HellaGood Next › Blog › Small Business Statistics 2026
Statistics · Updated quarterly
Small Business Statistics 2026: 130+ Data Points on Survival, Owners, Money and Why Customers Leave
By HellaGood Next · · 12 min read
There are 36.2 million small businesses in the US, 99.9% of all businesses (SBA). About half of new locations with employees are still open five years later (BLS), and Americans trust small business more than any other institution: 67%, against 17% for big business (Gallup, 2026).
We pulled every number on this page from its original source: the SBA, Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve, peer-reviewed research and the original reports from survey companies. We checked each one there. Each figure shows the year its data comes from, and survey companies are labeled with their sample size.
Key takeaways
- 36.2 million small businesses make up 99.9% of US firms and employ 45.9% of private-sector workers (62.3 million people). (SBA)
- 82.3% of small businesses have no employees at all. (SBA)
- A record 5.67 million business applications were filed in 2025, 62% more than in 2019. (Census)
- 77.9% of new locations with employees make it through year one, and 51.4% make it to year five. (BLS)
- 47% of small employers were profitable at the end of 2024, and 77% were hit by rising costs. (Federal Reserve)
- Finding good workers is the #1 problem for 26% of owners, and 32% have jobs they can't fill. (NFIB, Sept 2026)
- 24.6% of US businesses used AI in the past two weeks, up from 17.3% a year earlier. (Census, Oct 2026)
- 84% of consumers avoid a business when they expect a wait, and 61% have left before their turn. (Waitwhile surveys, n=1,000)
- At a supermarket deli, 15 or more people waiting cut sales by 10%. (Management Science, 2013)
- How long a wait feels predicts satisfaction. How long it actually lasts doesn't. (Annals of Emergency Medicine, n=1,631)
What walk-outs cost your shop
Put in your own numbers to see what customers who leave because of the wait cost you in a month and a year.
An estimate from your own inputs, for planning. The 10% default comes from Lu et al., Management Science (2013).
1How many small businesses are there?
Almost every business in the US is a small business, and most have no employees.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Small businesses in the US | 36,207,130 | SBA Office of Advocacy 2022 data |
| Share of all US firms that are small | 99.9% | SBA |
| Small businesses with no employees | 29.8 million (82.3%) | SBA |
| Small businesses with employees | 6.4 million (17.7%) | SBA |
| Large businesses (500+ employees) | 21,041 | SBA |
| Private-sector workers at small businesses | 62.3 million (45.9%) | SBA |
| Small business share of GDP | 43.5% | SBA |
| Small business share of private payroll | 38.7% ($3.5 trillion) | SBA |
| Share of net new jobs created by small businesses since 1995 | 61% | SBA 1995–2024 |
| Businesses with no employees, 1997 → 2022 | 15.4M → 29.8M | SBA |
| Businesses with no employees, newest count | 32.0 million (+5.1%) | Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 |
| Small businesses' share of US exporters | 97.2% | SBA |
2New businesses
Americans are starting businesses at a record pace. Applications in 2025 were the highest since the Census began counting in 2005.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications filed in 2025 | 5,671,836 (record) | Census Business Formation Statistics |
| Business applications, 2023 / 2024 | 5.47M / 5.22M | Census BFS |
| Applications, 2019 → 2025 | 3.50M → 5.67M (+62%) | Census BFS |
| Applications, Jan–Sept 2026 vs same months of 2025 | +15.3% | Census BFS |
| Applications in September 2026 (seasonally adjusted) | 534,947 | Census, Oct 14, 2026 |
| Applications likely to hire employees, 2025 | 30.1% (1.71M) | Census BFS |
| Retail's share of 2025 applications, the largest sector | 20.6% | Census BFS |
| Applications for personal services and repair (barbers, salons, auto repair) | 483,258 (8.5%) | Census BFS 2025 |
| New locations opened / closed in a year | 1.3M / 1.2M | SBA (BLS data) 2023 |
US business applications per year
Source: Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (sum of monthly, not seasonally adjusted)
3How long small businesses survive
About 1 in 5 new locations closes in its first year. Once a business reaches five years, its odds get much better.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| New locations still open after 1 year | 77.9% | BLS Business Employment Dynamics opened 2023–24 |
| Still open after 2 years | 65.9% | BLS |
| Still open after 5 years | 51.4% | BLS opened 2019–20 |
| Still open after 10 years | 34.7% | BLS |
| Still open after 15 years | 25.5% | BLS |
| Still open after 20 years | 19.5% | BLS |
| Average 5-year survival, 1994–2022 | 49.2% | SBA (BLS data) |
| 5-year survivors that reach 10 years | 69.5% | SBA (BLS data) |
| Startups' share of all locations, 2019 → 2023 | 12.5% → 14.2% | SBA |
New locations still open after…
Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7 (private-sector locations with employees, as of March 2025)
These figures count locations with employees. The roughly 30 million businesses with no employees aren't tracked this way, and a closure isn't always a failure. Owners also sell, merge or retire.
4Who owns small businesses
Women own 14.2 million US businesses. About one employer firm in four is family-owned.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US firms with employees | About 5.9 million | Census Annual Business Survey 2023 |
| Women-owned employer firms | 1.4 million (22.9%) | Census ABS |
| All businesses owned by women | 14.2 million ($2.8T in sales) | Census 2023 |
| Women's share of businesses with no employees | 42.3% (12.9 million) | Census |
| Veteran-owned employer firms | 261,000 (4.4%) | Census ABS |
| Asian-owned employer firms | 685,000 (11.5%) | Census ABS |
| Hispanic-owned employer firms | 496,000 (8.4%) | Census ABS |
| Black-owned employer firms | 201,000 (3.4%) | Census ABS |
| Family-owned employer firms | 26.1% | SBA (Census data) 2022 |
| Employer-business owners 55 or older | 51% | Census 2018 data |
5Money and mood
Costs are the biggest money worry. Fewer than half of small employers were profitable at the end of 2024.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Small employers hit by rising costs | 77% | Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey 2025, n=6,525 |
| Small employers with no financial challenges at all | 6% | Federal Reserve SBCS |
| Profitable / break-even / losing money at end of 2024 | 47% / 19% / 34% | Federal Reserve SBCS |
| Applied for financing in the past year | 60% | Federal Reserve SBCS |
| Applicants who got the full amount | 42% | Federal Reserve SBCS |
| Fully approved at small banks | 57% | Federal Reserve SBCS |
| NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (52-year average: 98.0) | 97.9 | NFIB Sept 2026 |
| Owners who say now is a good time to expand | 7% | NFIB Sept 2026 |
| Owners who call inflation their biggest challenge | 54% | Justworks & US Chamber Aug 2026, n=759 |
| Americans' confidence in small business (big business: 17%) | 67% | Gallup June 2026, n=1,001 |
| Confidence in small business, 2020 → 2026 | 75% → 67% | Gallup |
6Biggest problems
Hiring is the top problem for owners right now, ahead of inflation.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Owners whose #1 problem is finding good workers | 26% | NFIB Sept 2026 |
| …inflation | 20% | NFIB |
| …taxes / poor sales | 11% / 11% | NFIB |
| …regulations / insurance / big-business competition | 7% / 6% / 6% | NFIB |
| Owners with job openings they can't fill | 32% | NFIB |
| Owners hiring who found few or no qualified applicants | 87% | NFIB |
| Owners who raised prices (net) | 31% | NFIB |
| Small employers struggling to hire or keep staff | 46% | Federal Reserve SBCS 2025 |
| Top operational challenge: reaching customers and growing sales | 57% | Federal Reserve SBCS |
| Job-openings rate at locations with 1–9 employees | 4.3% (1.05M openings) | BLS JOLTS Aug 2026 |
7Technology and AI
About a quarter of businesses now use AI, and the smallest firms use it about half as often as the largest.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses that used AI in the past two weeks | 24.6% | Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey Oct 2026 |
| AI use, Nov 2025 → Oct 2026 | 17.3% → 24.6% | Census BTOS |
| Businesses expecting to use AI in the next 6 months | 28.6% | Census BTOS |
| AI use, firms with 1–4 employees vs 250+ | 24.3% vs 43.6% | Census BTOS |
| AI use in retail | About 14% | Census May 2026 |
| Small employers struggling to use technology (website, e-commerce, social, security) | 29% | Federal Reserve SBCS |
| Share of consumer payments made in cash | 14% | Federal Reserve Diary of Consumer Payment Choice 2025 |
| Cash payments under $25 | 5 of 6 | Federal Reserve |
| Barbershop clients who want to check in on their own device when they arrive | 74% | Zenoti survey 2023, n=1,500+ |
| Barbershop clients frustrated by check-in | 24% | Zenoti survey |
Paper sign-in sheets and take-a-number tickets. We looked for a survey that counts how many small businesses still run walk-ins on paper sign-in sheets, clipboards or ticket rolls, and found none, from the government or any company. If you see a percentage for this, ask where it came from.
8Why customers leave
Waiting, slow service and bad experiences send customers to the competition. Most never say why.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers who avoid a business entirely when they expect a wait | 84% | Waitwhile survey 2025, n=1,000 |
| Consumers who have left before their turn | 61% | Waitwhile survey 2024, n=1,000 |
| Consumers who'll wait 15 minutes at most in person | 80% | Waitwhile survey |
| Will wait 30+ minutes longer if they can wait somewhere else | 24% | Waitwhile survey |
| Shoppers who switch to a competitor or give up when they face a wait | 39% | Waitwhile survey 2025 |
| Consumers who prefer appointments / a virtual queue | 65% / 50% | Waitwhile survey |
| Barbershop clients whose biggest frustration is waiting around | 50% | Zenoti survey 2023, n=1,500+ |
| Barbershop clients who walk in without an appointment at least sometimes | 70% | Zenoti survey |
| Barbershop clients who say quick, easy check-in makes a great visit | 56% | Zenoti survey |
| US customers who'd leave a brand they love after one bad experience / several | 17% / 59% | PwC 2017 survey |
| Customers worldwide who'd leave after one bad experience | 32% | PwC 2017 |
| US customers who say speed, convenience, knowledgeable and friendly service matter most | Nearly 80% | PwC |
| Consumers who'd pay more for convenience | 43% | PwC |
| Consumers who spend less / stop after a bad experience | 34% / 13% | Qualtrics XM Institute 2025, n=20,000+ |
| Sales at risk from bad experiences, US / worldwide | $973B / nearly $3T | Qualtrics XM Institute 2026 estimate |
| Consumers who switch to a competitor after one bad experience | More than half | Zendesk |
| Customers who expect faster service than a year ago | 88% | Zendesk CX Trends 2026 |
| Customers a typical business loses each year | 15–20% | Reichheld & Sasser, Harvard Business Review 1990 |
| Profit gain from losing 5 points fewer customers: bank branches / insurance / auto service | +85% / +50% / +30% | Reichheld & Sasser, HBR |
9What research says about waiting
Forty years of studies agree: how long a wait feels matters more than how long it lasts. Knowing your place, knowing the wait, and being free to do something else all make it feel shorter.
| Finding | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A long visible wait cuts purchases (supermarket deli with numbered tickets) | 15+ waiting: sales −10% | Lu et al., Management Science 2013 |
| Customers judge a wait by how many people are ahead, not how fast it moves | 10 → 15 people felt like an 8.3% price rise | Lu et al. |
| Satisfaction tracks the wait people perceive, not the actual wait (1,631 ER patients) | Actual wait: no effect | Thompson et al., Annals of Emergency Medicine 1996 |
| Parents who overestimated their wait (500 parents) | 84%, by a median 26 min | Southern Medical Journal 2003 |
| Felt wait with a queue-management system vs without (randomized, 236 patients) | 11.9 vs 32.8 min | Archives of Academic Emergency Medicine 2021 |
| Same trial: actual waits | 15.5 vs 27.0 min | Archives of Academic Emergency Medicine |
| Telling callers their place in the queue | Fewest hang-ups, best ratings | Munichor & Rafaeli, Journal of Applied Psychology 2007 |
| Families given pagers who waited outside the waiting room (randomized) | 80% vs 48% | Paediatrics & Child Health 2003 |
| Patients satisfied with being called back to wait outside (100 patients) | 97% | Ehrler et al., JMIR Medical Informatics 2022 |
| Telling people the expected wait corrects their overestimate | Significant reduction | Antonides et al., Journal of Consumer Psychology 2002 |
| Showing time left and keeping people occupied both shorten the felt wait (1,025 people) | Both worked | Lee, Chen & Hess, Journal of the AIS 2017 |
| A promised wait time raises satisfaction if kept, lowers it if broken | Keep it or skip it | Kumar, Kalwani & Dada, Marketing Science 1997 |
| Drive-thru customers put "a very high cost" on time spent waiting | Wait is priced like money | Allon, Federgruen & Pierson, M&SOM 2011 |
| Delays lower ratings through uncertainty and anger | Uncertainty drives it | Taylor, Journal of Marketing 1994 |
| Breaking first-come, first-served makes people furious | Fairness matters | Larson, Operations Research 1987 |
| Maister: unexplained, uncertain and idle waits feel longer than known, occupied ones | The classic rules | Maister, The Psychology of Waiting 1985 |
10Barbers, salons and auto shops
Personal services and auto repair are small by nature: most of these businesses are one person.
| Business type | With employees | No employees | Workers' median pay | Job growth to 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barber shops | 7,789 | 154,456 | $18.37/hr | +3% |
| Beauty salons | 84,176 | 867,242 | $17.21/hr | +8% |
| Nail salons | 34,417 | 318,382 | $35,760/yr | +9% |
| Auto repair | 169,572 | 401,679 | $50,620/yr | +5% |
| Optical stores | 11,719 | 2,417 | $47,260/yr (opticians) | +4% |
Sources: Census County Business Patterns 2023 (locations with employees) and Nonemployer Statistics 2024; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: barbers and hairstylists, manicurists, auto technicians, opticians (May 2025 pay).
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Barber businesses that are one person with no staff | About 95% | Census CBP + Nonemployer 2023 |
| Barbers who are self-employed | 80% | BLS |
| Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists who are self-employed | 48% | BLS |
| Barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists: jobs | 670,800 | BLS 2025 |
| Auto service technicians and mechanics: jobs | 825,800 | BLS |
| Manicurists and pedicurists: jobs | 201,800 | BLS |
| Locations with fewer than 5 employees: barber / salon / nail / auto repair / all US | 76% / 69% / 66% / 60% / 55% | Census CBP 2023 |
See how barbershops, nail salons and tire shops run their walk-ins with HellaGood Next.
11Numbers you'll see that are out of date
These still show up in articles and statistics pages. Here's what the original sources say.
| Often quoted | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| "68% of customers leave because of perceived indifference" | No study found. The earliest version is a 1964 factory newsletter quoting an undated survey with no method. "Perceived" isn't in it. | Amco News, 1964 |
| "It costs 5x more to win a new customer than keep one" | No original study found. HBR itself says "five to 25 times" depending on the study. | HBR, 2014 |
| "5% more retention raises profits 25%–95% (Bain)" | The 1990 original says 25%–85%, in specific industries. | HBR, 1990 |
| "1 in 3 customers leave after one bad experience" | A 2017 global figure. In the US it was 17%. | PwC |
| "73% switch after one bad experience (Zendesk)" | 73% is after several bad experiences. After one, "more than half." | Zendesk |
| "$4.7 trillion in sales at risk from bad experiences" | A 2021 figure. The 2026 estimate is nearly $3 trillion. | Qualtrics |
| "20% of small businesses fail in year one, half in five years" | Close: 22.1% of new locations closed in year one, and 51.4% lasted five years. It counts only locations with employees. | BLS |
| "Small businesses create two-thirds of new jobs" | Now 61% (1995–2024). | SBA |
| "Small businesses employ half of private-sector workers" | 45.9% (62.3 million). | SBA |
| "Half of small businesses use AI" | A self-selected Fed survey says 46%. The Census national survey says 24.6%. | Census |
| "Americans spend 37 billion hours a year waiting" | No source given anywhere we could find. | — |
12Summary
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Small businesses in the US | 36.2 million | SBA |
| Share of private-sector workers | 45.9% | SBA |
| Small businesses with no employees | 82.3% | SBA |
| Business applications in 2025 | 5.67 million (record) | Census |
| New locations open after 1 / 5 / 10 years | 77.9% / 51.4% / 34.7% | BLS |
| Small employers profitable at end of 2024 | 47% | Federal Reserve |
| #1 problem: finding good workers | 26% | NFIB |
| Businesses using AI | 24.6% | Census |
| Consumers who avoid a business when they expect a wait | 84% | Waitwhile |
| Sales drop with 15+ people waiting | 10% | Management Science |
| Confidence in small business | 67% | Gallup |
Writers and researchers are welcome to use these numbers. Please cite the original source for each one, and link here for the full tables.
HellaGood Next. (2026, October 24). Small business statistics 2026. https://hellagoodnext.com/blog/small-business-statistics
<a href="https://hellagoodnext.com/blog/small-business-statistics">Small Business Statistics 2026</a>
FAQ
How many small businesses are in the US in 2026?
36,207,130, or 99.9% of all US businesses, according to the SBA Office of Advocacy's 2026 report, which uses 2022 Census data. 82.3% of them have no employees.
What percentage of small businesses fail in the first year?
About 22%. Of new locations with employees that opened in the year to March 2024, 77.9% were still open a year later (BLS). About half make it to five years (51.4%), and about a third to ten years (34.7%).
How many people work for small businesses?
62.3 million, or 45.9% of private-sector workers (SBA, 2022 data). Small businesses created 61% of net new jobs from 1995 to 2024.
What is the biggest problem for small businesses right now?
Finding good workers: 26% of owners named labor quality or availability their single most important problem in September 2026, ahead of inflation at 20% (NFIB).
How many small businesses use AI?
24.6% of US businesses used AI in the past two weeks as of October 2026, up from 17.3% in November 2025 (Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey).
Why do customers leave a business?
Waiting is a big reason: 84% of consumers say they avoid a business entirely when they expect a wait, and 61% have left before their turn (Waitwhile surveys of 1,000 US consumers). After one bad experience, 17% of US customers would leave a brand they love, and 59% would leave after several (PwC).
Methodology and sources
We read every number on its original source (agency report, dataset, company report or study abstract) on October 24, 2026. No numbers come from other statistics roundups. Survey companies are labeled with their sample size where they publish it. Data years show when the data was collected. We update this page every quarter. Next update: January 2027.
- SBA Office of Advocacy: Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2026
- Census Bureau: Business Formation Statistics and September 2026 release
- BLS: Business Employment Dynamics, survival of private-sector establishments
- Census Bureau: Annual Business Survey, business owner characteristics and business owners' ages
- Federal Reserve Banks: 2026 Report on Employer Firms (Small Business Credit Survey)
- NFIB: Small Business Economic Trends, September 2026
- Justworks & US Chamber of Commerce: Small Business Index Q3 2026
- Gallup: Confidence in Institutions, June 2026
- BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover, by establishment size
- Census Bureau: Business Trends and Outlook Survey and AI Use at US Businesses
- Federal Reserve: 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
- Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023 and Nonemployer Statistics 2024
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists, manicurists and pedicurists, automotive service technicians, opticians
- Waitwhile: consumer survey 2024 and The State of Waiting 2025
- Zenoti: customer data insights for barbershop owners
- PwC: Experience is everything, Future of Customer Experience
- Qualtrics XM Institute: $3 trillion at risk in 2026 and news release
- Zendesk: customer service statistics and CX Trends 2026
- Reichheld & Sasser, "Zero Defections," Harvard Business Review (1990) and HBR (2014)
- Lu, Musalem, Olivares & Schilkrut, Management Science (2013)
- Thompson et al., Annals of Emergency Medicine (1996)
- Southern Medical Journal (2003)
- Archives of Academic Emergency Medicine (2021)
- Munichor & Rafaeli, Journal of Applied Psychology (2007)
- Paediatrics & Child Health (2003)
- Ehrler et al., JMIR Medical Informatics (2022)
- Antonides, Verhoef & van Aalst, Journal of Consumer Psychology (2002)
- Lee, Chen & Hess, Journal of the AIS (2017)
- Kumar, Kalwani & Dada, Marketing Science (1997)
- Allon, Federgruen & Pierson, M&SOM (2011)
- Taylor, Journal of Marketing (1994)
- Larson, Operations Research (1987)
- Maister, The Psychology of Waiting (1985)
- Amco News (1964), via DigitalNC