Study reveals which US states have the most registered small businesses
- Florida has the highest percentage of small businesses, with 64% of all businesses having fewer than five registered employees.
- New York came second with 62.71% and Wyoming came third with 61.83%.
- Tennessee had the lowest percentage of small businesses with 49.19%.
A new study has revealed that Florida has the highest percentage of small businesses out of all states in America.
Business QR code generator Qrfy.com analyzed the latest public data from the US Census Bureau to find the percentage of registered businesses with fewer than five employees for each US state throughout 2021. These results were then ranked to determine which states had the highest percentage of small businesses compared to every other registered business.
Florida ranks first with 64% of all businesses being classified as small businesses. Out of 616,961 total registered establishments, 394,849 establishments were found to have fewer than five employees. The annual payroll for all small businesses across Florida was found to be $32,799,642,000, with an average of $83,068.82 per business.
New York came second with 62.71% of all businesses being classified as small businesses. Out of 535,758 total registered establishments, 335,950 establishments had fewer than five employees. The annual payroll for all small businesses across New York was $33,618,837,000, with an average of $100,070.95 per small business.
Wyoming came third with 61.83% of all businesses being classified as small businesses. Out of 22,474 total registered establishments,13,896 establishments had fewer than five employees. The annual payroll for all small businesses across Wyoming was $1,286,032,000, with an average of $92,546.91 per small business.
Montana ranked fourth with 61.54% of all businesses being classified as small businesses. Out of 40,716 total registered establishments, 25,055 establishments had fewer than five employees. The annual payroll for all small businesses across Montana was $1,935,268,000, with an average of $77,240.79 per small business.
Colorado came fifth with 60.93% of all businesses being classified as small businesses. Out of 179,827 total registered establishments, 109,570 establishments had fewer than five employees. The annual payroll for all small businesses across Colorado was $10,665,582,000, with an average of $97,340.34 per small business.
Other states that featured in the top ten were Utah, California, Idaho, Maine, and Alaska.
Tennessee ranked last in the study, with only 49.19% of all businesses having fewer than five registered employees. Out of 144,457 total registered establishments, 71,055 establishments had fewer than five employees.
Marc Porcar, CEO of Qrfy.com commented on the findings:
“It is interesting to see the extent to which smaller businesses contribute to the overall number of businesses in each state, especially when they are competing with far larger companies in the same industries. These figures are also from the end of the COVID-19 lockdown period, which may have influenced people to start their own small businesses whilst working from home.
“A possible explanation behind the top ten results could be the higher living costs of states like Florida and New York, which may encourage people to be more entrepreneurial in order to make a living. Hopefully, we will see more public figures released for subsequent years to see whether these trends continue at all.”
States ranked by percentage of small businesses in 2021 (fewer than five employees)
|
Rank |
State |
Total number of establishments (2021) |
Number of establishments with fewer than five employees (2021) |
Percentage of small businesses (2021) |
|
1. |
Florida |
616,961 |
394,849 |
64.00% |
|
2. |
New York |
535,758 |
335,950 |
62.71% |
|
3. |
Wyoming |
22,474 |
13,896 |
61.83% |
|
4. |
Montana |
40,716 |
25,055 |
61.54% |
|
5. |
Colorado |
179,827 |
109,570 |
60.93% |
|
6. |
Utah |
90,301 |
53,965 |
59.76% |
|
7. |
California |
998,582 |
595,457 |
59.63% |
|
8. |
Idaho |
54,864 |
32,557 |
59.34% |
|
9. |
Maine |
42,519 |
25,023 |
58.85% |
|
10. |
Alaska |
21,641 |
12,687 |
58.62% |
|
11. |
Delaware |
28,553 |
16,716 |
58.54% |
|
12. |
Vermont |
20,696 |
12,085 |
58.39% |
|
13. |
New Jersey |
233,950 |
136,266 |
58.25% |
|
14. |
Illinois |
320,795 |
186,728 |
58.21% |
|
15. |
Washington |
198,854 |
115,218 |
57.94% |
|
16. |
Georgia |
253,729 |
146,483 |
57.73% |
|
17. |
Rhode Island |
28,989 |
16,466 |
56.80% |
|
18. |
South Dakota |
27,951 |
15,790 |
56.49% |
|
19. |
Hawaii |
32,488 |
18,331 |
56.42% |
|
20. |
Oregon |
120,704 |
67,985 |
56.32% |
|
21. |
Arizona |
154,759 |
87,159 |
56.32% |
|
22. |
Nevada |
73,505 |
41,351 |
56.26% |
|
23. |
Massachusetts |
180,088 |
99,962 |
55.51% |
|
24. |
Nebraska |
55,542 |
30,783 |
55.42% |
|
25. |
Minnesota |
152,836 |
84,180 |
55.08% |
|
26. |
Maryland |
141,217 |
77,650 |
54.99% |
|
27. |
Missouri |
152,286 |
83,556 |
54.87% |
|
28. |
Oklahoma |
94,751 |
51,953 |
54.83% |
|
29. |
North Carolina |
247,458 |
135,638 |
54.81% |
|
30. |
Virginia |
206,271 |
112,432 |
54.51% |
|
31. |
Iowa |
82,997 |
45,163 |
54.42% |
|
32. |
Texas |
638,183 |
345,721 |
54.17% |
|
33. |
South Carolina |
116,896 |
63,150 |
54.02% |
|
34. |
Kansas |
75,057 |
40,345 |
53.75% |
|
35. |
New Hampshire |
38,825 |
20,849 |
53.70% |
|
36. |
Connecticut |
88,509 |
47,512 |
53.68% |
|
37. |
New Mexico |
43,953 |
23,576 |
53.64% |
|
38. |
Arkansas |
68,572 |
36,572 |
53.33% |
|
39. |
North Dakota |
24,816 |
13,223 |
53.28% |
|
40. |
Michigan |
224,676 |
119,676 |
53.27% |
|
41. |
Pennsylvania |
304,633 |
160,889 |
52.81% |
|
42. |
Louisiana |
107,464 |
55,776 |
51.90% |
|
43. |
Mississippi |
59,805 |
30,761 |
51.44% |
|
44. |
Wisconsin |
142,496 |
73,160 |
51.34% |
|
45. |
Kentucky |
92,130 |
46,913 |
50.92% |
|
46. |
Alabama |
103,514 |
52705 |
50.92% |
|
47. |
Indiana |
150,912 |
76,611 |
50.77% |
|
48. |
Ohio |
252,241 |
124,771 |
49.46% |
|
49. |
West Virginia |
35,316 |
17,434 |
49.37% |
|
50. |
Tennessee |
144,457 |
71,055 |
49.19% |
END
If using this story, please credit and link to:
Methodology:
This study analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to find the percentage of registered businesses with fewer than five employees for each US state in 2021. These results were then ranked to determine which states had the highest percentage of small businesses compared to every other registered business.
This data also highlighted the total annual payrolls for every business in each state, as well as every small business.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
