Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2023

Advocacy’s most popular publication, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business, gathers the most up-to-date statistics about American small businesses in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions about Small Business is a convenient place to find facts about the state of the small business economy, including the following:

  • Most businesses are small- 99.9% of American businesses.
  • There are 33,185,550 small businesses in the United States.
  • Small businesses employ 61.7 million Americans, totaling 46.4% of private sector employees.
  • From 1995 to 2021, small businesses created 17.3 million net new jobs, accounting for 62.7% of net jobs created since 1995.
  • Small businesses pay 39.4% percent of private sector payroll.
  • Small businesses generate 32.6% percent of known export value.
  • About 38% of small businesses use specialized software in their business operations.

Advocacy generally defines a small business as an independent business having fewer than 500 employees.


Our companion piece, the What’s New With Small Business infographic, is now available.

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