In the second quarter of 2024, 61 percent of surveyed small business owners indicated that the health of their business was in good shape. A further 24 percent of respondents said the health of their business was about average. At the end of 2019, small businesses in "very good" health peaked at 43 percent. By the end of 2020, this number fell to 25 percent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These small business statistics will tell you everything you need to know about the growth of business and where it’s going in the future.

In 2021, about **** million small business firms with employees were counted in the United States. That same year, there were around ** million non-employer small businesses.

During a survey on small businesses in the U.S. in August 2024, about 21 percent of the respondents stated that the most important problem for small businesses was quality of labor. Additionally, around 24 percent of survey participants said that inflation was the most important problem for their business, a slight increase from August 2023, when inflation was the biggest concern for 23 percent of businesses.

The following small business statistics broken down by industry to help you understand the small business landscape better.

In 2022, about ***** million small businesses in the professional, scientific, and technical services industry had no employees. A further ******* small business had one to 19 employees in the same industry.

According to a new study, women started 49% of new businesses in the United States in 2021. This is way up from 28% in 2019.

The number of small and medium-sized enterprises in the United States was forecast to continuously decrease between 2024 and 2029 by in total 6.7 thousand enterprises (-2.24 percent). After the fourteenth consecutive decreasing year, the number is estimated to reach 291.94 thousand enterprises and therefore a new minimum in 2029. According to the OECD an enterprise is defined as the smallest combination of legal units, which is an organisational unit producing services or goods, that benefits from a degree of autonomy with regards to the allocation of resources and decision making. Shown here are small and medium-sized enterprises, which are defined as companies with 1-249 employees.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

During a April 2022 survey, 21.6 percent of surveyed small businesses in the United States claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a large negative effect on business. In comparison, only 1.7 percent of respondents said that the pandemic had a large positive effect on their business.

In August 2024, the U.S. Small Business Optimism Index amounted to 91.2. This is a slight decrease from a value of 93.7 in the previous month. The index consists of 10 indicators derived from questions addressing small business owners: Plans to create employment; plans to make capital outlays; plans to increase inventories; expect economy to improve; expect real sales higher; current inventory; current job openings; expected credit conditions; now a good time to expand; earnings trends.

Introduction

Small Business Statistics: Small businesses are often seen as the backbone of the economy, and rightly so. They bring fresh ideas to the market and create jobs for people who may not have opportunities in larger companies. From one-person businesses to significant job creators, small businesses are crucial to the economy.

However, with 82% failing because of cash flow problems and only 50% making it to the five-year mark, it’s clear that achieving success is not easy. Here are some Small Business Statistics that can help entrepreneurs understand the market better and position their products or services for success.

The below table shows a complete breakdown of employer businesses owned by minorities.

About 1.5 million jobs are created in the US every year by small businesses alone. This means that 64% of all job creation comes from small businesses.

27% of the entire small business workforce had to be laid off or furloughed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the cool things about most small business owners is that they come from all different demographics and backgrounds.

In August 2024, a net ** percent of surveyed small business owners in the United States had plans to increase employment in the coming three months. Additionally, around ** percent of said that they had current job openings.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Value of Loans, Small Business Administration (SBA) Backed for All Commercial and Industry Loans, Moderate Risk, Large Domestic Banks (DISCONTINUED) (EBAMXSLNQ) from Q3 2012 to Q2 2017 about moderate risk, SBA, large, commercial, domestic, percent, loans, banks, depository institutions, industry, and USA.

The Economic Census is the U.S. Government's official five-year measure of American business and the economy. It is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, and response is required by law. In October through December of the census year, forms are sent out to nearly 4 million businesses, including large, medium and small companies representing all U.S. locations and industries. Respondents were asked to provide a range of operational and performance data for their companies. This dataset presents company, establishments, value of shipments, value of product shipments, percentage of product shipments of the total value of shipments, and percentage of distribution of value of product shipments.

Nonemployer Statistics is an annual series that provides statistics on U.S. businesses with no paid employees or payroll, are subject to federal income taxes, and have receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more for the Construction sector). This program is authorized by the United States Code, Titles 13 and 26. Also, the collection provides data for approximately 450 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries at the national, state, county, metropolitan statistical area, and combined statistical area geography levels. The majority of NAICS industries are included with some exceptions as follows: crop and animal production; investment funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles; management of companies and enterprises; and public administration. Data are also presented by Legal Form of Organization (LFO) (U.S. and state only) as filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Most nonemployers are self-employed individuals operating unincorporated businesses (known as sole proprietorships), which may or may not be the owner's principal source of income. Nonemployers Statistics features nonemployers in several arts-related industries and occupations, including the following: Arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS Code 71) Performing arts companies Spectator sports Promoters of performing arts, sports, and similar events Independent artists, writers, and performers Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions Amusement parks and arcades Professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS Code 54) Architectural services Landscape architectural services Photographic services Retail trade (NAICS Code 44-45) Sporting goods, hobby, and musical instrument stores Sewing, needlework, and piece goods stores Book stores Art dealers Nonemployer Statistics data originate from statistical information obtained through business income tax records that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides to the Census Bureau. The data are processed through various automated and analytical review to eliminate employers from the tabulation, correct and complete data items, remove anomalies, and validate geography coding and industry classification. Prior to publication, the noise infusion method is applied to protect individual businesses from disclosure. Noise infusion was first applied to Nonemployer Statistics in 2005. Prior to 2005, data were suppressed using the complementary cell suppression method. For more information on the coverage and methods used in Nonemployer Statistics, refer to NES Methodology. The majority of all business establishments in the United States are nonemployers, yet these firms average less than 4 percent of all sales and receipts nationally. Due to their small economic impact, these firms are excluded from most other Census Bureau business statistics (the primary exception being the Survey of Business Owners). The Nonemployers Statistics series is the primary resource available to study the scope and activities of nonemployers at a detailed geographic level. For complementary statistics on the firms that do have paid employees, refer to the County Business Patterns. Additional sources of data on small businesses include the Economic Census, and the Statistics of U.S. Businesses. The annual Nonemployer Statistics data are available approximately 18 months after each reference year. Data for years since 2002 are published via comma-delimited format (csv) for spreadsheet or database use, and in the American FactFinder (AFF). For help accessing the data, please refer to the Data User Guide.

Small Business Market size was valued at USD 129.49 billion in 2023 and is poised to grow from USD 140.5 billion in 2024 to USD 269.84 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 8.5% during the forecast period (2025-2032).