100+ Essential EntrepreneurshipStatistics, Facts, and Trends

August 21, 2025

Entrepreneurship statistics, facts, and trends

Being an entrepreneur means forging your own path and taking risks, but risks that are calculated rather than haphazard can bring about better results. With that in mind, we’ve compiled some key stats, facts, and trends about entrepreneurship so our students can have the information they need to make worthwhile decisions.

General Entrepreneur Statistics

  • The United States is considered to have the best environment for the emergence of entrepreneurs, with Switzerland and Canada coming in at second and third (FreshBooks).
  • The majority of small businesses employ fewer than 100 people (U.S. SBA).
  • The United States has approximately 33 million small businesses currently (U.S. SBA).
  • 1 out of every 5 entrepreneurs owns or manages their business with members of their own family (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor).

  • 58% of entrepreneurs had corporate jobs prior to launching their own startups (Xero).
  • 61% of entrepreneurs report that they would be happy with their accomplishments if they ended their careers today (FreshBooks).
  • Not all entrepreneurs focus on single endeavors, as serial entrepreneurs often have as many as three businesses throughout their lifetimes (FreshBooks).
  • 88% of entrepreneurs have businesses that focus on smaller and more integrated services for their clientele (FreshBooks).
  • In the years from 2000 to 2018, approximately 9.6 million new jobs were created by small businesses (U.S. SBA).
  • The most popular industries for small business ventures are retail and B2B services (Guidant).
  • Entrepreneurs believe that communication, problem solving, and time management skills are the most important aptitudes to possess to be a success (FreshBooks).
  • Meanwhile, entrepreneurs also believe that success is driven by determination, risk-taking, and having a strong vision (Inc.).
  • Having a college degree has been shown to make little to no difference when it comes to overall small business revenue (FreshBooks).
  • Entrepreneur education statistics are interesting, as business owners come from diverse educational backgrounds – 11% have a master’s degree, 62% have a bachelor’s degree, 14% have an associate degree, 6% have a high school diploma, and 7% have another type of degree (Zippia).
  • 55% of adults in America have launched at least one business in their lifetime (Babson).
  • 39% of owners of small business owners have reported being very happy with their careers, while less than 5% report being very unhappy (Guidant).
  • The average entrepreneur in the United States can start a new business in a mere six days, but it can take up to a year before steady sales accrue (FinancesOnline).
  • By the end of March 2022, small businesses’ need for new employees increased by 40%, driven largely from the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (U.S. Small Business Administration).
  • In May of 2024, nearly 424,000 new business applications in the United States were filed (Census).
  • Only 8% of entrepreneurs regret launching a business (HubSpot).
  • 66% of entrepreneurs questioned for a survey stated that they plan to hire more workers with AI experience in the future (HubSpot).
  • Entrepreneurs queried by HubSpot stated that social media is their major marketing channel, with word of mouth and SEO following it (HubSpot).
  • 62% of small business owners say that they get most of their leads and customers from word-of-mouth referrals (HubSpot).
  • 80% of business leaders believe that AI will help their operations grow in the future (HubSpot).
  • 59% of entrepreneurs think that AI has already helped them to better engage with prospects (HubSpot).
  • 69% of small business owners launch their companies out of their homes (Guidant).
  • 75% of small businesses provide their employees with benefits (QuickBooks).
  • American small businesses employ nearly 62 million people every year (Advocacy).

Entrepreneurship Motivation Statistics

  • As many as 24 million U.S. residents have reported the desire to become self-employed, but various barriers often prevent them from doing so (FreshBooks).
  • Entrepreneurs value the flexibility that being self-employed provides 5x more than the financial rewards (GoDaddy).
  • Entrepreneurs have stated that their desire to be their own boss is the predominant reason for launching a startup, with following a passion coming in second (Guidant).
  • 96% of people who have become entrepreneurs and oversee their own operations have stated they have no desire to return to “regular jobs” (FreshBooks).
  • Some of the major drivers for self-employed professionals are control, fulfillment, and financial incentives (Remunerate Chances LLC).
  • People who work at small businesses themselves are more inclined to launch their own small businesses, compared to employees of larger organizations (FreshBooks).
  • 22% of entrepreneurs polled stated that they enjoy the flexibility of being able to choose when and where to work (FreshBooks).
  • 1 out of 5 people who have considered launching a business but have not done so say it is because of loyalty to their current place of employment (FreshBooks).
  • Since 2019, there has been a 27% increase in dissatisfaction with corporate America, leading to more entrepreneurs emerging and creating their own endeavors (Guidant).
  • Some of the major reasons entrepreneurs begin startups are unhappiness with corporate roles (approximately 47%) and desiring working autonomy (approximately 61%) (Guidant).
  • Other motivations for entrepreneurs include pursuing passions (31%), seizing an opportunity (21%), and being recently unemployed (23%) (Guidant).
  • 10% of entrepreneurs in America launch new businesses because they aren’t ready to retire (Guidant).
  • 21% of entrepreneurs began their business because they were passionate about an idea, 70% wanted a career or lifestyle change, and 45% wanted to escape the 9–5 drudgery (HubSpot).

Entrepreneur Age and Generation Statistics

  • 44% of small business owners are approximately 39 to 54 years old, putting most of them in Generation X (Guidant).
  • New business owners in America are slanting younger currently, with the average age of 38 years old dropping to 34 since 2017 (FreshBooks).
  • When looking at small business owners by generation, 0.5% are pre-Baby Boomers, 46% are Baby Boomers, 47% are Generation X, 7% are Millennials, and 0.5% are Generation Z (Guidant).
  • As of 2022, Baby Boomers and Generation X members comprised 92% of all entrepreneurs (Guidant).
  • The average entrepreneur is over 40 years of age (Zippia).
  • The average entrepreneur in America launches their business at 42, but there is some variance by industry. In software, 40 is the most common, while in oil and gas the age is 48 (National Bureau of Economic Research).
  • More Millennials are becoming entrepreneurs, with their numbers rising 27% since 2023 (Guidant).
  • Baby Boomers saw a 7% drop in entrepreneurship in recent years (Guidant).
  • More Generation Z members are showing an interest in becoming small business owners currently than any other generation (QuickBooks).

Entrepreneur Demographics Statistics

  • The majority of American business owners are White, representing 80% of the market (Pew Research Center).
  • Asian entrepreneurs make up the second-largest bloc of business owners at 10% (Pew Research Center).
  • 26% of microbusinesses are owned by Black entrepreneurs (GoDaddy).
  • 20% of all American businesses are owned by people of color (Brookings).
  • From 1996 to 2018, the number of native-born business owners has seen a decrease, but immigrant business ownership has more than doubled (Statista).
  • As of 2019, American women were launching an average of 1,817 new business ventures every day (American Express).
  • Unfortunately, female entrepreneurs have been seen to earn approximately 28% less than their male counterparts in the United States (FreshBooks).
  • 38% of businesses launched by women were begun using cash (Guidant).
  • Women of color own approximately half of all female-owned businesses in America (American Express).
  • The most popular industry for women to pursue for small business ventures is retail (Guidant).
  • When it comes to spoken languages for entrepreneurs in the United States, the predominant ones are English, Spanish, French, and Chinese (Zippia).
  • 41.5% of all entrepreneurs are women, while 58.5% are men (Zippia).
  • Most women who launch a new business do so because they are ready to work for themselves (58%), or are unhappy with corporate roles (38%), or are looking to pursue passions (30%) (Guidant).
  • When looking at Black, Asian, Latino/Latina, and White entrepreneurs, women usually become business owners at earlier ages than men (Zippia).
  • Almost 70% of businesses owned by women feature owners from Gen X, 19% from the Baby Boomer generation, and 11% from the Millennial cohort (Guidant).
  • 49% of business owned by women are between 0 and 5 years old, 18% are 6 to 10 years old, 12% are 11 to 15 years old, 5% are 16 to 20 years old, and 6% are 20 years old or older (Guidant).
  • The U.S. currently has more than 4 million minority-owned businesses, with annual sales of around $700 billion (U.S. Senate Committee).
  • For business owners of color, the major priorities are reported to be increasing staff (49%), growth or remodeling (46%), and marketing (39%) (Guidant).
  • 62% of entrepreneurs who are minorities own independent businesses rather than franchises (Guidant).
  • More entrepreneurs of color (35.48%) begin their businesses from the ground up compared to the average (27.22%) (Guidant).
  • Nearly 27% of entrepreneurs of color purchased an existing business, but nearly 32% of all business owners did so (Guidant).
  • The most popular industry for entrepreneurs of color (17%) is retail (Guidant).
  • 1.9 million businesses in the United States are owned by veterans (Advocacy).

Entrepreneur Challenges Statistics

  • Only about half of small businesses are expected to last 5 years or longer (U.S. SBA).
  • 32% of small business owners state that lack of funds is their biggest challenge (Guidant).
  • 35% of people looking to become entrepreneurs are concerned about inconsistent income, and 27% feel that they do not possess a robust and developed business plan (FreshBooks).
  • According to 2/3 of small business owners, the most difficult period for them is the first year of their business (Intuit).
  • 65% of entrepreneurs stated that cash flow visibility and lack of access to capital contributed to failures (Xero).

Entrepreneur Financial Statistics

  • Entrepreneurs with doctorates earn, on average, 35% more than those with high school diplomas only (Zippia).
  • The regions with the highest average salaries for entrepreneurs include New York, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. (Zippia).
  • The regions with the lowest average salaries for entrepreneurs include Hawaii, Mississippi, and Arkansas (Zippia).
  • Salaries for entrepreneurs tend to range between $48,000 and $130,000 per year (Indeed).
  • 33% of small businesses begin with capital of less than $5,000 (Lendio).
  • Entrepreneurs who operate brick-and-mortar businesses spend approximately $100,000 on average to launch their companies (Business.org).
  • More than 50% of business expenses in the first year of a company’s operation goes to inventory and equipment needs (Business.org).
  • 66% of entrepreneurs used their own personal money to launch their companies (Zippia).
  • 50% of entrepreneurs underestimate how much money they will need for their first year of business (Business.org).
  • 1 out of 4 entrepreneurs received a loan from a friend or family member to launch their company (Lendio).
  • 83% of small business owners take home less than $100,000 a year, while 30% take no salary (Fundera).
  • 42% of individuals who leave jobs where they earn $150,000 or more do it to launch a business (Digital).
  • 65% of small businesses in America are profitable (Guidant).
  • The average salary for small business owners is approximately $70,000 a year (Payscale).
  • According to one survey of entrepreneurs, it took their businesses an average of 1 to 2 years to become profitable (HubSpot).
  • The average startup capital small business owners need is approximately $10,000 (Fundera).
  • 52% of small business owners are very concerned about inflation (QuickBooks).
  • 78% of small business owners report that their businesses are profitable (Guidant).

Hone Your Skills as an Entrepreneur at P.I.T.

At the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology, we help students prepare for rewarding careers, and our Business Administration bachelor degree is ideal for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to accrue the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. Best yet, this program has a stackable certificate option with focuses in Supply Chain and Operations Management, Applied Project Management, Healthcare Administration, Digital Marketing, and, of course, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Plus, by choosing P.I.T. for your education, you’ll benefit from aspects like:

  • Flexible class schedules
  • Supportive professors
  • Free tutoring and career advising

Reach Out to Our Team Today

Ready to start your career journey? Contact our team today to ask us questions or apply. We look forward to hearing from you!