Nationwide Business Entity Search: How to Look Up a Company in Any US State
Looking for one nationwide business entity search that covers the whole United States? It does not exist — and understanding why is the key to finding any American company's official record. This page explains how the US registry system actually works and routes you to the right official database.
Every week, people search for a “US company register,” a “business registration database USA,” or an American version of the UK’s Companies House. The search itself is reasonable — most countries do keep one national company register. The United States is the exception, and that surprises founders, researchers, journalists, and overseas partners alike.
The good news: once you know which of the 51 registries to open, US company records are free to search and often more current than commercial data aggregators. This page is the map.
Why the United States has no national company registry
In the US, forming a company is a matter of state law, not federal law. An LLC or corporation is created by filing formation documents with a state agency — usually the Secretary of State, though some states use a different office, such as the Arizona Corporation Commission or Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. That state, and only that state, holds the company’s official record.
There is no federal agency that charters ordinary companies, so there is no federal register to search. When people look for a “federal business entity search,” they are usually looking for one of the specialized federal systems covered below — securities filings, federal contractor records, or trademarks — none of which is a general company register.
Two consequences follow from this design:
- A company’s record lives where it was formed, not where it operates. A business headquartered in New York may be a Delaware LLC, because Delaware’s corporate law and Court of Chancery make it the most popular formation state for startups and large corporations. Its official record is in Delaware; New York would only show a foreign entity registration if the company registered to do business there.
- Names are only unique within one state. “Summit Holdings LLC” can exist simultaneously in Texas, Ohio, and Oregon as three unrelated companies. A nationwide business entity search would have to reconcile 51 independent name spaces — which is exactly why no official one exists. The flip side: once a name is free in the state you care about, claiming it is a state-level filing, not a national one.
Which registry do you actually need?
Different questions route to different official systems. Use this table to pick the right one before you start searching.
| You want to… | Search this system | What you get | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verify an LLC, corporation, or nonprofit exists | The state registry where it was formed (directory below) | Entity status, formation date, registered agent, filings | Entities registered in that state only |
| Research a publicly traded company | SEC EDGAR | Annual reports, prospectuses, officer and ownership disclosures | US public companies and SEC registrants |
| Check a supplier to the US government | SAM.gov | Unique Entity ID, registration status, exclusions | Entities registered for federal awards |
| Check a brand or trademark | USPTO trademark search | Federal trademark registrations and applications | Nationwide |
| Verify a charity or nonprofit’s tax-exempt status | IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search | Exemption status, Form 990 filings | US tax-exempt organizations |
| Identify a company’s ultimate owners | No public system | Beneficial ownership data reported to FinCEN is not publicly searchable | — |
A note on scope: none of these systems — state or federal — is a live credit bureau or a licensing board. State registries confirm that an entity legally exists and show its public filings; they do not certify that a business is trustworthy, licensed for its trade, or in good financial health.
Search the official registry in each state
Each link below opens a guide to that state’s official database: where the search page is, how its results work, and what the record shows. The guides are maintained by EntitySearch.us and always point to the government source.
For a compact state-by-state matrix with official portal links, agency contact details, filing facts, and business application activity, use the Secretary of State business search directory.
Prefer one page with search built in? The EntitySearch.us home page has the full directory with a state filter and a preliminary name search.
How to find which state a company is registered in
If you don’t know where a company was formed, work through these steps in order:
- Start with the state where it operates. Most small businesses form in their home state. Search the registry of the state on the company’s website, invoice, or storefront address.
- Try Delaware next. If the company is a startup, an investment vehicle, or a large corporation, Delaware is the most likely formation state — more than a million entities are registered there.
- Check the operating state for a foreign registration. Companies doing business outside their formation state usually appear in the local registry as a foreign entity, and that record typically names the home state.
- For public companies, use SEC EDGAR. The first pages of a 10-K or S-1 filing state the company’s state of incorporation.
- Search neighboring states and business-friendly states. Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico, and Florida are common choices for privacy- or tax-motivated formations.
There are also commercial aggregators — OpenCorporates is the largest open one — that index many state registries in a single search. They are useful shortcuts for locating the home state, but records can lag; always confirm details in the official state database before relying on them.
The US equivalent of Companies House
If you are used to the UK’s Companies House — or a register like it — this translation table maps what you normally look up to its closest American counterpart.
| On Companies House | Closest US equivalent | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Company number | State entity or file number | Assigned by each state; formats differ, and there is no national numbering system |
| Registered office address | Registered agent name and address | Shown in nearly every state record |
| Officers and directors | Varies by state | Some states list officers or LLC members; others (including Delaware for LLCs) do not |
| Filing history | State filing list | Many portals show documents free of charge; some states charge for copies |
| Annual accounts | No equivalent for private companies | US private companies do not file public financial statements — the single biggest difference from the UK |
| Company status | State status field | Labels differ by state: Active, Good Standing, Revoked, Administratively Dissolved, and more |
| PSC register (beneficial owners) | FinCEN beneficial ownership reports | Not publicly searchable |
The practical takeaway for international researchers: a US state record verifies existence, status, age, and the registered agent. It rarely tells you who owns the company and never shows its accounts. If you need financials on a private US company, they must come from the company itself.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a nationwide LLC search database?
No official one exists. Each state maintains its own LLC records, so a truly nationwide LLC lookup means checking each relevant state registry. Commercial aggregators bundle many states into one search, but they are unofficial and can lag behind the state record, so confirm any result at the source.
What is the US equivalent of Companies House?
There is no single equivalent. The closest combination is the 51 state registries (for existence, status, and filings) plus SEC EDGAR (for public-company reports and financials). For most Companies House tasks — checking a company number, status, or registered address — the state registry is the right counterpart.
Is there a federal business entity search?
No. The federal government does not charter ordinary companies, so it keeps no general company register. Federal systems cover specific niches: EDGAR for securities filings, SAM.gov for government contractors, the USPTO for trademarks, and the IRS for tax-exempt organizations.
How do I check if a company is registered in the USA?
Identify the most likely state — usually where the company operates, or Delaware for startups and large corporations — and search that state’s official registry for the exact name. If nothing matches, check nearby states and common formation states such as Wyoming, Nevada, and Florida, or use an aggregator to locate the home state, then verify officially.
Can I check a business name across all states at once?
Not through any official channel, and for most purposes you don’t need to: entity names are only reserved within a single state. If you are naming a new company, check the state where you will register, then run a USPTO trademark search, since a federal trademark is what protects a name nationally.
Checking a business name across states
Because names are state-scoped, “is this name taken?” always resolves to a specific state. If you are researching an existing company, search the state where it operates. If you are choosing a name for a new company, check the state where you plan to register — and remember that a name being free in the registry is preliminary information, not a legal clearance or a trademark opinion.
Sources reviewed
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — EDGAR full-text search
- SAM.gov — entity information search
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — trademark search
- IRS — Tax Exempt Organization Search
- National Association of Secretaries of State
- Companies House (UK) — company information service, used for the UK-to-US comparison
EntitySearch.us is an independent reference site. It is not a government agency, is not affiliated with any Secretary of State office, and does not operate a live national company database. Every state guide on this site links to the official government source, which is always the authoritative record.