Small Business Statistics 2026: Survival, Funding and Growth

Small businesses remain the backbone of the U.S. economy heading into 2026, even as survival odds, access to capital and growth patterns vary widely by industry, size and ownership group. The figures below are compiled from federal agencies, academic research and long-running industry surveys to give a sourced, citable picture of small business survival, funding and growth.

The Small Business Landscape

Small businesses continue to dominate the U.S. business population and account for a large share of private employment.

• 33.2 million small businesses operate in the United States, representing 99.9% of all U.S. businesses (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2023).
• Small businesses employ 61.7 million people, or 46.4% of the private-sector workforce (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2023).
• More than 80% of small businesses are nonemployer firms with no paid staff beyond the owner (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2023).
• Small businesses generated 12.9 million net new jobs over the past 25 years, nearly two-thirds of total net job creation (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2023).
• Small businesses contribute an estimated 43.5% of U.S. GDP (SBA Office of Advocacy).
• The U.S. has roughly 16 million self-employed workers (BLS, Current Population Survey).

Firm Size & Structure

Among small businesses that do have employees, most are far smaller than the SBA's official size-standard ceilings suggest.

• About 89% of small employer firms have fewer than 20 employees (SBA Office of Advocacy).
• Roughly 60% of small employer firms have fewer than 5 employees (SBA Office of Advocacy).

Survival & Failure Rates

Business survival declines steadily over time, a pattern that has held consistently across decades of BLS tracking.

• About 20% of new businesses fail within their first year (BLS, Business Employment Dynamics).
• Roughly 50% of small businesses fail within their first five years (BLS, Business Employment Dynamics).
• Between 65% and 70% of small businesses fail within 10 years of opening (BLS, Business Employment Dynamics).
• Only about 25% of businesses started in a given year are still operating 15 years later (BLS, Business Employment Dynamics).

Business Formation Trends

New business creation surged after 2020 and has stayed elevated well above pre-pandemic norms.

• More than 5 million new business applications were filed in the U.S. in 2023, extending a record-setting streak that began in 2021 (U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics).
• Annual business applications have run roughly 40% higher than the pre-pandemic (2019) baseline of about 3.5 million per year (U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics).

Funding, Credit & Cash Flow

Capital access and cash reserves remain among the biggest constraints on small business survival and growth.

• The median small business holds just 27 cash buffer days — enough reserves to cover about a month of expenses if revenue stopped (JPMorgan Chase Institute).
• The SBA's 7(a) loan program guaranteed more than $27 billion in small-business loans in fiscal year 2023 (U.S. Small Business Administration).
• The SBA's 504 loan program supported more than $6 billion in financing in fiscal year 2023 (U.S. Small Business Administration).
• Long-run entrepreneurship research puts the median startup capital used to launch a new business at about $25,000 (Kauffman Firm Survey).

Ownership Diversity & Trade

Ownership patterns and export participation vary widely once nonemployer firms are separated from businesses with paid staff.

• Women own an estimated 42% of all U.S. businesses, generating $1.9 trillion in revenue (Wells Fargo/NAWBO, State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, 2019).
• Women-owned businesses employ nearly 9.4 million people (Wells Fargo/NAWBO, State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, 2019).
• Among employer firms specifically, about 20% are majority women-owned (U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, 2022).
• Roughly 19% of U.S. employer firms are minority-owned (U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, 2022).
• Black-owned businesses account for about 2.4% of U.S. employer firms (U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, 2022).
• Hispanic-owned businesses account for about 6.6% of U.S. employer firms (U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, 2022).
• Small businesses make up 98% of all U.S. exporting companies, though they account for a smaller share of total export value (SBA Office of Advocacy / International Trade Administration).
• The federal government has a statutory goal of directing at least 23% of prime contract dollars to small businesses, a target exceeded in recent fiscal years (SBA, Small Business Procurement Scorecard).