Connecticut Small Business Statistics: 2026 Report

Nearly every company in Connecticut is a small business: 381,129 of them, 99.4% of the total, with 726,097 people on their payrolls. That workforce share, 48.1%, exceeded the national small business employment share in 2022, as the SBA Office of Advocacy notes.

The recent numbers lean positive. New business applications reached about 49,834 in 2025, the strongest year in the Census monthly series we added up, which starts in 2018. Between March 2023 and March 2024, more establishments opened than closed, and the state gained 13,206 jobs on net, 82.1% of them from small firms. Private employment measured by the federal wage census rose 0.8% in 2024.

Each figure on this page traces to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis or a Connecticut state agency, all linked in the sources below.

The State of Small Business in Connecticut, by the Numbers

Counts and shares come from the current SBA state profile for Connecticut and the Census Bureau’s 2022 files, and the trajectory is steep: a year earlier the profile counted 365,824 small businesses, so the current edition lists 15,305 more.

Look inside the total and the shape becomes clearer. Employer firms are the minority: 68,418 of them, 96.6% of Connecticut employers, paying $45.5 billion in wages, or 40.5% of the state’s payroll. The remaining 312,711 businesses have no employees at all, and 270,800 of those are sole proprietorships; together the no-staff crowd still generated $21.6 billion in 2022 receipts.

• Connecticut counts 381,129 small businesses, 99.4% of all businesses in the state; with larger companies included, the total runs to about 383,000.
• 726,097 people work for a Connecticut small business, 48.1% of the state’s employees.

The Pay Spectrum Across Connecticut Industries

The 2024 figures below take in every private employer in Connecticut, from finance’s $234,165 average down to food service’s $31,249.

• Average annual pay reached $88,959 across Connecticut’s private sector in 2024.
• Finance and insurance pays $234,165 on average, the highest of any sector by a wide margin, with management of companies at $197,102, utilities at $156,132, professional services at $137,636, and wholesale trade at $126,089.
• Even manufacturing crosses six figures at $100,701, while the low end holds accommodation and food services ($31,249), arts and recreation ($40,141) and retail ($45,372).

The same spread shows up on the map. Average private-sector pay peaks at $134,080 in the Western planning region, while the Northeastern region sits lowest at $58,265, measured across all employers because its private figure is withheld.

Top Industries in Connecticut for Jobs and Employers

Hospitals and clinics carry the job count, while small professional offices carry the establishment count. Health care and social assistance leads employment with 291,475 jobs in 2024; retail trade holds 165,499 (down 0.8% on the year) and accommodation and food services 125,938. Manufacturing employs 155,773 people at that $100,701 average, and it also posted the biggest absolute decline of 2024, down 1.1%.

• Finance and insurance runs 96,463 jobs across 8,945 establishments.
• By establishment count, professional, scientific and technical services comes first with 22,494 locations.
• Including solo ventures, the small-firm ranking again favors professional services (58,166 firms), then real estate (42,004) and construction (39,631).

Connecticut’s 2024 Job Gains, Sector by Sector

Most sectors added jobs in 2024, though manufacturing pulled back hardest and retail also slipped. Educational services grew fastest among sizeable sectors, up 4.5% (2,828 jobs), while health care added the most outright: 9,044 positions, a 3.2% rise. Other services gained 3.8%, arts and recreation 3.5%, and construction 2.5%.

All told, private employment rose 0.8%, an 11,449-job gain, steadier than the swings in any single sector would suggest.

Connecticut’s Nine Planning Regions, Ranked by Jobs

Federal statistics no longer track Connecticut by county: since 2022 the Census Bureau and BLS use nine planning regions instead. The totals below cover every private employer in each region, and 2024 growth rates are not yet published at this level. The Capitol planning region around Hartford is the largest, with 442,346 private jobs, about 30.3% of the state, including 42,286 finance and insurance jobs at an average $166,447.

• The Western region (Stamford, Norwalk, Greenwich) averages $134,080 in annual pay, and its finance and insurance jobs, 25,511 of them, average $447,504.
• The South Central region around New Haven counts 250,140 private jobs; unusually for this state, educational services is its second-largest sector, with 29,670 jobs at $106,632.
• In the Southeastern region (New London, Groton), manufacturing is the top sector: 21,157 jobs, roughly 21.1% of the region’s private employment.
• Greater Bridgeport contributes 101,204 private jobs, led by health care.

It adds up to a lopsided state: the top three regions alone, Capitol, Western and South Central, hold about 65.1% of Connecticut’s private employment.

Connecticut’s Filing Rebound of 2025

Annual totals here sum the Census Bureau’s monthly filing figures, so read them as close approximations. Connecticut logged about 49,834 new business applications in 2025, a total no other year of the tallied series (2018 onward) matches. That followed a soft 2024 (about 46,736) and works out to a rebound of roughly 6.6%. For perspective: about 33,942 applications in 2018, 47,192 in 2021, and 47,977 in 2023.

The churn side stayed healthy too. From March 2023 to March 2024, 14,304 establishments opened against 13,229 closures across businesses of every size (temporary closures and reopenings counted), and that window produced a net 13,206 jobs, with small businesses supplying 10,840 of them, or 82.1%. Here, the paperwork and the payrolls point the same direction: up.

Loan Growth and an Export Dip in Connecticut

Connecticut’s 7(a) Momentum

Connecticut businesses pulled more federal loan money through the window in fiscal 2024. SBA lenders backed 901 7(a) loans worth $318.8 million, a climb of about 21.1% in count and 9.8% in dollars versus fiscal 2023. The 504 program moved the other way: 73 loans ($62.7 million), down from 90 the year before; combined, the two programs reached about 974 loans and $381.6 million, plus 83 microloans worth about $1.7 million.

• Banks reporting under the Community Reinvestment Act issued $855.2 million in new loans to Connecticut firms with revenues under $1 million in 2023.

Connecticut Exports: Bigger Total, Smaller Small-Firm Slice

The trade numbers moved in opposite directions depending on company size. Of the 5,237 Connecticut firms identified as goods exporters in 2023, small businesses made up 4,568, or 87.2%, and they shipped $4.7 billion, 31.6% of the $15.0 billion total. The overall total rose from $14.6 billion in 2022, but the small-firm portion fell from $7.0 billion over the same span.

Portraits of Connecticut Ownership

Two data universes appear below: employer firms from the 2022 Census business survey, and totals that also count solo businesses.

• Women own 42.6% of Connecticut businesses and account for 48.2% of workers; 12,321 employer firms are female-owned and 5,460 are owned equally by women and men.
• Hispanic entrepreneurs own 12.8% of the state’s businesses: 45,722 in total, 3,222 of them with employees.
• Black-owned businesses number 38,663 (1,663 employer firms) and Asian-owned 23,449 (6,449 employer firms).
• Veterans own 4.1%, about 13,141 businesses, 2,641 of them employers.
• Urban dominates the map: 312,756 urban businesses to 51,427 rural ones.

A $376 Billion Economy With 70 Million Guests

Connecticut’s output climbed again in 2025; the tourism study, which runs a year behind, tells a similar story. The state produced $376.46 billion in goods and services in 2025, compared with $356.84 billion in 2024, and in inflation-adjusted terms that is growth of about 2.4%, per federal economic accounts.

Connecticut Tourism Facts From the 2024 Study

The state commissions an annual economic study of its visitors, and the 2024 edition came back strong.

• 70.0 million visitors spent $11.6 billion in Connecticut in 2024, a 5.3% spending increase over 2023, per the state’s tourism impact study.
• Visitor activity supported 125,697 jobs, one in 19 statewide by the study’s count, and delivered $1.5 billion in visitor-generated taxes to state and local governments.
• Food and beverage led the spending mix at $3.1 billion, with recreation and entertainment, casinos included, close behind at $3.0 billion.
• Overnight visitors were 32.7% of the volume yet 63.1% of the spending.

Connecticut’s 2026 Rulebook: Filing Costs, Taxes, Wages

Connecticut LLC Fees and the March 31 Deadline

Forming here is inexpensive; staying compliant is mostly about remembering one date.

• The Certificate of Organization costs $120 and covers appointing your statutory agent in the same filing.
• The annual report costs $80 and is filed online between January 1 and March 31 each year on business.ct.gov; an overdue report blocks your certificate of legal existence and can end in administrative dissolution.
• Smaller line items: name reservation $60, change of agent $50, and dissolution is free.

New founders can lean on our walkthrough of starting an LLC in Connecticut, and every entity needs a Connecticut registered agent reachable at a street address in the state.

Connecticut Tax Rates a Business Owner Should Know

The tax picture stacks several moving parts, so the lines below are worth a careful read.

• Personal income tax runs seven brackets, from 2% to 6.99% (2025 tax calculation schedule), with the top rate starting above $500,000 for single filers and $1,000,000 for joint filers; benefit phase-outs and a recapture raise effective rates at high incomes. Most sole proprietors, LLC members and S corporation shareholders pay these rates on business income.
• The corporation business tax is 7.5%, with a $250 minimum; companies with $100 million or more in gross income, or filing in a combined group, add a 10% surtax (an effective 8.25%) that stays in force for income years beginning January 1, 2026 through January 1, 2028.
• Pass-through entities can elect an optional 6.99% entity-level tax as a federal deduction workaround.
• Sales tax is a single 6.35% statewide rate with no local add-ons; meals carry 7.35% and computer and data processing services 1%.
• The minimum wage rises to $16.94 on January 1, 2026, indexed each January to the federal employment cost index, per the Connecticut Department of Labor.

Connecticut Small Business, in Four Questions

Sources

• Business counts, churn, ownership and export figures originate in the SBA Office of Advocacy, Connecticut 2025 Small Business Profile.
• Pay, employment and planning-region detail for 2024 draw on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
• Filing-trend and solo-business numbers stem from the Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics and its Nonemployer Statistics program.
• Loan approval totals for fiscal 2024 were computed from U.S. Small Business Administration loan program data.
• Output figures rest on the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts.
• LLC and annual report fees match the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s LLC forms and fees table.
• Income, corporate, pass-through and sales tax rules reflect the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services pages current for 2026.
• Visitor volume, spending and tourism jobs cite the Connecticut DECD economic impact of tourism study, 2024.