include and exclude?
- It includes business name, business type, main address, and registered agent for every filing. It excludes revenue, employment, payroll, and contact email or phone, which Florida's official business records do not include. Every figure is a formation count, a leading sign of business intent, not a measure of active operation or jobs. Per resident rates are not available because county population is not part of these records.
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