Small business statistics 2026

of US businesses with 1 to 4 employees used AI in any business function in the two weeks before the survey

Sample: About 1.2 million US employer businesses in six panels; each panel reports every 12 weeks. Estimate for firms with 1 to 4 employees.

of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band

Sample: About 1.2 million US employer businesses sampled; estimate for firms with 5 to 9 employees.

of US small employer firms said the business or its employees were using AI for work in late 2025

Sample: Convenience sample of 6,525 employer firms with 1 to 499 employees, all 50 states and DC, fielded 3 Sep to 14 Nov 2025; AI questions answered by about 81% (N=5,248). Weighted to Census data.

of US small employer firms that use AI use it for writing or marketing, the top task

Sample: Small employer firms that use AI, N=2,225.

small businesses in the US, 99.9% of all firms; 82.3% of them have no employees

Sample: Count of all firms with fewer than 500 employees, from Census Statistics of US Businesses 2022 and Nonemployer Statistics 2022.

of US private-sector employees work for small businesses, 62.3 million people

Sample: Census Statistics of US Businesses 2022.

of US small businesses have no employees (29.8 million nonemployer firms)

Sample: Census Nonemployer Statistics 2022 and Statistics of US Businesses 2022.

small businesses in California, the most of any state; Texas has 3.52M and Florida 3.49M

Sample: SBA Office of Advocacy 2025 Small Business Profiles for the States, Territories, and Nation.

of US private-sector establishments that opened in the year to March 2020 were still open five years later

Sample: All new private-sector establishments in the BLS Business Employment Dynamics data (767,573 opened in the year to March 2020). Establishments, not firms.

of US private-sector establishments that opened in the year to March 2024 survived their first year

Sample: 988,310 new private-sector establishments opened in the year to March 2024.

US business applications were filed in September 2026, seasonally adjusted, up 0.5% from August

Sample: Applications for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) filed with the IRS; all applications, not only future employers.

of US small employer firms had their funding needs met in 2025; 34% had a financing shortfall

Sample: 6,525 small employer firms, convenience sample weighted to Census data.

of US small employer firms operated at a profit in 2024

Sample: 6,525 small employer firms; 95% confidence interval +/- 1.9 points.

of US small businesses have a website, up from 64% in 2018, in a vendor survey of 406 owners

Sample: 406 US small business owners surveyed on 5 Aug 2025 via SurveyMonkey (vendor survey, small sample).