Small businesses have been the backbone of the United States’ booming economy for a number of years. Most of them start with a dream, a lifelong ambition of an aspiring entrepreneur that wants to do something they are passionate about. This often turns into a small business.
Nebraska, despite not being particularly big in size and population is certainly no stranger to small businesses and they make up a large proportion of the overall businesses in the state. Nebraska is known for its reputable universities, thriving professional community, and low cost of living.
The Cornhusker State is a great contributor to the economy of the United States. Over the past few years especially, Nebraska has been providing extra support for its businesses in order for them to thrive and succeed, which has had a direct correlation with the state’s recent economic growth too.
Number of Small Businesses in Nebraska
So, how many small businesses are there in Nebraska? There are 179,509 small businesses in Nebraska, according to the latest figures (2020) from the SBA.
It is not just Americans and locals starting small businesses in Nebraska. The state, although not a huge attraction for international entrepreneurs and foreign-born people, still has a significant number of immigrant entrepreneurs that have decided to call Nebraska their place of business.
There are 7,748 immigrant entrepreneurs in Nebraska that account for 7% of all self-employed Nebraska residents.
The following graph shows the number of small businesses in Nebraska in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Of the 179,509 small businesses in Nebraska in 2020, there is a wide array of different enterprises from small, one-person sole proprietorships or LLCs to much larger businesses with several hundred employees. If you want to join the 179,000-plus small businesses in Nebraska, it is fairly easy to register a business in Nebraska.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the number of small businesses in Nebraska by looking at the top industries, small business owners, employees, and more!
Latest Small Businesses Statistics in Nebraska
- Small businesses equate to over 99.1% of all businesses in the state.
- There are 412,587 small business employees in Nebraska, which is 49.5% of the states’ employees.
- In 2019, Small Businesses in Nebraska added 5,321 new jobs!
- Small businesses employing 20-99 employees created the most job gains!
- There are 10,611 self-employed minorities in the state demonstrating the diversity in Nebraska.
- International trade in Nebraska is quite strong and there are 1,488 small business exporters.
- There are more construction firm small businesses in Nebraska than any other type – 21,840.
- Retail Trade Firms make up the 2nd largest number of small businesses in Nebraska – 19,666.
How Many Small Businesses in Nebraska?
Over 179,509 is a fair amount of small businesses to be registered in a state that isn’t exactly well known for having a large population size (38th most populous). Compared to the rest of the U.S., the total number of small businesses in Nebraska is 0.56% of all U.S. businesses. There are 31.7 million small businesses in the U.S.
The number of small businesses in Nebraska has been growing over the past several years.
- In 2017 there were 170,512 small businesses, which increased to 172,958 in 2018 (1.43% increase).
- In 2019 there were 176,358 small businesses which was 3,400 more than the state had in 2018 (1.96% increase).
- in 2020 the number of small businesses in Nebraska increased by 3,151 to 179,509 (1.78% increase).
Nebraska offers a lot to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs from all over the world, due to an abundance of different pro-business factors, with the more notable being manageable corporate income tax rates, a highly skilled labor force, a low cost of living, fantastic community support for local businesses, and a brilliant education system with highly reputable universities.
If you would like to download the latest 2020 Small Business Profile on Nebraska from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, the Profile can be downloaded here.
