Explainer

The number of U.S. businesses without paid employees rose 2.1 percent in 2023, according to a Census Bureau analysis published on July 30, 2025. The increase continued a long-running trend, although it was slower than the gains reported for 2021 and 2022.

The bureau’s Nonemployer Statistics cover businesses subject to federal income tax with receipts generally of at least $1,000, with a lower threshold for construction. Most are self-employed people operating unincorporated businesses, though the data also include some partnerships and corporations.

The category reaches across different ways of working. A business may be an owner’s main source of income or an additional activity, and Census includes both individual proprietors and some other legal forms. That breadth helps explain the importance of collecting information beyond businesses that employ workers.

Census found that 15 of the 18 broad industry sectors covered by the series gained nonemployer establishments from 2022 to 2023. The analysis also showed geographic variation, so the national rise should not be read as a uniform increase in every state or type of business.

The underlying data were initially released on May 15, 2025, using business income-tax records for 2023. The series provides information by industry and geography, with receipts measuring revenue before expenses. For communities examining entrepreneurship, those tables add a view of business activity that payroll figures alone cannot capture.

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