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The latest U.S. small-business snapshot combines several different data years and definitions. The SBA Office of Advocacy’s 2026 release counts 36,207,130 small businesses, or 99.9% of U.S. businesses, while Census data published in 2026 report 5.58 million employer firms with fewer than 500 employees in 2023. The gap is largely about what is being counted: the SBA headline covers a broader small-business universe, while the Census employer-firm figure includes only businesses with paid employees.
Use the reference year and unit beside each statistic below. A release published in 2026 may describe 2023 data, and an expected formation count is not the same as a realized startup count.
How many small businesses are there in the U.S.?
The SBA Office of Advocacy’s February 2026 release says small businesses make up 99.9% of U.S. businesses and counts 36,207,130 small businesses. Its definition and statistical series are not interchangeable with every federal program’s eligibility rules. The SBA commonly uses fewer than 500 employees as a broad threshold in this material, but program standards can vary by industry and other criteria. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ release
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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Census reported 5.58 million employer firms with fewer than 500 employees in 2023, up from 5.53 million in 2022. These are firms with paid employees, not every small business in the broader SBA count. U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 publication reporting 2023 data
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How many people do small businesses employ, and what do they contribute?
In the SBA Office of Advocacy’s 2026 headline series, small businesses employ 62.3 million people, representing 45.9% of private-sector workers. The same release attributes 43.5% of GDP and 38.7% of private-sector payroll to small businesses. These are SBA figures for the reference periods and methodology specified in its FAQ; they should not be treated as Census employer-firm counts or as a single year’s output without checking the series notes. SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026 FAQ release
Employer firms and nonemployer businesses are different measures
A Census firm is a business organization that may operate one or more establishments; an establishment is one physical business location. Census business statistics cover domestic private nonfarm businesses with and without paid employees, with exclusions that generally include crop and animal production, rail transportation, the Postal Service, funds, trusts and estates, private households, and public administration. Census small-business article and Census business statistics documentation
Nonemployer businesses have no paid employees. Census reported 30,427,808 nonemployer establishments in 2023, up from 29,811,495 in 2022. Their receipts were nearly $1.8 trillion in 2023, equal to 6.4% of GDP. These figures describe a different population from employer firms; do not add them to the employer-firm count as though both counted the same kind of unit.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsHow many businesses open and close each year?
The SBA Office of Advocacy’s 2026 FAQ, citing Business Employment Dynamics data, says 1.3 million establishments opened for the first time and about 1.2 million establishments closed permanently in 2023. Establishment births and deaths are location-level measures, so they do not equal the number of new or closed firms: a firm can run multiple locations, open a location without being a new firm, or close a location while continuing elsewhere. Openings also do not equal net new employer firms.
Startups accounted for 14.2% of establishments in 2023, compared with 12.5% in 2019, according to the same SBA FAQ. These figures describe establishment activity, not a direct count of all business applications that ultimately became firms. SBA Office of Advocacy 2026 FAQ PDF
A newer formation indicator is a projection, not a realized count
The Census Bureau’s June 10, 2026 Business Formation Statistics release projected 29,493 formations within four quarters from business applications filed in May 2026, seasonally adjusted. That number is an expected outcome for an application cohort, not the number of businesses that formed during May. It uses a different measure from historical establishment births and should not be compared with them as if the definitions matched. Census Business Formation Statistics
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What is the small-business survival rate?
For establishment cohorts spanning 1994–2022, the SBA Office of Advocacy’s 2026 FAQ reports average survival of 67.7% at two years, 49.2% at five years, 33.9% at ten years, and 25.5% at fifteen years. These are historical averages for establishments, not a forecast for an individual entrepreneur or a guarantee that every new firm follows the same path. An establishment can close even when its parent firm continues to operate at other locations. SBA Office of Advocacy 2026 FAQ PDF
How have women-owned employer firms changed?
Census’s 2024 Annual Business Survey, reporting 2023 data and summarized in 2026, counted 1,356,990 women-owned employer firms in 2023, compared with 1,134,549 in 2017—nearly 20% growth over that period. Female veteran-owned employer firms grew 25.7%, while minority women-owned employer firms grew 49.8% from 2017 to 2023. These are employer-firm measures, not counts of all women-owned businesses, including nonemployers. U.S. Census Bureau small-business article
How to use these statistics for a business decision
National totals describe scale, but they do not establish demand for a particular product or the outlook for a specific location. Before comparing states, industries, or markets, align the statistics on the following points:
- Unit: firm versus establishment.
- Employment status: employer versus nonemployer.
- Time: data reference year versus publication or release date.
- Geography: national, state, county, metro, or place.
- Industry: the NAICS level and any exclusions.
- Measure: counts, receipts, employment, payroll, survival, or projected formations.
- Size definition: the employment threshold or other standard being applied.
Census says its programs provide business detail by industry and geography, though the available detail varies by program. Its free Census Business Builder and small-business resources can help entrepreneurs investigate potential customers, competitors, markets, and locations. For state-level comparisons, the SBA’s State Small Business Statistics 2025 dataset, issued January 30, 2026, covers business counts, employment share, jobs created, and ownership by demographic group. Census business statistics documentation · Census Business Builder · SBA State Small Business Statistics 2025
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