How many small businesses are there in the United States?

This information is taken from the National Federation of Independent Business 411 Small Business Facts
http://www.411sbfacts.com/speeches.html#q1

"There are three generally correct, though very different, answers. But it is important to distinguish between businesses and business owners. Because many businesses have more than one owner and many owners have more than one business, the two are not necessarily identical. However, we often assume they are.

29 million – There were almost 29 million federal income tax returns filed in 2004 with business income on them. (Source: Statistics of Income (SOI), Internal Revenue Service.) Due to tax filing requirements, that number includes both individuals and businesses. The very largest and the very smallest, including those with sales of just a few dollars, are counted.


15.75 million – Self-employment, i.e., operating one’s own business regardless of its legal form, is the principal occupation in the year for nearly 16 million people (2005). (Source: Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration from data produced by Bureau of the Census.) This figure technically measures the number of people working in their own businesses, not businesses per se.


almost 6 million – Nearly 6 million businesses in the United States employ people other than their owners at some point during the year. (Source: Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration.)


Ninety-nine (99) percent of employing businesses are “small” under prevailing definitions. Another way to look at it: 60 percent of all businesses that employ people other than the owners have 1 to 4 employees; another 20 percent have 5 to 9 employees; and yet another 10 percent have 10 to 19 employees. Businesses employing fewer than 100 people (excluding the self-employed who employ no one but themselves) constitute 96 percent of all employers (Source: calculations by NFIB Research Foundation from data published by the Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration.)"