Reports

ENTREPRENEURIAL JOBS

Indicators in this series include: creation, contribution, constancy, and compensation.

Read the Entrepreneurial Jobs methods paper [PDF] >

A cover of the Entrepreneurial Jobs Indicators report, "Job Creation by Firm Age: Recent Trends in the United States."

ENTREPRENEURIAL JOBS

Job Creation by Firm Age: Recent Trends in the United States

Released October 2022

This report presents four measures that are relevant to understanding jobs created by new businesses in the United States. These indicators were constructed using two datasets from the U.S. Census Bureau: the Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) and the Population Estimates Program (PEP).

Report Highlights

  • Over the last two decades, net job creation has consistently been highest among the youngest firms. Startups – unlike other firm age groups – have experienced positive job creation for the entire period.
  • Startup and young firms contribute a relatively small share of total private sector jobs in the U.S., while firms 11+ years old are responsible for an overwhelming majority of private sector jobs.
  • Since 2001, compensation has been higher in more established firms than in younger firms. Compensation among startups has been lower than that among all other age groups for every year during the 20-year period.
  • Constancy is higher in more established firms than in younger firms.

NEW EMPLOYER BUSINESS

Indicators in this series include: new employer business actualization rate, rate of new employer businesses, new employer business velocity, and employer business newness, as well as the new employer business actualization speed (NEBAS) index.

Read the New Employer Business trends methods working paper >

2021 New Employer Business Indicators in the United States: National and State Trends report cover

NEW EMPLOYER BUSINESS

New Employer Business Indicators in the United States: National and State Trends: 2021

Released May 2022

This report presents national and state trends in new employer businesses in the United States.

Report Highlights

  • In 2021, the national rate of new employer business actualization was 9.16%, meaning that for every 100 new business applications, about 9 of these became employers within two years.
  • In 2021, the national rate of new employer businesses was 0.15, meaning that approximately 150 new employer businesses were formed for every 100,000 people.
  • New employer business velocity in the United States in 2017 was 2.06, meaning that it took new employer businesses, on average, 2.06 quarters, or roughly 6 months, from the time they filed a business application to the time they hired their first employee.
  • Employer business newness in 2019 was 6.98%, meaning that new employers were about 7% of all employer firms.

EARLY-STAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Indicators in this series include: rate of new entrepreneurs, opportunity share of new entrepreneurs, startup early job creation, and startup early survival rate, as well as the Kauffman early-stage entrepreneurship (KESE) index.

Read the Early-Stage Entrepreneurship methods working paper >

Cover of 2021 Early-Stage Entrepreneurship State Report

EARLY-STAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

State Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship in the United States: 2021

Released April 2022

This report presents state trends in early-stage entrepreneurship in the United States, including all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Report Highlights

  • The rate of new entrepreneurs in 2021 ranged from a low of 0.17 percent in West Virginia to a high of 0.61 percent in Florida. The median for states in 2021 was 0.31 percent, reflecting 310 out of every 100,000 adults.
  • The opportunity share of new entrepreneurs ranged from a low of 65.1 percent in Michigan to a high of 93.1 percent in Arkansas, with a median of 79.1 percent.
  • Startup early job creation in Vermont was 2.5 jobs per 1,000 people, compared with 6.5 jobs per 1,000 people in Florida, and a median of 4.1.
  • Startup early survival rate ranged from 73.4 percent in Hawaii to 89.2 percent in Washington, with a median of 81.0 percent.
  • The overall KESE Index – an equally-weighted composite of the four indicators – ranged from -6.0 in Rhode Island to 8.8 in Florida, with a median of 0.6.
Cover of 2021 Early-Stage Entrepreneurship National Report

EARLY-STAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

National Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship in the United States: 2021

Released March 2022

This report presents national trends in early-stage entrepreneurship in the United States, as well as trends for specific demographic groups as available.

Report Highlights

  • Nationally, the rate of new entrepreneurs in 2021 was 0.36 percent, meaning that an average of 360 out of every 100,000 adults became new entrepreneurs in a given month. The monthly rate increased substantially from 2019 to 2020 as the economy went through the shutdowns, job losses, and re-openings that characterized the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has only partly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
  • The opportunity share of new entrepreneurs rebounded substantially to 80.9 percent from its low of 69.8 percent in 2020, but remained much lower than its pre-pandemic level of 86.9 percent in 2019. The decline from 2019 to 2020 during the first year of the pandemic was 17.1 percentage points, which is much larger than the one-year decline of 6.9 percentage points from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession.
  • Startup early job creation in 2021 was 4.7 jobs per capita, defined here as startups hired 4.7 jobs for every 1,000 people. Startup job creation was down from pre-pandemic levels.
  • The startup early survival rate was 81.7 percent in 2021, reflecting an increase from 2020 as the economy improved.

Data Dive – Indicators of Entrepreneurship

The latest data update to the Early-Stage Entrepreneurship and New Employer Business series sparked conversations about the status of the economy and entrepreneurial activity this past year, particularly around what these trends mean for our cities and communities today.


Looking for data?

Go here to download the data that informed these reports >


PREVIOUS REPORTS

New Employer Business

REPORTS

2020 New Employer Business Reports: National and State Trends >
2018 New Employer Business Reports: National and State Trends >

WORKING PAPERS

2020 New Business Applications during the COVID-19 Pandemic >
2020 New Employer Business Trends: A Methodological Note >

Early-Stage Entrepreneurship

2020 National Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship >
2020 State Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship >
2019 Early-Stage Entrepreneurship in the United States National / State Report >
2018 National Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship >
2018 State Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship >
2017 National Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship >
2017 State Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship >