How to start a business in Austin, Texas

Austin saw 7,777 new Texas sales-tax permits from Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 (businesses with a Austin mailing address), up 42% on the year before. Here are the steps, the official places to do each one, and what kinds of businesses are opening locally.

Step by step

1. Pick a structure. In Austin, 64% of new permit holders were LLCs and 22% were sole proprietors. LLCs and corporations register with the Texas Secretary of State (SOSDirect).
2. Using a different business name? Sole proprietors and partnerships file an assumed name (DBA) certificate with the county clerk (Travis County or Williamson County or Hays County). LLCs and corporations file theirs with the Secretary of State.
3. Get an EIN from the IRS (free).
4. Sales-tax permit. If you sell taxable goods or services, apply with the Texas Comptroller. There's no fee for the permit itself; a security deposit can apply.
5. Hiring? Register with the Texas Workforce Commission for state unemployment tax.
6. Local rules. Check zoning, certificates of occupancy, signs, health permits (food businesses) and any local licenses with the City of Austin. Addresses outside city limits go through the county instead.
7. State licenses. Some trades need one from TDLR or another state board. The state's Office of the Governor small business page lists them.
8. Banking, insurance and books. Open a business bank account, get general liability insurance, and set up bookkeeping before your first sale.

What's opening in Austin

• New permits rose 42% compared with the 12 months before (5,488 then).
• The busiest month was Sep 2026 (913); the slowest was Nov 2025 (395).
• Professional services is over-represented: 1.7x its share statewide.
• Wholesale is under-represented at 0.8x the state share, which can mean less local competition.
• 64% of new permits went to LLCs.
• The single most common new business type in Austin was Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses (1,311 permits).

New permits by industry

Most common new business types

ZIP codes with the most new permits

Entity types

Monthly new permits

County data: Travis County new businesses · Williamson County new businesses · Hays County new businesses

Other cities: Houston · San Antonio · Dallas · Fort Worth · El Paso · Plano · Arlington · Lubbock · Corpus Christi · Frisco · McKinney · Brownsville · Laredo · Midland · Irving · Conroe · Odessa · Amarillo · Round Rock

Planning the money side? Try the budget calculator, or the Freelancer Get-Paid Kit for invoicing.

Notes on the data

Counts are new outlet sales-tax permits issued by the Texas Comptroller from Oct 2025 to Sep 2026, from the public Active Sales Tax Permit Holders dataset. A permit can be a brand-new business, a new location of an existing one, or a re-permit. Because the source lists only permits that are still active, the prior-year count leaves out businesses that have since closed, so year-over-year growth reads somewhat high. Businesses that don't sell taxable goods or services (many professional firms) don't need a permit and aren't counted. Updated 2026-10-15.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Fees and rules change; check each official site.

Data from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (public domain). Independent compilation, not affiliated with the State of Texas. Check the original source before relying on it. Not legal advice. Numbers are illustrative; your lender's statements control.