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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This data set provides statistics about employer and nonemployer businesses from 2020 for the nation, states, and metropolitan statistical areas (MSA). It includes the number of firms, revenue, number of employees, and annual payroll, broken down by industry and owner demographics including as sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status.About NES-DThe Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics series (NES-D) provides information on the demographic characteristics of nonemployer businesses. The NES-D is the result of a research project by the Census Bureau to complete the picture of U.S. business ownership by demographics for the United States. Historically, the quinquennial Survey of Business Owners (SBO) provided the only comprehensive source of information on both employer and nonemployer businesses by demographic characteristics of the business owners. In 2017, the SBO was replaced by the Annual Business Survey (ABS). The ABS is an annual survey that collects demographic characteristics from employer businesses. However, the ABS excludes the collection of demographic data from nonemployer businesses. The NES-D was developed to produce similar estimates as ABS on owner demographics for nonemployer businesses. The NES-D is not a survey; rather, it leverages existing individual-level administrative records to assign demographic characteristics to the universe of nonemployer businesses. Demographic characteristics including sex, ethnicity, race, veteran status, owner age, place of birth, and U.S. citizenship are assigned to nonemployer business owners.Together, the NES-D and the ABS will continue to provide the only source of detailed and comprehensive statistics on the scope, nature and activities of all U.S. businesses by the demographic characteristics of the business owners. NES-D data will be available annually by detailed geography and industry levels, receipt-size class, and legal form of organization (LFO). Beginning with the 2019 NES-D, the data will include urban and rural classification.

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

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

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.

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

Graph and download economic data for Weighted-Average Effective Loan Rate for Small Business Administration (SBA) for Domestic Banks (DISCONTINUED) (EEBXDBNQ) from Q3 2012 to Q2 2017 about SBA, weighted-average, average, domestic, loans, banks, depository institutions, rate, and USA.

SBP: CN: Total No of Hours Worked by Employees: No Effect data was reported at 74.600 % in 11 Apr 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 74.700 % for 04 Apr 2022. SBP: CN: Total No of Hours Worked by Employees: No Effect data is updated weekly, averaging 74.200 % from Nov 2020 (Median) to 11 Apr 2022, with 54 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 77.600 % in 20 Sep 2021 and a record low of 62.700 % in 03 Jan 2022. SBP: CN: Total No of Hours Worked by Employees: No Effect data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by U.S. Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S045: Small Business Pulse Survey: by Sector: Weekly. Beg Monday (Discontinued).

United States SBP: MQ: Business Has Returned to Normal Level of Operations data was reported at 23.700 % in 11 Apr 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 17.700 % for 04 Apr 2022. United States SBP: MQ: Business Has Returned to Normal Level of Operations data is updated weekly, averaging 16.300 % from Nov 2020 (Median) to 11 Apr 2022, with 54 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 35.000 % in 21 Mar 2022 and a record low of 3.200 % in 21 Dec 2020. United States SBP: MQ: Business Has Returned to Normal Level of Operations data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by U.S. Census Bureau. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S045: Small Business Pulse Survey: by Sector: Weekly. Beg Monday (Discontinued).

NFIB Business Optimism Index in the United States decreased to 98.60 points in June from 98.80 points in May of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Nfib Business Optimism Index - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Percent of Value of Loans Backed by Small Business Administration (SBA), Secured by Collateral, Large Domestic Banks (DISCONTINUED) (ESBXSLNQ) from Q3 2012 to Q2 2017 about SBA, collateral, large, securities, domestic, percent, loans, banks, depository institutions, and USA.

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.