Pennsylvania small business statistics
Pennsylvania is still producing more startup filings, while the employer-business signal is flatter. The state's small-business data points in several directions: record applications, a large health-care jobs base, heavy SBA lending into restaurants and local services, and more bankruptcy cases in the latest court file.
Public source files covering Pennsylvania business formation, labor, lending, proprietor income, bankruptcy, and federal contracting.
What the data shows
The topline is uneven: more applications, a flatter high-propensity filing signal, concentrated county activity, and a court file showing more business bankruptcy cases.
Pennsylvania logged 161,275 business applications in 2025, up 9.4% from 2024 and 57.0% from the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline.
Through May 2026, total applications were up 10.0% from the same months in 2025; high-propensity applications slipped 0.3%.
Philadelphia filed 31,924 applications in 2025, the largest county total in Pennsylvania. Erie had the fastest large-county jump at 35.0%.
Health care added the most private-sector jobs since 2019. Professional services added the most establishments.
SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals to Pennsylvania businesses reached $1.4B in FY2025, led by accommodation and food services, manufacturing, health care, construction, and professional services.
Business bankruptcy cases tied to Pennsylvania counties rose from 699 to 996 in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2026, with Chapter 11 filings driving most of the increase.
New business formation
Pennsylvania business applications reached 161,275 in 2025, the highest annual count in the state series. Through May 2026, applications were running 10.0% ahead of the same months in 2025.
The long comparison starts before the pandemic reset.
The 2019 comparison uses the last full pre-pandemic year. Pennsylvania’s shutdown period and the business churn that followed reshaped EIN filing patterns; high-propensity applications totaled 21,038 through May 2026, down 0.3% from Jan-May 2025. Projected business formations within eight quarters rose 10.2% 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
Philadelphia remains the state’s largest application market by raw volume. Erie stands out after adjusting for population: among the high-volume counties shown below, it had the most 2025 applications per 10,000 residents.
Population-adjusted filing volume changes the county read.
The chart uses 2025 Census BFS applications divided by Census Vintage 2025 resident population estimates. Philadelphia still has the most total filings in the table below, but Erie edges it on applications per 10,000 residents among these high-volume counties.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 31,924 | 5.0% | 48.1% |
| Allegheny | 15,915 | 6.8% | 52.4% |
| Montgomery | 12,194 | 6.7% | 37.8% |
| Bucks | 8,548 | 3.0% | 48.2% |
| Delaware | 7,924 | 8.0% | 34.3% |
| Chester | 6,896 | 11.2% | 50.0% |
| Lancaster | 5,808 | 13.4% | 60.8% |
| Erie | 5,494 | 35.0% | 320.4% |
| Lehigh | 5,117 | 12.9% | 55.6% |
| York | 4,845 | 11.8% | 74.3% |
| Berks | 4,256 | 7.4% | 67.9% |
| Dauphin | 3,998 | 10.4% | 35.9% |
Jobs, establishments, and wages
In 2024, Pennsylvania had 375,291 private-sector establishments and 5,345,984 private-sector jobs in the QCEW annual file. Establishments grew 8.5% from 2019 to 2024; jobs grew 1.8%.
Professional services added the most establishments.
Professional services added 12,056 establishments from 2019 to 2024. Health care remained the largest employment sector and added 66,678 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 | 53,742 | 12,056 (28.9%) | 391,142 | 29,089 (8.0%) |
| Health care and social assistance | 51,953 | -1,269 (-2.4%) | 1,114,823 | 66,678 (6.4%) |
| Retail trade | 39,844 | -993 (-2.4%) | 589,435 | -20,128 (-3.3%) |
| Other services | 35,242 | 2,160 (6.5%) | 206,086 | 3,915 (1.9%) |
| Construction | 30,625 | 1,486 (5.1%) | 260,266 | -629 (-0.2%) |
| Accommodation and food services | 28,646 | 238 (0.8%) | 464,668 | -12,657 (-2.7%) |
| Wholesale trade | 23,160 | -252 (-1.1%) | 217,225 | -193 (-0.1%) |
| Finance and insurance | 20,540 | 2,248 (12.3%) | 271,952 | 7,503 (2.8%) |
| Administrative services | 20,239 | 2,212 (12.3%) | 296,491 | -21,721 (-6.8%) |
| Manufacturing | 14,584 | 152 (1.1%) | 563,001 | -11,750 (-2.0%) |
SBA lending
SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals to Pennsylvania businesses totaled $1.4B in FY2025 across 2,831 loans. The SBA files report 29,554 jobs supported for those approvals.
Restaurants and local services drew the most SBA capital.
Accommodation and food services drew $232.8M in FY2025 SBA approvals. Manufacturing, health care, construction, professional services, retail, and other local services each cleared $100.0M.
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 | 370 | $232.8M | 5,566 |
| Manufacturing | 193 | $155.4M | 2,824 |
| Health care and social assistance | 290 | $154.3M | 6,235 |
| Construction | 404 | $147.6M | 2,505 |
| Professional services | 264 | $136.4M | 2,414 |
| Retail trade | 271 | $124.7M | 1,959 |
| Other services | 303 | $118.9M | 2,033 |
| Arts and entertainment | 135 | $71.0M | 1,383 |
| Wholesale trade | 82 | $54.3M | 676 |
| Administrative services | 183 | $53.0M | 1,274 |
| County | FY2025 loans | FY2025 approvals | SBA jobs supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 316 | $135.3M | 3,416 |
| Montgomery | 296 | $134.8M | 2,788 |
| Allegheny | 299 | $131.4M | 3,720 |
| Bucks | 214 | $125.1M | 2,414 |
| Chester | 160 | $88.3M | 1,445 |
| Delaware | 156 | $83.3M | 1,911 |
| Lancaster | 103 | $69.2M | 1,244 |
| Berks | 94 | $52.1M | 705 |
| Lehigh | 78 | $40.4M | 564 |
| York | 107 | $39.4M | 916 |
The unincorporated business economy
IRS SOI data show 998,717 Pennsylvania Schedules C and partnership returns/forms in Tax Year 2023. Those businesses reported $208.1B in gross receipts and $21.3B in the combined income/profit measure.
Sole proprietors account for most returns.
Pennsylvania had 862,018 nonfarm sole-proprietor Schedules C in Tax Year 2023, with $63.9B in gross receipts and $13.2B in net profit.
Partnerships reported more gross receipts.
Pennsylvania partnerships filed 136,699 Forms 1065 in Tax Year 2023 and reported $144.2B in gross receipts.
| County | Returns/forms | Gross receipts | Combined income/profit metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 129,336 | $20.5B | $2.4B |
| Allegheny | 98,150 | $22.3B | $2.6B |
| Montgomery | 86,218 | $27.1B | -$1.8B |
| Bucks | 58,796 | $12.0B | $1.7B |
| Delaware | 51,964 | $9.4B | $1.1B |
| Chester | 51,563 | $18.3B | $1.4B |
| Lancaster | 49,394 | $13.6B | $1.9B |
| York | 32,014 | $4.7B | $548.8M |
| Lehigh | 31,862 | $5.1B | $639.6M |
| Berks | 29,724 | $5.2B | $1.4B |
Business stress signals
U.S. Courts F-5A shows 996 business bankruptcy cases tied to Pennsylvania counties in the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, up from 699 in the prior 12-month period. Chapter 11 cases rose from 322 to 576.
County bankruptcy rows can move sharply.
Chester and York show large Chapter 11 counts in the latest F-5A table. Related business cases can land in the same venue and push a county row up quickly, so the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 214 | +198 | 189 | 492 |
| York | 144 | +124 | 125 | 739 |
| Allegheny | 123 | +12 | 57 | 1,833 |
| Philadelphia | 89 | -12 | 36 | 1,523 |
| Montgomery | 51 | -12 | 29 | 730 |
| Lancaster | 28 | +7 | 10 | 407 |
| Delaware | 27 | -4 | 9 | 558 |
| Bucks | 23 | +10 | 5 | 577 |
| Columbia | 23 | +23 | 22 | 90 |
| Washington | 21 | -2 | 5 | 329 |
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 $23.0B in FY2025 federal procurement obligations to recipients located in Pennsylvania. The filter covers procurement awards to PA recipients across award type codes A, B, C, and D.
| NAICS | Federal procurement category | FY2025 obligations |
|---|---|---|
| 325411 | Medicinal and Botanical Manufacturing | $4.9B |
| 424210 | Drugs and Druggists’ Sundries Merchant Wholesalers | $2.5B |
| 332410 | Power Boiler and Heat Exchanger Manufacturing | $2.1B |
| 336992 | Military Armored Vehicle, Tank, and Tank Component Manufacturing | $2.0B |
| 541330 | Engineering Services | $1.2B |
| 517310 | Telecommunications Resellers | $918.0M |
| 524114 | Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers | $785.1M |
| 332993 | Ammunition (except Small Arms) Manufacturing | $731.8M |
| 541715 | Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $601.7M |
| 336412 | Aircraft Engine and Engine Parts Manufacturing | $562.4M |
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 singlefile ZIPs
2019 and 2024 annual files - SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA package
Updated April 28, 2026, 14:42 GMT - IRS SOI Tax Year 2023 unincorporated tables
Tax Year 2023 - 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.