North Carolina small business statistics
North Carolina produced 182,653 business applications in 2025, up 11.7% from 2024 and 76.3% from the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline. The page shows the latest employer-likely application signal, county concentration after adjusting for population, private-sector labor growth, SBA lending, unincorporated receipts, bankruptcy filings, and federal contract demand.
Public source files covering North Carolina business formation, labor, lending, proprietor income, bankruptcy, and federal contracting.
What the data shows
The topline combines new filing volume, employer-likely application quality, county concentration, labor-market structure, lending, and business stress signals.
North Carolina logged 182,653 business applications in 2025, up 11.7% from 2024 and 76.3% from the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline.
Through May 2026, total applications were up 15.7% from the same months in 2025; high-propensity applications were up 0.1%.
Mecklenburg filed 30,212 applications in 2025, the largest county total in North Carolina. Mecklenburg also led the high-volume counties after adjusting for population.
Professional services led both private-sector establishment and job growth since 2019.
SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals to North Carolina businesses reached $1.3B in FY2025 across 1,990 loans, led by accommodation and food services, construction, retail trade, health care and social assistance, and other services.
Business bankruptcy cases tied to North Carolina counties rose from 398 to 560 in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2026.
New business formation
North Carolina business applications reached 182,653 in 2025, up 11.7% from 2024. Through May 2026, applications were running up 15.7% from the same months in 2025.
The long comparison starts before the pandemic reset.
The 2019 comparison uses the last full pre-pandemic year. The shutdown period and the business churn that followed reshaped EIN filing patterns; high-propensity applications totaled 23,652 through May 2026, up 0.1% from Jan-May 2025. Projected business formations within eight quarters rose 20.8% over the same period.
Metric note: Census BFS counts applications for employer identification numbers. Applications are early filings; confirmed operating-business counts arrive later.
Where applications are concentrated
Mecklenburg is the largest application market by raw volume. Among the high-volume counties shown below, Mecklenburg stands out most after adjusting for population.
Population-adjusted filing volume changes the county read.
The chart uses 2025 Census BFS applications divided by Census Vintage 2025 resident population estimates. Mecklenburg leads both the raw filing count and the population-adjusted rate among the high-volume counties shown below.
Metric note: Census BFS counts EIN applications. The denominator is 2025 resident population, not existing businesses, so this is a scale adjustment rather than a startup conversion rate.
| County | 2025 applications | Change vs 2024 | Change vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg | 30,212 | +5.6% | +54.2% |
| Wake | 28,887 | +13.5% | +87.7% |
| Guilford | 9,325 | +9.7% | +61.0% |
| Durham | 6,533 | +14.0% | +63.4% |
| Cumberland | 5,761 | +13.2% | +78.0% |
| Forsyth | 5,559 | +9.5% | +57.2% |
| Buncombe | 4,583 | +11.8% | +53.4% |
| New Hanover | 4,525 | +12.1% | +61.5% |
| Union | 4,323 | +6.6% | +69.1% |
| Cabarrus | 4,244 | +9.4% | +81.0% |
| Johnston | 3,878 | +12.8% | +91.3% |
| Gaston | 3,606 | +19.1% | +101.0% |
Jobs, establishments, and wages
In 2024, North Carolina had 368,542 private-sector establishments and 4,184,582 private-sector jobs in the QCEW annual file. Establishments changed 32.2% from 2019 to 2024; jobs changed 10.3%.
Professional services is the establishment-growth story.
Professional services added 22,115 establishments from 2019 to 2024. Professional services added 69,837 jobs over the same period.
QCEW tracks employer establishments. It is the recurring source here for jobs, wages, payroll, and local industry structure.
| Industry | 2024 establishments | Change vs 2019 | 2024 jobs | Change vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional services | 61,995 | +22,115 (+55.5%) | 334,395 | +69,837 (+26.4%) |
| Construction | 36,186 | +8,212 (+29.4%) | 272,147 | +40,408 (+17.4%) |
| Health care and social assistance | 35,298 | +10,810 (+44.1%) | 579,529 | +61,955 (+12.0%) |
| Other services | 29,690 | +5,233 (+21.4%) | 130,554 | +15,435 (+13.4%) |
| Administrative services | 27,642 | +8,016 (+40.8%) | 324,284 | +23,947 (+8.0%) |
| Accommodation and food services | 26,325 | +4,127 (+18.6%) | 458,788 | +18,125 (+4.1%) |
| Wholesale trade | 23,622 | +3,329 (+16.4%) | 207,667 | +20,389 (+10.9%) |
| Finance and insurance | 19,888 | +4,599 (+30.1%) | 232,000 | +47,567 (+25.8%) |
| Real estate and rental | 18,290 | +4,907 (+36.7%) | 72,329 | +10,859 (+17.7%) |
| Information | 10,373 | +4,704 (+83.0%) | 85,803 | +9,884 (+13.0%) |
SBA lending
SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals to North Carolina businesses totaled $1.3B in FY2025 across 1,990 loans. The SBA files report 21,935 jobs supported for those approvals.
Accommodation and food services drew the most SBA capital.
Accommodation and food services drew $342.0M in FY2025 SBA approvals. construction, retail trade, health care and social assistance, and other services also ranked among the top capital destinations.
SBA fiscal year 2025 ran from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025. The source package was current as of April 28, 2026.
| Sector | FY2025 loans | FY2025 approvals | SBA jobs supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 306 | $342.0M | 6,161 |
| Construction | 258 | $154.2M | 2,571 |
| Retail trade | 231 | $132.7M | 1,731 |
| Health care and social assistance | 175 | $120.9M | 2,460 |
| Other services | 204 | $119.2M | 1,881 |
| Professional services | 208 | $103.2M | 1,944 |
| Arts and entertainment | 91 | $84.5M | 853 |
| Manufacturing | 123 | $72.4M | 1,434 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 95 | $56.8M | 690 |
| Real estate and rental | 45 | $35.7M | 304 |
| County | FY2025 loans | FY2025 approvals | SBA jobs supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg | 378 | $259.8M | 4,595 |
| Wake | 324 | $190.1M | 3,761 |
| Guilford | 100 | $66.0M | 1,886 |
| New Hanover | 80 | $62.7M | 896 |
| Durham | 67 | $56.4M | 906 |
| Union | 80 | $50.3M | 725 |
| Buncombe | 61 | $40.6M | 503 |
| Forsyth | 64 | $38.0M | 402 |
| Iredell | 53 | $30.6M | 545 |
| Davidson | 24 | $24.9M | 194 |
The unincorporated business economy
IRS SOI data show 929,020 North Carolina Schedules C and partnership returns/forms in Tax Year 2023. Those businesses reported $154.4B in gross receipts and $15.0B in the combined income/profit measure.
Sole proprietors account for most returns.
North Carolina had 822,105 nonfarm sole-proprietor Schedules C in Tax Year 2023, with $44.2B in gross receipts and $9.2B in net profit.
Partnerships reported more gross receipts.
North Carolina partnerships filed 106,915 Forms 1065 in Tax Year 2023 and reported $110.2B in gross receipts.
| County | Returns/forms | Gross receipts | Combined income/profit metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg | 132,082 | $49.5B | $4.5B |
| Wake | 120,248 | $22.9B | $2.2B |
| Guilford | 50,065 | $7.4B | $1.1B |
| Forsyth | 32,235 | $5.2B | $536.6M |
| Durham | 32,216 | $5.0B | $380.8M |
| Buncombe | 31,019 | $3.8B | -$1.3B |
| New Hanover | 26,277 | $3.9B | $617.0M |
| Union | 24,160 | $3.0B | $459.8M |
| Cumberland | 23,366 | $1.9B | $189.0M |
| Cabarrus | 20,357 | $2.3B | $264.2M |
Business stress signals
U.S. Courts F-5A shows 560 business bankruptcy cases tied to North Carolina counties in the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, rose from 398 in the prior 12-month period. Chapter 11 cases totaled 256.
County bankruptcy rows can move sharply.
Buncombe had the largest business-bankruptcy count in the latest F-5A table. County bankruptcy rows can move when related business cases are filed in the same venue, so this table works best as a lead for follow-up reporting.
Definition: U.S. Courts classifies debt as business when the debtor is a corporation or partnership, or when business-related debt predominates.
| County | Business cases, 12 months ending Mar. 31, 2026 | Change vs prior 12 months | Chapter 11 cases | All bankruptcy cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buncombe | 130 | +117 | 121 | 272 |
| Wake | 88 | +22 | 25 | 1,129 |
| Mecklenburg | 42 | -21 | 15 | 1,021 |
| Guilford | 27 | +10 | 5 | 630 |
| Durham | 19 | +6 | 5 | 247 |
| New Hanover | 16 | +1 | 4 | 213 |
| Johnston | 13 | +2 | 3 | 309 |
| Iredell | 13 | +5 | 1 | 205 |
| Lincoln | 11 | +6 | 5 | 75 |
| Cabarrus | 10 | -5 | 6 | 212 |
National credit backdrop
The 2026 Fed Small Business Credit Survey appendix reported that 94% of U.S. employer firms faced a financial challenge in 2025, 38% applied for financing, and 52% of applicants were fully approved.
Federal contract demand
USAspending reports $5.0B in FY2025 federal procurement obligations to recipients located in North Carolina. The filter covers procurement awards to NC recipients across award type codes A, B, C, and D.
| NAICS | Federal procurement category | FY2025 obligations |
|---|---|---|
| 541611 | Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services | $369.8M |
| 237990 | Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction | $307.6M |
| 236220 | Commercial and Institutional Building Construction | $254.3M |
| 541715 | Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $244.2M |
| 541512 | Computer Systems Design Services | $206.3M |
| 339112 | Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing | $175.3M |
| 561210 | Facilities Support Services | $169.4M |
| 541330 | Engineering Services | $162.8M |
| 541990 | All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | $150.5M |
| 621511 | Medical Laboratories | $126.3M |
Sources and methodology
The charts and figures on this page come from public source files or APIs. Annual sources use the most recent complete year available; partial-year figures are labeled in the text.
- Census BFS monthly CSV
Updated June 10, 2026, 14:00 GMT - Census BFS county workbook
Updated June 10, 2026, 14:22 GMT - Census county population estimates
Vintage 2025 county resident population estimates - BLS QCEW annual area files
2019 and 2024 annual API files - SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA package
Updated April 28, 2026, 14:42 GMT - IRS SOI Tax Year 2023 unincorporated tables
Tax Year 2023 county combined, sole proprietor state, and partnership state tables - U.S. Courts F-5A bankruptcy XLSX
12 months ending March 31, 2026 - Fed SBCS Main Street Metrics appendix
Last updated March 23, 2026 - USAspending API
FY2025 procurement obligations
Alex Morgan edits public business datasets for SMB Statistics, including Census, BLS, SBA, IRS, U.S. Courts, Fed SBCS, and USAspending files.