Entrepreneurship Statistics 2026: U.S. Business Data

Entrepreneurship in the United States is much larger than the population of startups that raise venture capital or immediately hire employees.

Millions of Americans operate businesses without paid employees. Others build employer firms, hire workers and grow into larger organizations. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of applications for new businesses are submitted in a typical month.

Understanding entrepreneurship therefore requires more than one statistic.

In 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau counted approximately 36.4 million employer and nonemployer businesses in its combined business-owner demographic data.

Approximately 30.4 million were nonemployer businesses, while about 5.9 million were employer firms.

Separately, the SBA Office of Advocacy reported 36.2 million small businesses in its February 2026 small-business statistics.

These totals come from different statistical products and should not be treated as interchangeable.

This guide brings together current Census Bureau, SBA and Kauffman data to explain how many businesses operate in the United States, how new businesses are created, who owns them and how entrepreneurship can progress from individual business ownership to employer growth.

Last reviewed: September 2026

Methodology note: Entrepreneurship statistics come from multiple government and research datasets that measure different populations and events. A business application is not necessarily a new operating business. A nonemployer business is different from an employer firm. A person becoming an entrepreneur is different from an establishment birth. StartupWerx keeps these measures separate rather than combining them into a single invented entrepreneurship rate.

Entrepreneurship Statistics at a Glance

Measure	Latest Figure	What It Measures
U.S. small businesses	36.2 million	SBA small-business population
Share of U.S. businesses classified as small	99.9%	SBA research measure
Small-business employment	62.3 million	People employed by small businesses
Share of private-sector employment	45.9%	Small-business employment share
Employer + nonemployer businesses in latest combined Census demographic data	36.4 million	Reference year 2023
Nonemployer businesses in latest Census demographic data	30.4 million	Businesses without paid employees
Employer firms in latest Census demographic data	About 5.9 million	Businesses with paid employees
Women-owned businesses	14.2 million	Employer + nonemployer businesses, 2023
Veteran-owned businesses	1.6 million	Employer + nonemployer businesses, 2023
Minority-owned employer firms	1.3 million / 22.6%	Census reference year 2022 aggregate
August 2026 business applications	531,728	Census qualifying business applications
Projected employer formations from August 2026 applications	28,501	Projected payroll startups within four quarters
Rate of new entrepreneurs, 2025	0.36%	Kauffman monthly rate
Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs, 2025	83.3%	Kauffman indicator
Startup early survival rate, 2025	77.9%	Kauffman one-year indicator
Startup early job creation, 2025	5.3 per 1,000 people	Kauffman indicator

These figures should not be combined as though they measure the same thing.

Together, however, they provide a broader picture of American entrepreneurship.

How Many Small Businesses Are There in the United States?

According to the SBA Office of Advocacy’s February 2026 statistics:

36,207,130 small businesses operate in the United States.

Small businesses represent:

99.9% of U.S. businesses

and employ:

62.3 million people.

That equals:

45.9% of private-sector workers.

The SBA also reports that small businesses account for:

43.5% of U.S. GDP
38.7% of private-sector payroll
35.0% of private-sector receipts
97.2% of exporters

Those figures demonstrate why entrepreneurship matters beyond individual business owners.

Small businesses represent a substantial part of U.S. employment and economic activity.

Most Small Businesses Don’t Have Employees

This is one of the most important entrepreneurship statistics.

The SBA’s 2026 FAQ reports:

Small-Business Type	Number	Share
Nonemployer firms	29,811,495	82.3%
Employer firms	6,395,635	17.7%
Total small businesses	36,207,130	100%

In other words:

More than four out of five U.S. small businesses have no paid employees.

This changes how entrepreneurship should be understood.

An entrepreneur does not need to employ a team to operate a business.

Millions of businesses consist of:

Consultants
Contractors
Freelancers
Creators
Independent professionals
Owner-operated service businesses
Online sellers
Other businesses without payroll employees

Some will remain nonemployers.

Others may eventually hire.

Nonemployer Businesses Have Grown Substantially

The SBA reports that the number of nonemployer firms has nearly doubled over the longer term.

There were approximately:

15.4 million nonemployer firms in 1997

compared with:

29.8 million in 2022.

That is an increase of approximately:

14.4 million businesses

over 25 years.

The SBA also reports that the number of small employer firms has increased each year since 2011.

The two trends represent different dimensions of entrepreneurship:

more people operating businesses without employees

and:

millions of small businesses operating with paid employees.

Census Provides Another View of the Business Population

The Census Bureau’s latest combined business-owner demographic release covers reference year 2023.

It reports approximately:

36.4 million employer and nonemployer businesses

with approximately:

$50.0 trillion in receipts.

The population includes approximately:

Nonemployer Businesses

30.4 million

with approximately:

$1.8 trillion in receipts

Employer Firms

5.9 million

The Census figures and SBA figures should not be expected to match exactly.

They come from different statistical products, definitions and reference periods.

StartupWerx therefore identifies the source and population rather than treating every business count as interchangeable.

What Is a Nonemployer Business?

The Census nonemployer universe includes businesses without paid employees or payroll that file federal income tax and meet applicable receipt requirements.

For most industries, the universe includes businesses with annual receipts of at least:

$1,000

The construction threshold differs.

These businesses can be economically active even though they do not maintain a payroll.

That distinction matters because entrepreneurship is often discussed as if every business begins by hiring employees.

The data show otherwise.

StartupWerx Entrepreneurship Pipeline

A useful way to understand entrepreneurship is as a progression rather than one event.

Stage 1: Entrepreneurial Intent

Someone identifies an opportunity and decides to pursue a business.

Stage 2: Business Creation Activity

The entrepreneur begins taking concrete steps such as:

Researching the market
Choosing a business model
Selecting a name
Applying for an EIN
Forming a legal entity
Obtaining licenses
Opening financial accounts

Stage 3: Operating Business

The company begins selling products or services.

It may initially operate without paid employees.

Stage 4: Nonemployer Business

The owner operates an economically active business without payroll employees.

Millions of U.S. businesses operate this way.

Stage 5: Employer Business

The company hires one or more employees.

Stage 6: Growing Employer

The company increases:

Employment
Revenue
Locations
Customers
Assets
Operational complexity

Not every entrepreneur follows every stage.

Some businesses are intentionally designed to remain owner-operated.

Others begin with employees.

The framework explains why entrepreneurship statistics measuring different stages should not be treated as identical.

More Than Half a Million Business Applications Were Filed in August 2026

The Census Bureau reported:

531,728 business applications in August 2026

on a seasonally adjusted basis.

That was:

7.8% lower than July 2026.

But:

531,728 applications do not mean 531,728 new operating businesses opened in August.

That distinction is essential.

A Business Application Is Not a Business Formation

The Census Bureau separately estimates which applications are likely to develop into businesses with payroll tax liabilities.

For the August 2026 application cohort, Census projected:

28,501 business formations within four quarters.

That projection was:

4.6% lower than the analogous July 2026 projection.

The two numbers answer different questions.

Business Applications

531,728

Measures qualifying business applications submitted during August 2026.

Projected Business Formations

28,501

Estimates startups from that application cohort expected to develop payroll tax liabilities within four quarters.

Therefore:

Application ≠ operating business

and:

Application ≠ employer formation

For a deeper explanation, see Business Formation Statistics 2026.

How Many Americans Become Entrepreneurs?

The Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship provide another way to measure entrepreneurship.

Rather than counting firms or business applications, the Rate of New Entrepreneurs measures the percentage of adults who become entrepreneurs in a given month.

For 2025, the national rate was:

0.36%

This is a person-level entrepreneurship indicator.

It should not be interpreted as the percentage of businesses created in a month.

Entrepreneurship Increased in 2025

Kauffman’s 2025 national report found that the Rate of New Entrepreneurs increased and remained above pre-pandemic levels.

This does not mean every measure of entrepreneurship increased.

Different indicators track different aspects of business creation.

But the Kauffman data indicate that entry into entrepreneurship remained elevated compared with the period before the pandemic.

Most New Entrepreneurs Were Opportunity-Driven Under the Kauffman Definition

Kauffman’s Opportunity Share of New Entrepreneurs distinguishes people entering entrepreneurship from a non-unemployed status from those entering after unemployment.

In 2025:

83.3% of new entrepreneurs met Kauffman’s definition of opportunity entrepreneurship.

Kauffman reports:

Year	Opportunity Share
2019	86.9%
2020	69.8%
2021	80.9%
2022	88.3%
2023	85.2%
2024	82.3%
2025	83.3%

The sharp 2020 decline occurred during the unusual labor-market conditions surrounding the pandemic.

By 2025, the measure had recovered substantially, although it remained below its 2019 level.

What Does “Opportunity Entrepreneur” Mean?

The phrase can be misunderstood.

It should not be interpreted as Kauffman determining whether an entrepreneur has a good business opportunity.

Instead, the indicator identifies new entrepreneurs who were not unemployed and looking for work before entering entrepreneurship.

It is therefore a labor-market-based indicator.

StartupWerx preserves that distinction rather than treating “opportunity entrepreneur” as a judgment about the quality of a business idea.

Opportunity Entrepreneurship Varies by Age

Kauffman’s 2025 data show:

Age	Opportunity Share
20–34	82.0%
35–44	83.5%
45–54	81.7%
55–64	87.2%

Among these age groups, entrepreneurs ages 55–64 had the highest opportunity share.

That does not mean they started the most businesses.

It means a larger share of new entrepreneurs in that age group met Kauffman’s definition of opportunity entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship Is Not Just for Young Founders

Popular startup culture often emphasizes founders in their twenties.

The entrepreneurship data describe a broader population.

Kauffman’s opportunity indicator includes entrepreneurial activity across:

Ages 20–34
Ages 35–44
Ages 45–54
Ages 55–64

The 2025 opportunity share was highest among the 55–64 group.

That does not establish which age group starts the most businesses or creates the most successful companies.

It does show that entrepreneurship should not be framed exclusively as a young-founder phenomenon.

Opportunity Entrepreneurship by Sex

Kauffman’s 2025 opportunity-share data report:

Group	Opportunity Share
Women	87.5%
Men	81.1%

This does not mean women started more businesses than men.

It means that among new entrepreneurs in each group, a larger share of women met Kauffman’s definition of opportunity entrepreneurship.

Opportunity Entrepreneurship by Education

Kauffman’s 2025 estimates include:

Education	Opportunity Share
Less than high school	78.2%
High school graduate	82.7%
Some college	85.9%
College graduate	84.6%

Entrepreneurship occurs across education levels.

These statistics measure the opportunity share within each education group—not business success or profitability.

Opportunity Entrepreneurship by Nativity

Kauffman reported similar opportunity shares in 2025:

Group	Opportunity Share
Immigrant	83.8%
Native-born	83.4%

These percentages describe opportunity entrepreneurship within each population.

They should not be interpreted as the rate at which each population becomes an entrepreneur.

How Many Minority-Owned Businesses Are There in the United States?

There is no single current number that StartupWerx should create by adding the latest race and ethnicity categories together.

That is because Census race and ethnicity classifications can overlap.

For example, Hispanic ethnicity is measured separately from race.

Adding Hispanic-owned, Black-owned, Asian-owned and other categories would therefore risk double counting.

Instead, StartupWerx uses official Census aggregate minority-owned estimates when Census publishes them and separately reports the newer individual race and ethnicity statistics.

Latest Explicit Census Aggregate for Minority-Owned Employer Firms

The 2023 Annual Business Survey, covering reference year 2022, reported approximately:

1.3 million minority-owned employer firms

representing:

22.6% of U.S. employer firms.

This is an official Census aggregate.

It applies specifically to employer firms and to reference year 2022.

It should not be described as the number of all minority-owned businesses in 2026.

What Does Census Mean by Minority-Owned?

Census has historically defined minority ownership using race and ethnicity classifications rather than simply adding every demographic category.

The important point for readers is:

Minority-owned is an official statistical classification—not a number StartupWerx should reconstruct by summing overlapping demographic groups.

For the newest 2023 business-owner data, StartupWerx therefore presents the individual race and ethnicity categories directly.

Minority-Owned Businesses Extend Far Beyond Employer Firms

The latest Census demographic data demonstrate why employer-only statistics provide an incomplete view.

For reference year 2023:

Ownership Group	Employer Firms	Nonemployer Businesses
Black or African American-owned	201,000	4.4 million
Hispanic-owned	496,000	5.3 million
Asian-owned	685,000	2.8 million
American Indian or Alaska Native-owned	55,000	378,000
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned	9,000	102,000

These categories should not be added together to produce a minority-owned-business total.

Race and ethnicity classifications can overlap.

But the table reveals something important:

Millions of minority entrepreneurs operate nonemployer businesses.

A discussion of minority entrepreneurship that looks only at employer firms misses a substantial part of the business-owner population.

Black-Owned Business Statistics

Census reported approximately:

201,000 Black or African American-owned employer firms

in reference year 2023.

They represented:

3.4% of employer firms

and generated approximately:

$249.0 billion in receipts.

Among nonemployer businesses:

approximately:

4.4 million were Black-owned

representing:

14.4% of nonemployer businesses

with approximately:

$128.7 billion in receipts.

The difference between the employer and nonemployer populations is substantial.

Hispanic-Owned Business Statistics

Census reported approximately:

496,000 Hispanic-owned employer firms

in reference year 2023.

They represented:

8.4% of employer firms

and generated approximately:

$730.3 billion in receipts.

Among nonemployer businesses:

approximately:

5.3 million were Hispanic-owned

representing:

17.5% of nonemployer businesses

with approximately:

$244.2 billion in receipts.

Hispanic is an ethnicity classification and can overlap with race categories.

Asian-Owned Business Statistics

Census reported approximately:

685,000 Asian-owned employer firms

representing:

11.5% of employer firms

with approximately:

$1.2 trillion in receipts.

Among nonemployer businesses:

approximately:

2.8 million were Asian-owned

representing:

9.2% of nonemployer businesses

with approximately:

$163.6 billion in receipts.

American Indian and Alaska Native-Owned Business Statistics

Census reported approximately:

55,000 American Indian or Alaska Native-owned employer firms

representing:

0.9% of employer firms

with approximately:

$70.8 billion in receipts.

Among nonemployer businesses:

approximately:

378,000

were American Indian or Alaska Native-owned, representing:

1.2% of nonemployer businesses

with approximately:

$15.5 billion in receipts.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-Owned Business Statistics

Census reported approximately:

9,000 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned employer firms

representing:

0.2% of employer firms

with approximately:

$13.1 billion in receipts.

Among nonemployer businesses:

approximately:

102,000

were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned, representing:

0.3% of nonemployer businesses

with approximately:

$4.4 billion in receipts.

Why Employer and Nonemployer Minority-Business Statistics Look So Different

This distinction is one of the most useful insights in the Census data.

Employer businesses have paid employees.

Nonemployer businesses do not.

A business owner can therefore operate a legitimate revenue-producing company without appearing in employer-firm statistics.

That can include:

Independent consultants
Contractors
Professional services businesses
Creators
Online businesses
Owner-operated service companies
Sole proprietorships
Other businesses without payroll

For minority entrepreneurship, the difference is particularly important because millions of minority-owned businesses appear in the nonemployer population.

How Many Businesses Are Owned by Women?

The latest combined Census demographic data report:

14.2 million women-owned U.S. businesses in 2023.

Those businesses generated approximately:

$2.8 trillion in receipts.

The combined figure includes both employer and nonemployer businesses.

Women Own 42.3% of Nonemployer Businesses

Among the approximately 30.4 million nonemployer businesses in the 2023 Census NES-D:

12.9 million were women-owned.

That represented:

42.3% of nonemployer businesses.

Women-owned nonemployer businesses generated approximately:

$423.1 billion in receipts.

Women Own 22.9% of Employer Firms

Among approximately 5.9 million employer firms in the 2024 Annual Business Survey, covering reference year 2023:

approximately:

1.4 million

were women-owned.

That represented:

22.9% of employer firms.

The difference between:

42.3% of nonemployers

and:

22.9% of employer firms

illustrates why ownership demographics can look very different depending on the population being measured.

Veteran Entrepreneurship

Census reported approximately:

1.6 million veteran-owned employer and nonemployer businesses

in 2023.

Together, they generated approximately:

$1.0 trillion in receipts.

Among employer businesses:

approximately:

261,000

were veteran-owned, representing:

4.4% of employer firms.

Among nonemployer businesses:

approximately:

1.4 million

were veteran-owned, representing:

4.5% of nonemployer businesses.

Veteran entrepreneurship therefore also extends far beyond employer firms.

Entrepreneurship Creates Jobs

Entrepreneurship is not only about business ownership.

Employer startups can create new jobs.

Kauffman’s Startup Early Job Creation indicator measures startup job creation in the first year, normalized by population.

For 2025, the national indicator was approximately:

5.3 jobs per 1,000 people.

Kauffman reports that startup early job creation had recovered from its pandemic decline and was above pre-pandemic levels.

Small Businesses Employ 62.3 Million People

The broader SBA measure shows the scale of employment associated with small businesses.

In the SBA’s February 2026 statistics:

62.3 million people work for small businesses.

That represents:

45.9% of private-sector employment.

Entrepreneurship therefore operates at two very different scales:

Owner-Operated Entrepreneurship

Millions of businesses have no employees.

Employer Entrepreneurship

Millions of small firms collectively employ tens of millions of workers.

Both are economically important.

Entrepreneurship and Survival

Starting a business and building a durable business are different challenges.

Kauffman’s 2025 Startup Early Survival Rate was approximately:

77.9%

under its methodology.

Longer-term BLS establishment data provide another perspective.

For example, private-sector employer establishments born in March 2013 had survival rates of:

79.6% after one year
50.6% after five years
34.7% after ten years

These statistics come from different methodologies and cohorts.

They should not be treated as interchangeable.

For a detailed explanation, see Small Business Survival Rates 2026.

StartupWerx Entrepreneurship Funnel

The available data illustrate why a simple count of “entrepreneurs” cannot explain the entire startup economy.

StartupWerx organizes the ecosystem into four measurable layers.

Layer 1 — Entrepreneur

A person enters business ownership

Example measure:

Kauffman Rate of New Entrepreneurs.

Layer 2 — Business Creation Activity

Formal business-creation activity occurs

Example measure:

Census Business Applications.

Layer 3 — Operating Business

A business generates economic activity

Example measures:

Census nonemployer businesses and employer firms.

Layer 4 — Employer Growth

A business hires employees and potentially expands

Example measures:

Census employer firms, SBA employment and Kauffman startup job creation.

This framework prevents a common statistical mistake:

counting activity at one stage as though it represents another.

531,728 Applications Did Not Mean 531,728 New Employers

August 2026 provides a useful example.

Business applications:

531,728

Projected employer formations from that cohort:

28,501

Those numbers should not be divided to create a universal entrepreneur “success rate.”

The formation figure is a Census projection under a specific methodology and observation window.

But the gap demonstrates something important:

Entrepreneurial activity is much broader than immediate employer formation.

Some applications may never become operating businesses.

Some businesses may operate without employees.

Some may hire later.

Entrepreneurship is a process—not a single administrative event.

StartupWerx Entrepreneurship Measurement Framework

When evaluating entrepreneurship data, identify what stage is actually being measured.

Intent → Application → Formation → Operation → Employment → Growth

Intent

Someone decides to pursue a business opportunity.

Application

Administrative activity occurs, such as a qualifying business application.

Formation

A legal or statistical business formation occurs.

Operation

The company begins conducting business.

Employment

The company develops payroll employment.

Growth

The business expands revenue, employees, customers, locations or capabilities.

These stages are related.

They are not equivalent.

Legal Formation and Statistical Formation Are Different

An entrepreneur may legally form an LLC or corporation before generating revenue or hiring employees.

Census Business Formation Statistics use a different concept when estimating future employer formations.

Therefore:

Legal entity formation ≠ Census projected employer formation

An LLC can be a legitimate operating business for years without hiring an employee.

This is especially relevant given that more than four out of five small businesses have no paid employees.

What Entrepreneurship Statistics Don’t Tell Us

Entrepreneurship statistics are useful—but limited.

They do not automatically tell us:

Whether a business is profitable
Whether the owner works full time in the business
Whether the business is the owner’s primary income
Whether a business will eventually hire
Whether an entrepreneur will succeed
Why a business closes
Whether a business application becomes an operating company
Whether a surviving company produces a good return for its owner

Those questions require different data.

What the Data Suggest About Modern Entrepreneurship

Several themes emerge from the latest statistics.

1. Entrepreneurship Is Primarily Small Business

The SBA classifies:

99.9% of U.S. businesses as small.

2. Most Small Businesses Don’t Employ Anyone

82.3% of small businesses are nonemployer firms.

3. Entrepreneurship Extends Far Beyond Venture-Backed Startups

Millions of entrepreneurs operate:

Service businesses
Professional practices
Independent businesses
Local companies
Online businesses
Owner-operated companies

4. Business Creation Activity Remains High

More than:

531,000 qualifying business applications

were submitted in August 2026 alone.

5. Most New Entrepreneurs in 2025 Entered From a Non-Unemployed Status

Kauffman’s opportunity share was:

83.3%.

6. Entrepreneurship Is Demographically Broad

Women owned:

14.2 million businesses

in the combined 2023 Census data.

The latest Census data also document millions of Black-, Hispanic-, Asian-, American Indian or Alaska Native-, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-, and veteran-owned businesses.

7. Minority Entrepreneurship Is Much Larger Than Employer-Firm Counts Alone Suggest

The latest explicit Census aggregate found:

1.3 million minority-owned employer firms

for reference year 2022.

But the newer 2023 demographic data separately identify millions of minority-owned nonemployer businesses.

That distinction is essential when describing minority entrepreneurship.

8. Nonemployer Entrepreneurship Is Enormous

Census counted:

30.4 million nonemployer businesses

in its 2023 demographic dataset.

That population should not be treated as a footnote to entrepreneurship.

What This Means for Someone Starting a Business

The statistics show there is no single required path.

A business can begin as:

A solo consulting practice
An ecommerce store
A local service company
A professional business
A side business
A contractor business
A company designed to hire immediately

The important question isn’t whether your company resembles the stereotypical startup.

It’s whether the business has:

A real customer
Sustainable economics
Appropriate capital
A workable business structure
Reliable operations
A path that fits your goals

You Don’t Need Employees to Build a Real Business

The nonemployer statistics make this especially clear.

A business without employees can still:

Generate revenue
Serve customers
Build assets
Establish a brand
Use contractors
Invest in technology
Generate income for its owner
Eventually hire employees

For many entrepreneurs, remaining lean can be intentional.

For others, nonemployer status is simply the first stage of growth.

AI and Automation May Change the Entrepreneurship Equation

Technology increasingly allows small teams and individual business owners to perform work that once required more employees.

AI and automation can assist with areas such as:

Marketing
Customer service
Research
Bookkeeping workflows
Scheduling
Sales operations
Data analysis
Administrative processes

That does not mean every entrepreneur should avoid hiring.

It means employee count alone is an incomplete measure of business capability.

For current adoption data, see AI for Small Business Statistics 2026.

StartupWerx Entrepreneur’s Operating Framework

Entrepreneurship becomes more useful when statistics lead to better decisions.

StartupWerx organizes early business development around five questions.

1. What Are You Selling?

Define:

Customer
Problem
Product or service
Price
Value proposition

2. Can the Economics Work?

Estimate:

Startup capital
Gross margin
Customer acquisition
Fixed costs
Working capital
Operating reserve

See Cost to Start a Business in 2026.

3. How Should the Business Be Structured?

Evaluate:

Sole proprietorship
LLC
Corporation
Tax considerations
Ownership
Liability
Administrative requirements

See LLC vs Corporation Costs by State.

4. What Must Happen Before Launch?

Depending on the business:

Form the entity
Obtain an EIN
Open a bank account
Obtain licenses
Purchase insurance
Establish bookkeeping
Build sales and operating systems

5. What Does Growth Mean?

Growth does not have to mean hiring hundreds of employees.

It might mean:

Higher owner income
More customers
Better margins
More recurring revenue
Greater automation
Hiring the first employee
Opening another location
Building a valuable company

Define the outcome before designing the company.

Ready to Become a Business Owner?

Millions of Americans operate businesses—from solo entrepreneurs to companies employing hundreds of people.

If you’ve identified an opportunity and are ready to move from planning toward formation, StartupWerx can help you establish the business.

Start your business →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many entrepreneurs are there in the United States?

There is no single official count of “entrepreneurs” because government and research programs measure different populations and events.

The Census Bureau counted approximately 36.4 million employer and nonemployer businesses in its combined 2023 demographic data, while Kauffman separately measures the rate at which individuals become entrepreneurs.

A business count and an entrepreneur count are not necessarily identical.

How many small businesses are there in the United States?

The SBA Office of Advocacy reported 36,207,130 small businesses in February 2026.

They represent 99.9% of U.S. businesses.

How many small businesses have employees?

The SBA reports approximately 6.4 million small employer firms, representing 17.7% of small businesses.

How many small businesses don’t have employees?

The SBA reports approximately 29.8 million nonemployer small businesses, representing 82.3% of small businesses.

How many minority-owned businesses are there?

The answer depends on the population and reference year.

The latest explicit Census aggregate cited in this guide reported approximately 1.3 million minority-owned employer firms, representing 22.6% of employer firms, for reference year 2022.

The newer reference-year 2023 Census data provide individual race and ethnicity statistics for employer and nonemployer businesses.

StartupWerx does not add those categories together because race and ethnicity classifications can overlap.

How many Black-owned businesses are there?

For reference year 2023, Census reported approximately 201,000 Black-owned employer firms and 4.4 million Black-owned nonemployer businesses.

These are separate business populations and should not simply be added without respecting Census methodology.

How many Hispanic-owned businesses are there?

For reference year 2023, Census reported approximately 496,000 Hispanic-owned employer firms and 5.3 million Hispanic-owned nonemployer businesses.

Hispanic ethnicity can overlap with race classifications.

How many Asian-owned businesses are there?

For reference year 2023, Census reported approximately 685,000 Asian-owned employer firms and 2.8 million Asian-owned nonemployer businesses.

How many businesses are owned by women?

Census reported approximately 14.2 million women-owned employer and nonemployer businesses in reference year 2023.

How many nonemployer businesses are there?

The Census Bureau’s latest 2023 NES-D data include approximately 30.4 million nonemployer businesses.

Different Census and SBA products can produce different totals because of definitions, datasets and reference periods.

How many people work for small businesses?

The SBA reports that small businesses employ approximately 62.3 million people, representing 45.9% of U.S. private-sector workers.

How many new business applications are filed?

The Census Bureau reported 531,728 seasonally adjusted business applications in August 2026.

Monthly totals change, so the figure should be identified by month rather than presented as a permanent rate.

Does a business application mean a new business opened?

No.

A qualifying business application does not establish that an operating business opened.

How many new employer businesses are expected from August 2026 applications?

For the August 2026 application cohort, Census projected 28,501 business formations with payroll tax liabilities within four quarters.

That is a forward-looking estimate for that application cohort, not the total number of businesses that opened during August.

What percentage of Americans become entrepreneurs?

Kauffman’s Rate of New Entrepreneurs was approximately 0.36% in 2025.

The measure represents the percentage of the adult population becoming entrepreneurs in an average month under Kauffman’s methodology.

Are most entrepreneurs starting businesses because they lost their jobs?

Kauffman’s 2025 Opportunity Share of New Entrepreneurs was approximately 83.3%.

Under Kauffman’s methodology, these entrepreneurs were not unemployed and looking for work immediately before starting their businesses.

Do you need employees to be an entrepreneur?

No.

The majority of U.S. small businesses have no paid employees.

The SBA reports that 82.3% of small businesses are nonemployer firms.

Is an LLC automatically an employer business?

No.

A legal entity can operate without employees.

Legal business structure and employer status measure different characteristics.

What percentage of startups survive their first year?

Kauffman’s Startup Early Survival Rate was approximately 77.9% in 2025.

BLS reports separate establishment-survival statistics using a different methodology.

See Small Business Survival Rates 2026 for a detailed comparison.

Sources and Methodology

StartupWerx built this guide from multiple datasets because no single government statistic captures the entire entrepreneurship process.

U.S. Small-Business Population

The SBA Office of Advocacy’s Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2026 provides:

Total small businesses
Employer and nonemployer counts
Employment
GDP contribution
Payroll share
Receipts and exporter statistics

The SBA Office of Advocacy generally defines a small business for research purposes as an independent business with fewer than 500 employees.

Industry-specific federal size standards can differ.

Census Employer and Nonemployer Ownership Data

The latest Census combined demographic data draw from:

2024 Annual Business Survey

covering employer firms in reference year 2023

and:

2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics

covering businesses without paid employees.

Together, the Census release reports approximately:

36.4 million employer and nonemployer businesses

with approximately:

$50.0 trillion in receipts.

Minority-Owned Business Methodology

StartupWerx does not create a current minority-owned-business total by adding Census race and ethnicity categories.

Those classifications can overlap.

The latest explicit Census aggregate used in this guide comes from the 2023 Annual Business Survey covering reference year 2022, which reported:

1.3 million minority-owned employer firms

representing:

22.6% of U.S. employer firms.

For reference year 2023, StartupWerx uses the newer Census employer and nonemployer figures for individual race and ethnicity categories.

This preserves the source definitions and avoids double counting.

Census Business Formation Statistics

Business Formation Statistics use administrative data to measure qualifying business applications and estimate future employer formations.

StartupWerx does not interpret a business application as proof that a business opened.

Kauffman Indicators of Entrepreneurship

Kauffman’s Early-Stage Entrepreneurship indicators include:

Rate of New Entrepreneurs
Opportunity Share of New Entrepreneurs
Startup Early Job Creation
Startup Early Survival Rate

StartupWerx identifies these as Kauffman measures rather than presenting them as Census or SBA statistics.

Demographic Statistics

Business ownership percentages depend heavily on whether the population contains:

Employer firms
Nonemployer businesses
Both

StartupWerx identifies the population whenever practical.

Race and ethnicity classifications can overlap and should not be added together as though all categories are mutually exclusive.

StartupWerx Entrepreneurship Pipeline

StartupWerx introduces:

Entrepreneurial Intent → Business Creation Activity → Operating Business → Nonemployer/Employer Business → Growth

This is an editorial and planning framework.

It is not a government statistical model.

StartupWerx Entrepreneurship Measurement Framework

StartupWerx also uses:

Intent → Application → Formation → Operation → Employment → Growth

to identify what stage a particular entrepreneurship statistic measures.

This framework is intended to prevent comparisons between statistics measuring fundamentally different events.

Important Limitations

The statistics in this guide should not be interpreted as:

A universal count of individual entrepreneurs
A prediction of entrepreneurial success
A measure of business profitability
Proof that every business application becomes a business
Proof that every nonemployer intends to hire
Proof that employer businesses are more successful
A universal 2026 minority-owned-business count
A forecast of whether a specific entrepreneur will succeed

The datasets measure different aspects of entrepreneurship under specific definitions.

Primary Sources

Continue Building Your Business

Entrepreneurship statistics show how many different paths business owners take.

For broader guidance, see Form, Manage, and Grow a Small Business.

Continue with:

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Entrepreneurship can begin with one person, one customer and a viable business idea.

When you’re ready to turn that idea into a formal business, StartupWerx can help you move from planning to formation.

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Use StartupWerx to explore business ideas and identify opportunities that fit your experience, resources and goals.