{ "question": "What percentage of small businesses are profitable?", "answer": "47.3% of US small employer firms (1 to 499 employees) operated at a profit at the end of 2024, in the Federal Reserve Banks' Small Business Credit Survey, fielded September to November 2025. 19% broke even and 34% ran at a loss. 51% had their funding needs met, while 34% applied but got less financing than they sought.", "period": "2024", "key_numbers": [ { "value": "47.3%", "label": "US small employer firms operating at a profit, end of 2024", "note": "Fed Small Business Credit Survey, plus or minus 1.9 points", "stat": "small-business/small-business-profitable-2024" }, { "value": "51%", "label": "Firms whose funding needs were met", "note": "Fed SBCS, Sep-Nov 2025", "stat": "small-business/small-business-funding-needs-met" }, { "value": "34%", "label": "Firms that applied but got less financing than they sought", "note": "Fed SBCS, Sep-Nov 2025" }, { "value": "25%", "label": "Firms up to 2 years old operating at a profit", "note": "Fed SBCS, end of 2024; 60% for firms over 20 years" }, { "value": "73%", "label": "Firms with 50 to 499 employees operating at a profit", "note": "Fed SBCS, end of 2024; 43% for 1 to 4 employees" } ], "tables": [ { "id": "profitability", "title": "Profit or loss at the end of 2024, US small employer firms", "columns": [ "Result", "Share of firms" ], "rows": [ [ "Operating at a profit", "47.3%" ], [ "Break-even", "19%" ], [ "Operating at a loss", "34%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "profit-all", "break-even", "loss" ], "note": "6,280 firms answered. The 95% confidence interval for the profit share is plus or minus 1.9 points. The report rounds the profit share to 47%.", "source": "fed-sbcs" }, { "id": "by-size", "title": "Small employer firms operating at a profit at the end of 2024, by number of employees", "columns": [ "Firm size", "Operating at a profit", "95% confidence interval", "Firms answering" ], "rows": [ [ "1 to 4 employees", "43%", "40.9% to 45.8%", "2,430" ], [ "5 to 9", "43%", "39.0% to 46.2%", "1,505" ], [ "10 to 19", "52%", "47.1% to 56.8%", "1,071" ], [ "20 to 49", "59%", "54.6% to 63.1%", "852" ], [ "50 to 499", "73%", "66.8% to 79.2%", "422" ] ], "row_ids": [ "size-1-4", "size-5-9", "size-10-19", "size-20-49", "size-50-499" ], "note": "Fed SBCS data appendix, sheet 'Firm size (employees)'.", "source": "fed-sbcs" }, { "id": "by-age", "title": "Small employer firms operating at a profit at the end of 2024, by age of firm", "columns": [ "Age of firm", "Operating at a profit", "95% confidence interval", "Firms answering" ], "rows": [ [ "0 to 2 years", "25%", "19.6% to 31.2%", "312" ], [ "3 to 5 years", "42%", "36.5% to 48.5%", "563" ], [ "6 to 10 years", "48%", "46.8% to 50.0%", "1,195" ], [ "11 to 15 years", "52%", "49.2% to 54.4%", "856" ], [ "16 to 20 years", "53%", "48.9% to 57.5%", "759" ], [ "21 years or more", "60%", "57.0% to 62.1%", "2,595" ] ], "row_ids": [ "age-0-2", "age-3-5", "age-6-10", "age-11-15", "age-16-20", "age-21-plus" ], "note": "Fed SBCS data appendix, sheet 'Age of firm'.", "source": "fed-sbcs" }, { "id": "by-industry", "title": "Small employer firms operating at a profit at the end of 2024, by industry", "columns": [ "Industry (Fed SBCS grouping)", "Operating at a profit", "95% confidence interval", "Firms answering" ], "rows": [ [ "Finance and insurance", "70%", "59.7% to 79.3%", "161" ], [ "Professional services and real estate", "59%", "54.6% to 62.6%", "1,224" ], [ "Non-manufacturing goods production and associated services", "48%", "43.9% to 52.9%", "973" ], [ "Manufacturing", "45%", "41.3% to 49.2%", "844" ], [ "Business support and consumer services", "45%", "39.2% to 50.9%", "812" ], [ "Healthcare and education", "41%", "35.6% to 45.6%", "684" ], [ "Retail", "38%", "33.8% to 42.4%", "735" ], [ "Leisure and hospitality", "33%", "29.0% to 38.2%", "847" ] ], "row_ids": [ "ind-finance", "ind-professional", "ind-goods", "ind-manufacturing", "ind-business-support", "ind-health-education", "ind-retail", "ind-leisure" ], "note": "Fed SBCS data appendix, sheet 'Industry'. Non-manufacturing goods production includes construction, agriculture and similar industries.", "source": "fed-sbcs" }, { "id": "funding", "title": "Funding needs and financing outcomes, prior 12 months (Sep-Nov 2025)", "columns": [ "Outcome", "Share of small employer firms" ], "rows": [ [ "Funding needs met (got all financing sought, or did not need it)", "51%" ], [ "Financing shortfall (applied, did not get the full amount)", "34%" ], [ "Unmet funding needs (needed financing, did not apply)", "15%" ], [ "Applied for financing", "60%" ], [ "Applied and received all financing sought", "25%" ], [ "Applied and received none", "13%" ], [ "Applied for a loan, line of credit or merchant cash advance", "38.3%" ], [ "Loan, line of credit and cash advance approval rate (share of those applicants)", "80.8%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "funding-met", "funding-shortfall", "funding-unmet", "applied", "received-all", "received-none", "applied-loan", "approval-rate" ], "note": "6,525 firms. Firms that applied but did not get the full amount count as a shortfall even if they got most of it (9% of firms received most, 13% some). The last row is a share of applicants, not of all firms.", "source": "fed-sbcs" }, { "id": "self-rated-performance", "title": "How US employer firms rate their current performance, by size (Census, 5-18 Oct 2026)", "columns": [ "Firm size", "Excellent", "Above average", "Average", "Below average", "Poor" ], "rows": [ [ "1 to 4 employees", "14.1%", "18.2%", "46.1%", "16.8%", "4.7%" ], [ "5 to 9", "14.2%", "21.9%", "44.7%", "15.1%", "4.1%" ], [ "10 to 19", "14.6%", "25.0%", "44.3%", "13.1%", "2.9%" ], [ "20 to 49", "16.2%", "27.7%", "42.2%", "11.3%", "2.6%" ], [ "All US employer firms", "14.6%", "20.7%", "45.2%", "15.4%", "4.1%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "btos-1-4", "btos-5-9", "btos-10-19", "btos-20-49", "btos-all" ], "note": "Census Business Trends and Outlook Survey, question 'Overall, how would you describe this business's current performance?'. A self-rating, not a profit measure. Rows may not sum to 100 because of rounding.", "source": "census-btos" }, { "id": "history", "title": "Share of US small employer firms operating at a profit, by survey year", "columns": [ "Profit measured at", "Survey", "Operating at a profit" ], "rows": [ [ "End of 2020", "2021 SBCS", "35%" ], [ "End of 2021", "2022 SBCS", "45%" ], [ "End of 2022", "2023 SBCS", "47%" ], [ "End of 2023", "2024 SBCS", "46.3%" ], [ "End of 2024", "2025 SBCS", "47.3%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "profit-end-2020", "profit-end-2021", "profit-end-2022", "profit-end-2023", "profit-end-2024" ], "note": "Each Report on Employer Firms, published the year after the survey. Whole numbers where the report gives only a rounded share; the 2024 and 2025 surveys have a decimal figure in the report's confidence-interval table. The survey is a convenience sample, so small year-to-year moves may be noise.", "source": "fed-sbcs" } ], "sources": [ { "name": "Small Business Credit Survey", "publisher": "Federal Reserve Banks", "type": "survey", "url": "https://www.fedsmallbusiness.org/" }, { "name": "Business Trends and Outlook Survey", "publisher": "US Census Bureau", "type": "official", "url": "https://www.census.gov/" } ], "content_changed_on": "2026-10-31", "page_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/small-business/small-business-finances", "csv_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/small-business/small-business-finances.csv" }