22.6%About 2 in 10of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band
22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band (Oct 2026, US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey)
+7.1 points since the previous figure: 15.5% (30 Nov 2025)
Official dataChecked at source, 23 Oct 2026SmallUSASmall business · AI adoption
Source: US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook SurveyOne wave (5-18 Oct 2026), one question. Census changed the wording again from 19 Oct 2026.digitaltreed.com/statistics
In plain words
What this number really says
22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band (Oct 2026).
22.6%
the latest figure (Oct 2026)
Small
company size covered
Official data
type of source
Why you can trust it. US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey: official data, government statistics office or regulator. About 1.2 million US employer businesses sampled; estimate for firms with 5 to 9 employees.
US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey
Source type
Official data: Government statistics office or regulator
What it measures
22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band
Data period
Oct 2026 (ends 18 Oct 2026)
Published by the source
22 Oct 2026
Who is counted
About 1.2 million US employer businesses sampled; estimate for firms with 5 to 9 employees.
In the source's words
"xmltag": "Current AI Use (Last Two Weeks)", "EMPSIZE": "5-9 Employees", "Estimate": 22.6, "facet": "1-19 Employees", "Date": "2026-10-18"
Checked at source
23 Oct 2026: Read in Census BTOS AI_empsize.json, wave 5-18 Oct 2026.
Reuse
Public domain (US government work). Free to reuse; cite "US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey". Census labels BTOS an experimental data product.
30 Nov 2025New data15.5% Wave ending 30 Nov 2025 (wave end date).
Cite this number
APA
US Census Bureau. (2026). 22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band. Via digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/small-business/small-business-ai-use-5-9-staff
MLA
"22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band." US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey, Oct 2026. digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/small-business/small-business-ai-use-5-9-staff.
HTML link
<a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/small-business/small-business-ai-use-5-9-staff">22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band</a> (US Census Bureau, Oct 2026)
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<iframe src="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/embed/small-business-ai-use-by-size" width="640" height="420" loading="lazy" title="US firms using AI, by number of employees"></iframe>
<p>Source: <a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/small-business/small-business-ai-use-5-9-staff">22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band, digitaltreed</a></p>
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FAQ
Questions about this number
What is the latest figure for AI adoption (USA)?
22.6% of US businesses with 5 to 9 employees used AI in the last two weeks, the lowest rate of any size band, for Oct 2026, according to US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey. We checked it at the source on 23 Oct 2026.
Related
More Small business statistics
Official dataSmallUSA
24.3%
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 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.
