U.S. Census Bureau

Statistics about Business Size (including Small Business)
from the U.S. Census Bureau

The Census Bureau does not define small or large business, but provides statistics that allow users to define business categories in any of several ways:

Independently, the Small Business Administration's Office of Size Standards defines size standards for each NAICS industry [PDF] to determine which businesses are eligible for its programs.


Employers and Nonemployers

About three quarters of all U.S. business firms have no payroll. Most are self-employed persons operating unincorporated businesses, and may or may not be the owner's principal source of income. Because nonemployers account for only about 3.4 percent of business receipts, they are not included in most business statistics, for example, most reports from the Economic Census. Since 1997, however, nonemployers have grown faster than employer firms.

Table 1. Employers and Nonemployers, 2002
Firms Estab-
lish-
ments
Sales or
Receipts
($1,000)
All firms 23,343,821 24,846,832 22,832,560,524
Nonemployers (firms with no payroll) 17,646,062 17,646,062 770,032,328
Employers (firms with payroll) 5,697,759
7,200,770
22,062,528,196

Nonemployer Statistics annually classify nonemployer firms by industry and geographic area (U.S., states, counties, and metropolitan areas.)


Employment Size of Firms

Table 2a. Employment Size of Employer and Nonemployer Firms, 2004
Introductory text includes scope and methodology. These data are also available by industry and state. Table includes both establishments with payroll and nonemployers. For descriptions of column headings and rows (industries), click on the appropriate underlined element in the table.
Employment size of enterprise Firms Estab-
lish-
ments
Paid
employees
Annual
payroll
($1,000)
Sales or
Receipts
($1,000)
n/a - Receipts data are available for employers only for the years for which an economic census is taken (2002, 1997).
All firms 25,409,525 26,911,465 115,074,924 4,253,995,732 n/a
Nonemployer firms 19,523,741 19,523,741 n/a n/a 887,001,820
Employer firms 5,885,784 7,387,724 115,074,924 4,253,995,732 n/a
Firms with no employees as of March 12, but with payroll at some time during the year 802,034 803,355 0 40,043,549 n/a
Firms with 1 to 4 employees 2,777,680 2,782,252 5,844,637 165,904,564 n/a
Firms with 5 to 9 employees 1,043,448 1,055,937 6,852,769 195,519,100 n/a
Firms with 10 to 19 employees 632,682 666,574 8,499,681 257,802,789 n/a
Firms with 20 to 99 employees 526,355 692,677 20,642,614 670,418,442 n/a
Firms with 100 to 499 employees 86,538 330,447 16,757,751 587,676,161 n/a
Firms with 500 employees or more 17,047 1,056,482 56,477,472 2,336,631,127 n/a
Firms with 500 to 749 employees 5,695 66,305 3,449,491 130,408,281 n/a
Firms with 750 to 999 employees 2,709 41,835 2,331,851 87,180,964 n/a
Firms with 1,000 to 1,499 employees 2,828 57,479 3,444,427 132,832,629 n/a
Firms with 1,500 to 2,499 employees 2,281 76,491 4,396,430 179,582,908 n/a
Firms with 2,500 employees or more 3,534 814,372 42,855,273 1,806,626,345 n/a
Firms with 2,500 to 4,999 employees 1,739 106,893 6,038,196 262,111,452 n/a
Firms with 5,000 to 9,999 employees 905 120,311 6,378,292 278,396,903 n/a
Firms with 10,000 employees or more 890 587,168 30,438,785 1,266,117,990 n/a

Source: Statistics of U.S. Businesses (See industry and state detail) and Nonemployer Statistics

Table 2b. Employment Size of Employer and Nonemployer Firms, 2002
Introductory text includes scope and methodology.Table includes both establishments with payroll and nonemployers. For descriptions of column headings and rows (industries), click on the appropriate underlined element in the table.
Employment size of enterprise Firms Estab-
lish-
ments
Paid
employees
Annual
payroll
($1,000)
Receipts
($1,000)
All firms 23,343,821 24,846,832 112,400,654 3,943,179,606 22,832,560,524
Nonemployer firms 17,646,062 17,646,062 n/a n/a 770,032,328
Employer firms 5,697,759 7,200,770 112,400,654 3,943,179,606 22,062,528,196
Firms with no employees as of March 12, but with payroll at some time during the year 770,041 771,135 0 38,127,022 215,139,058
Firms with 1 to 4 employees 2,695,606 2,699,380 5,697,652 155,662,211 937,533,365
Firms with 5 to 9 employees 1,010,804 1,024,081 6,639,666 182,383,776 888,342,543
Firms with 10 to 19 employees 613,880 652,930 8,246,053 241,410,588 1,085,595,864
Firms with 20 to 99 employees 508,249 692,775 19,874,069 623,716,021 2,884,696,648
Firms with 100 to 499 employees 82,334 332,508 15,908,852 535,749,956 2,547,423,855
Firms with 500 employees or more 16,845 1,027,961 56,034,362 2,166,130,032 13,503,796,863
Firms with 500 to 749 employees 5,639 65,551 3,417,297 119,505,263 594,323,923
Firms with 750 to 999 employees 2,687 41,818 2,317,418 81,133,941 394,053,128
Firms with 1,000 to 1,499 employees 2,717 57,004 3,308,797 119,102,361 625,211,077
Firms with 1,500 to 2,499 employees 2,278 72,374 4,361,890 163,164,065 839,662,317
Firms with 2,500 employees or more 3,524 791,214 42,628,960 1,683,224,402 11,050,546,418
Firms with 2,500 to 4,999 employees 1,727 103,810 5,964,080 236,201,022 1,419,783,211
Firms with 5,000 to 9,999 employees 884 117,990 6,131,966 242,128,393 1,458,302,943
Firms with 10,000 employees or more 913 569,414 30,532,914 1,204,894,987 8,172,460,264

Source: 2002 Economic Census and Statistics of U.S. Businesses

Economic Census Establishment and Firm Size reports, present national data classified by NAICS industry.

Statistics of U.S. Businesses is published each year for the U.S., states, and metropolitan areas. Classification is by the employment size of the overall enterprise, but by the location and NAICS industry of the establishment. Customized tabulations are also available.

Table 2c. Employment Size of Employer Firms, 1988 to 2003
Introductory text includes scope and methodology. Table includes only establishments with payroll. Nonemployers are shown separately. For descriptions of column headings and rows (industries), click on the appropriate underlined element in the table.
More
data
Year Firms by employment size of enterprise Paid employees by employment size of enterprise
Total 20 + 100 + 500 + Total 20 + 100 + 500 +
link to 2004 detail 2004 5,885,784 10.7% 1.8% 0.3% 115,074,924 81.6% 63.6% 49.1%
link to 2003 detail 2003 5,767,127 10.7% 1.8% 0.3% 113,398,043 81.6% 63.8% 49.3%
link to 2002 detail 2002 5,697,759 10.7% 1.7% 0.3% 112,400,654 81.7% 64.0% 49.9%
link to 2001 detail 2001 5,657,774 11.0% 1.8% 0.3% 115,061,184 82.1% 64.4% 50.1%
link to 2000 detail 2000 5,652,544 10.9% 1.8% 0.3% 114,064,976 82.0% 64.2% 49.9%
link to 1999 detail 1999 5,607,743 10.7% 1.7% 0.3% 110,705,661 81.6% 63.8% 49.7%
link to 1998 detail 1998 5,579,177 10.6% 1.7% 0.3% 108,117,731 81.2% 63.3% 49.1%
  1997 5,541,918 10.5% 1.7% 0.3% 105,299,123 80.9% 62.7% 48.2%
  1996 5,478,047 10.4% 1.7% 0.3% 102,187,297 80.5% 62.3% 48.0%
  1995 5,369,068 10.5% 1.7% 0.3% 100,314,946 80.5% 62.1% 47.5%
  1994 5,276,964 10.2% 1.7% 0.3% 96,721,594 80.2% 61.9% 47.3%
  1993 5,193,642 10.2% 1.7% 0.3% 94,773,913 79.9% 61.5% 46.9%
  1992 5,095,356 10.3% 1.6% 0.3% 92,825,797 79.8% 61.3% 47.0%
  1991 5,051,025 10.3% 1.6% 0.3% 92,307,559 79.7% 61.2% 46.9%
  1990 5,073,795 10.6% 1.7% 0.3% 93,469,275 79.8% 60.8% 46.3%
  1989 5,021,315 10.5% 1.7% 0.3% 91,626,094 79.7% 60.7% 46.1%
  1988 4,954,645 10.3% 1.6% 0.3% 87,844,303 79.1% 60.0% 45.5%
Source: Statistics of U.S. Businesses


Employment Size of Establishments

A number of sources provide information by employment size of establishment: the annual County Business Patterns and several reports from the 2002 Economic Census, including even statistics by ZIP Code. Most students prefer to define small business in terms of the size of the entire company or firm, not individual establishments. For example, most researchers would prefer to classify a large fast-food chain as a large company rather than as a collection of small establishments.

Economic Census Establishment and Firm Size reports, present national data classified by NAICS industry.


Receipt Size of Firms

Table 3. Receipt Size of Employer Firms, 2002
See the explanatory text for methodology, contact names, and other data available. For descriptions of column heading, click on that element in the table.
Receipts Size of Enterprise
Firms
Establish-
ments
Employ-
ment
Payroll
Annual
($1,000)
Sales or
Receipts
($1,000)
Employer firms 5,697,759 7,200,770 112,400,654 3,943,179,606 22,062,528,196
Less than $100 thousand 1,291,552 1,292,473 1,945,928 26,447,381 64,040,172
$100 to $499 thousand 2,387,780 2,396,006 8,724,876 167,457,202 596,925,336
$500 to $999 thousand 819,513 835,546 6,869,133 166,589,812 576,474,893
$1 to $4.9 million 906,936 1,038,624 17,430,229 519,122,708 1,896,143,798
$5 to $9.9 million 138,195 225,217 7,054,818 242,369,521 957,896,121
$10 to $49.9 million 122,785 350,320 14,465,046 522,395,899 2,504,242,359
$50 to $99.9 million 15,895 104,599 5,430,875 203,490,400 1,095,837,221
$100 to $249.9 million 8,732 123,220 6,648,609 259,027,065 1,330,102,972
$250 to $499.9 million 2,880 93,491 5,201,186 199,189,814 1,006,886,217
$500 to $999.9 million 1,544 107,929 5,380,010 204,735,327 1,078,980,045
$1 to 2.499 billion 1,056 174,666 7,132,953 280,897,627 1,642,368,662
$2.5 billion or more 891 458,679 26,116,991 1,151,456,850 9,312,630,400

Source: Statistics of U.S. Businesses, 2002

Statistics of U.S. Businesses tables showing receipt size by NAICS industry of the establishment are accessible as spreadsheets for 2002 and 1997. Receipts size detail is much less than shown in Establishment and Firm Size reports cited below.

Economic Census Establishment and Firm Size reports, present national data classified by the NAICS industry of the establishment.

Corresponding data for 1992, from 1992 Enterprise Statistics, differ somewhat in methodology. The PDF presents these statistics by SIC industry of the parent company. (Enterprise Statistics was not funded for years after 1992.)


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