fewer than 20
20 to 99
100 to 499
more than 500
0
5M
10M
2000 2005 2010 2015
47.5%
United States
30.2 Million
Small Businesses
Of United States Businesses
Small Business Employees
Of United States Employees
99.9%
30.2 Million
EMPLOYMENT
1.9 million
Net New Jobs
Minority-Owned
Businesses
Small Business
Exporters
DIVERSITY
8.0 million
TRADE
287,835
Overall United States Economy
Employment
fewer than 20
20 to 99
100 to 499
more than 500
0
20M
40M
60M
80M
100M
120M
2000 2005 2010 2015
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet
dolore magna aliquam erat 1.1 million volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcor-
per suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing
elit, sed diam 58.9% nonummy nibh euismod tincid-
unt ut laoreet dolore.
(Source: SUSB)
Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci
tation ullamcorper 1.1 million suscipit lobortis nisl ut
aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
(Source: SUSB)
Dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam
nonummy nibh 33.3% euismod tincidunt ut laoreet
dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
(Source: SUSB)
Dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam
nonummy nibh 47.5% euismod tincidunt ut laoreet
dolore magna aliquam.
(Source: SUSB)
2019 Small Business Profile
RESEARCH OUTREACHREGULATION
U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore
magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut
aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Figure 1: United States Employment by Business Size
Consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat
volutpat. Consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam.
California
4.0 million Small Businesses 7.1 million Small Business Employees
99.8% of California Businesses 48.8% of California Employees
EMPLOYMENT
249,508
net new jobs
DIVERSITY
2.1 million
minority-owned
business employees
TRADE
69,387
small business
exporters
Overall California Economy
In the third quarter of 2018, California grew at an annual rate of 3.5%, which was faster than the overall US growth rate
of 3.4%. Californias 2017 growth rate of 3.0% was down from the 2016 rate of 3.1%. (Source: BEA)
In February 2019, the unemployment rate was 4.2%, down from 4.3% in February 2018. This was above the February
2019 national unemployment rate of 3.8%. (Source: CPS)
Employment
Figure 1: Employment by Business Size (Employees)
California small businesses employed 7.1 million people,
or 48.8% of the private workforce, in 2016. (Source: SUSB)
Firms with fewer than 100 employees have the largest
share of small business employment. Figure 1 provides
further details on firms with employees. (Source: SUSB)
Private-sector employment increased 1.7% during the 12-
month period ending in February 2019. This was above
the increase of 1.5% during the prior 12-month period.
(Source: CPS)
The number of proprietors increased in 2017 by 2.0% rel-
ative to the previous year. (Source: BEA)
Small businesses created 249,508 net jobs in 2016. Firms
employing fewer than 20 employees experienced the
largest gains, adding 176,744 net jobs. The smallest gains
were in firms employing 20 to 99 employees, which added
25,931 net jobs. (Source: SUSB)
The Small Business Profiles are produced by the US Small Business Administration’s Oice of Advocacy (http://advocacy.sba.gov). Each re-
port incorporates the most up-to-date government data to present a unique snapshot of small businesses. Small businesses are defined
for this profile as firms employing fewer than 500 employees. Net small business job change, employees of minority-owned businesses,
and exporter share statistics are based on the 2016 Statistics of US Businesses (SUSB), 2016 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE), and
2016 International Trade Administration (ITA) data, respectively.
SBA Oice of Advocacy 21 California Small Business Profile, 2019
Income and Finance
The number of banks decreased by 11 between June 2016 and June 2017 to 174 banks. (Source: FDIC)
In 2017, 976,373 loans under $100,000 (valued at $14.4 billion) were issued by California lending institutions reporting
under the Community Reinvestment Act. (Source: FFIEC)
The median income for individuals self-employed at their own incorporated businesses was $60,641 in 2017. For indi-
viduals self-employed at their own unincorporated firms, this figure was $26,443. (Source: ACS)
Median income represents earnings from all sources. Unincorporated self-employment income includes unpaid family workers, a very
small percent of the unincorporated self-employed.
Employer Business Owner Demographics
Figure 2: California Employees per Business by Owner’s Demographic, 2016
Male
Female
Nonminority
Minority
Nonveteran
Veteran
Some other race
Native American-Alaskan
Hispanic
Hawaiian-Pacific Islander
Asian
African American
All Firms
0 2 4 6 8 10
Figure 2 shows the average number of employees per employer business by owner’s demographic group according to the 2016 Annual
Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE).
Turnover among Establishments with Employees
Figure 3: California Quarterly Startups and Exits
Startups
Exits
Net New Establishments
-40K
-20K
0
20K
40K
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
In the third quarter of 2017, 44,965 establishments started
up, generating 128,156 new jobs in California. Startups
are counted when business establishments hire at least
one employee for the first time. (Source: BDM)
In the same period, 36,259 establishments exited result-
ing in 106,510 jobs lost. Exits occur when establishments
go from having at least one employee to having none, and
then remain closed for at least one year. (Source: BDM)
Figure 3 displays quarterly startups and exits from 1993 to
2017. Each series is smoothed across multiple quarters to
highlight long-run trends. (Source: BDM)
The BLS data covers only business establishments with employees.
BLS refers to startups as births and exits as deaths. These terms are
distinct from the BLS openings and closings categories. Openings
include seasonal re-openings and closings include seasonal shut-
terings. Quarterly startup and exit values may not align with Figure
3 due to smoothing.
SBA Oice of Advocacy 22 California Small Business Profile, 2019
International Trade
A total of 72,665 companies exported goods from California in 2016. Of these, 69,387, or 95.5%, were small firms; they
generated 43.0% of California’s $151.1 billion in total exports. (Source: ITA)
Small Business Employment by Industry and Self-Employment by County
Table 1: California Employment by Industry, 2016
Industry
Accommodation and Food Services
Health Care and Social Assistance
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
Manufacturing
Retail Trade
Construction
Wholesale Trade
Other Services (except Public Administration)
Administrative, Support, and Waste Management
Educational Services
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
Finance and Insurance
Transportation and Warehousing
Information
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
Management of Companies and Enterprises
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing and Hunting
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
Utilities
Industries not classified
Total
Small Business
Employment
1,056,102
906,686
714,381
610,542
608,609
596,094
509,655
476,410
427,597
220,946
207,346
197,927
175,959
170,175
169,434
45,766
19,892
7,370
4,329
3,984
7,129,204
Total Private
Employment
1,671,180
1,928,468
1,190,717
1,154,342
1,711,363
723,574
843,285
586,153
1,457,869
422,749
292,748
611,298
505,066
711,680
338,705
339,153
27,481
20,933
59,601
3,984
14,600,349
Small Business
Employment Share
63.2
47.0
60.0
52.9
35.6
82.4
60.4
81.3
29.3
52.3
70.8
32.4
34.8
23.9
50.0
13.5
72.4
35.2
7.3
100.0
48.8
Figure 4: California Self-Employment Rates by County, 2017
Self-Employment
(%)
6.7 up to 9.6
9.6 up to 11.8
11.8 up to 15.1
15.1 to 22.2
SBA Oice of Advocacy 23 California Small Business Profile, 2019
Small Businesses by Industry
Table 2: California Small Businesses by Industry and Firm Size, 2016
Industry 1–499 1–19 Employees Nonemployer Total Small
Employees Firms Firms
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 114,535 106,793 554,028 668,563
Other Services (except Public Administration) 67,652 62,615 485,315 552,967
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 42,647 40,613 327,862 370,509
Health Care and Social Assistance 91,056 82,608 262,480 353,536
Transportation and Warehousing 19,077 16,808 308,642 327,719
Retail Trade 69,453 63,125 236,905 306,358
Construction 70,656 64,176 221,871 292,527
Administrative, Support, and Waste Management 36,757 32,129 249,705 286,462
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 23,310 21,464 215,558 238,868
Finance and Insurance 28,474 26,496 87,937 116,411
Accommodation and Food Services 65,108 50,196 47,721 112,829
Wholesale Trade 50,095 43,415 61,924 112,019
Educational Services 12,369 9,716 89,905 102,274
Manufacturing 34,655 26,858 46,459 81,114
Information 16,220 14,300 63,372 79,592
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing and Hunting 1,842 1,628 13,078 14,920
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 497 400 3,042 3,539
Utilities 490 439 1,611 2,101
Total 745,791 666,646 3,277,415 4,023,206
Tables 1 and 2 display data from the 2016 SUSB. Table 2 includes additional data from the 2016 Nonemployer Statistics (NES). Figure 4
provides estimates of the rate of self-employment among employed civilians, 16 years and over, including both incorporated and unin-
corporated businesses, from the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS).
References
The Small Business Profiles, source data, and methodology are available at https://go.usa.gov/xmb5R.
ACS American Community Survey, US Census Bureau
ASE Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, US Census Bureau
BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce
BDM Business Employment Dynamics, BLS
BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor
CPS Current Population Survey, BLS
FDIC Call Reports, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FFIEC Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
ITA International Trade Administration, US Department of Commerce
NES Nonemployer Statistics, US Census Bureau
SUSB Statistics of US Businesses, US Census Bureau
SBA Oice of Advocacy 24 California Small Business Profile, 2019