Research reference
A practical, sourced snapshot of how employer firms use, seek, and experience financing. Last updated November 11, 2026.
These figures are for writers, researchers, business owners, and anyone who needs a reliable starting point on small business financing. Each statistic links to its original source and keeps the survey population and data year in view.
36.2 million
Small businesses accounted for 99.9% of U.S. businesses and employed 62.3 million people, or 45.9% of U.S. employees.
Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025 Small Business Profile: United States ↗Published June 202586%
The 2026 Federal Reserve report describes financing as including credit cards, loans, and other credit products used during 2025.
Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms ↗Published March 202660%
This reflects applications in the 12 months before the 2025 survey, across financing types.
Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms ↗Published March 202656%
Among firms seeking financing, 46% also cited expansion or new opportunities. Firms could select more than one reason.
Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms ↗Published March 202642%
Among financing applicants, 36% received some or most of the amount sought and 22% received none.
Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms ↗Published March 202629%
Among loan, line of credit, or merchant cash advance applicants, this share rose from 17% in 2020 to 29% in 2025.
Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms ↗Published March 202657%
This was the highest full-approval rate reported among lender types for loan, line of credit, and merchant cash advance applicants.
Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms ↗Published March 202660%
For comparison, 37% of small-bank borrowers and 32% of large-bank borrowers said actual costs were higher than expected. This is borrower-reported, not an APR comparison.
Source: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms ↗Published March 2026Methodology and sources
The Federal Reserve figures come from its 2026 Small Business Credit Survey report on employer firms. Its 2025 survey includes 6,525 responses from firms with 1 to 499 employees and uses a convenience sample, so the results should be read as survey findings rather than a census of every U.S. business.
The scale-of-market statistic comes from the SBA Office of Advocacy's 2025 U.S. Small Business Profile. We use each source for the measure it actually reports and do not combine their different populations or definitions.
Sources reviewed: Federal Reserve Banks, 2026 Report on Employer Firms; SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025 Small Business Profile: United States.
Cite this page
Mesmer Enterprises. “U.S. Small Business Financing Statistics (2026).” Updated November 11, 2026. https://mesmerenterprises.com/small-business-financing-statistics
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