Rhode Island small business statistics
Rhode Island produced 11,800 business applications in 2025, up 5.1% from 2024 and 39.0% 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 Rhode Island 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.
Rhode Island logged 11,800 business applications in 2025, up 5.1% from 2024 and 39.0% from the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline.
Through May 2026, total applications were up 9.8% from the same months in 2025; high-propensity applications were down 5.6%.
Providence filed 7,724 applications in 2025, the largest county total in Rhode Island. Providence 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 Rhode Island businesses reached $138.8M in FY2025 across 376 loans, led by accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, construction, wholesale trade, and retail trade.
Business bankruptcy cases tied to Rhode Island counties rose from 42 to 160 in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2026.
New business formation
Rhode Island business applications reached 11,800 in 2025, up 5.1% from 2024. Through May 2026, applications were running up 9.8% 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 1,783 through May 2026, down 5.6% from Jan-May 2025. Projected business formations within eight quarters fell 3.8% 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
Providence is the largest application market by raw volume. Among the high-volume counties shown below, Providence 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. Providence 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 7,724 | +8.6% | +50.2% |
| Kent | 1,629 | +7.7% | +4.5% |
| Washington | 1,144 | +5.9% | +36.2% |
Jobs, establishments, and wages
In 2024, Rhode Island had 48,281 private-sector establishments and 433,425 private-sector jobs in the QCEW annual file. Establishments changed 26.6% from 2019 to 2024; jobs changed 2.1%.
Professional services is the establishment-growth story.
Professional services added 3,730 establishments from 2019 to 2024. Professional services added 5,302 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 | 9,418 | +3,730 (+65.6%) | 31,001 | +5,302 (+20.6%) |
| Health care and social assistance | 5,589 | +1,616 (+40.7%) | 84,475 | +3,019 (+3.7%) |
| Other services | 4,099 | +562 (+15.9%) | 18,214 | +57 (+0.3%) |
| Construction | 4,096 | +263 (+6.9%) | 22,211 | +2,231 (+11.2%) |
| Administrative services | 3,972 | +900 (+29.3%) | 28,087 | -1,250 (-4.3%) |
| Wholesale trade | 3,629 | +684 (+23.2%) | 16,349 | -310 (-1.9%) |
| Accommodation and food services | 3,314 | +90 (+2.8%) | 51,937 | -154 (-0.3%) |
| Finance and insurance | 2,352 | +601 (+34.3%) | 25,110 | -691 (-2.7%) |
| Information | 1,514 | +800 (+112.0%) | 5,644 | -234 (-4.0%) |
| Real estate and rental | 1,450 | +267 (+22.6%) | 6,580 | +158 (+2.5%) |
SBA lending
SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals to Rhode Island businesses totaled $138.8M in FY2025 across 376 loans. The SBA files report 2,749 jobs supported for those approvals.
Accommodation and food services drew the most SBA capital.
Accommodation and food services drew $30.5M in FY2025 SBA approvals. health care and social assistance, construction, wholesale trade, and retail trade 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 | 60 | $30.5M | 623 |
| Health care and social assistance | 36 | $24.7M | 644 |
| Construction | 59 | $17.4M | 346 |
| Wholesale trade | 16 | $11.5M | 139 |
| Retail trade | 48 | $11.2M | 235 |
| Professional services | 28 | $8.7M | 108 |
| Other services | 35 | $8.3M | 183 |
| Manufacturing | 23 | $7.8M | 162 |
| Administrative services | 30 | $6.8M | 173 |
| Information | 5 | $3.2M | 34 |
| County | FY2025 loans | FY2025 approvals | SBA jobs supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 186 | $61.7M | 1,306 |
| Kent | 73 | $35.2M | 728 |
| Washington | 43 | $22.4M | 394 |
| Newport | 54 | $14.6M | 205 |
| Bristol | 20 | $5.0M | 116 |
The unincorporated business economy
IRS SOI data show 96,460 Rhode Island Schedules C and partnership returns/forms in Tax Year 2023. Those businesses reported $16.9B in gross receipts and $1.5B in the combined income/profit measure.
Sole proprietors account for most returns.
Rhode Island had 85,369 nonfarm sole-proprietor Schedules C in Tax Year 2023, with $4.7B in gross receipts and $1.0B in net profit.
Partnerships reported more gross receipts.
Rhode Island partnerships filed 11,091 Forms 1065 in Tax Year 2023 and reported $12.2B in gross receipts.
| County | Returns/forms | Gross receipts | Combined income/profit metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 55,847 | $10.7B | $919.9M |
| Kent | 13,511 | $2.0B | $294.3M |
| Washington | 13,037 | $2.3B | -$18.9M |
| Newport | 8,934 | $1.3B | $166.2M |
| Bristol | 5,131 | $502.7M | $120.9M |
Business stress signals
U.S. Courts F-5A shows 160 business bankruptcy cases tied to Rhode Island counties in the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, rose from 42 in the prior 12-month period. Chapter 11 cases totaled 123.
County bankruptcy rows can move sharply.
Providence 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 135 | +111 | 115 | 827 |
| Kent | 12 | +11 | 5 | 238 |
| Newport | 7 | +4 | 2 | 42 |
| Bristol | 4 | -2 | 1 | 29 |
| Washington | 2 | -6 | 0 | 77 |
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 $444.0M in FY2025 federal procurement obligations to recipients located in Rhode Island. The filter covers procurement awards to RI recipients across award type codes A, B, C, and D.
| NAICS | Federal procurement category | FY2025 obligations |
|---|---|---|
| 541330 | Engineering Services | $163.2M |
| 541715 | Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $50.0M |
| 334511 | Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing | $39.2M |
| 311340 | Nonchocolate Confectionery Manufacturing | $36.8M |
| 236220 | Commercial and Institutional Building Construction | $21.0M |
| 561210 | Facilities Support Services | $17.9M |
| 611710 | Educational Support Services | $12.5M |
| 332993 | Ammunition (except Small Arms) Manufacturing | $10.5M |
| 339112 | Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing | $10.4M |
| 336611 | Ship Building and Repairing | $9.7M |
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.