How Many Small Businesses Are in Nevada? (2026)

Nevada is home to 353,621 small businesses in 2026, which make up 99.3% of all firms in the state and employ 578,767 people. Las Vegas hospitality anchors the economy, and the state runs on a tax code with no personal income tax.

Small Business in Nevada: The 2026 Count

Small businesses are almost the whole of Nevada’s employer base and cover close to half its private jobs, as documented in the latest SBA state profile for Nevada.

Nevada has 353,621 small businesses, which is 99.3% of all businesses in the state.
Small businesses employ 578,767 people in Nevada, about 45.0% of the state’s workforce.
The state counts 294,529 nonemployer businesses, solo ventures with no paid staff, which took in $18.2 billion in receipts in 2022.
The small business count rose from 333,471 in 2024 to 353,621 in 2025.
Small business employment in Nevada grew 62.1% between 1998 and 2022.

How Much Nevada Employers Pay

Nevada wages run from six-figure management and finance roles down to the hospitality jobs that fill the Strip.

The average private-sector worker earned $65,772 in 2024.
The highest-paying sectors are management of companies ($159,170) and utilities ($136,774), followed by information ($126,316).
Finance and insurance pays about $106,621 a year and professional, scientific and technical services about $104,789.
The lowest-paying sectors are accommodation and food services ($42,670) and retail trade ($42,833).
Private employment grew 1.7% between 2023 and 2024, a gain of 22,412 jobs.

The Industries Behind Nevada’s Economy

Nevada’s 106,439 private establishments employ about 1.4 million people, and no sector looms larger than hospitality.

Accommodation and food services is by far the largest employer, with 314,414 jobs across 7,636 establishments.
Health care and social assistance supports 153,879 jobs across 9,542 establishments.
Retail trade covers 147,970 jobs and 8,374 establishments.
Administrative and support services employ 110,896 workers, and construction adds 109,637 jobs across 6,593 establishments.
Professional, scientific and technical services has the most establishments of any sector, at 14,717, with 74,063 jobs.

Nevada’s Quickest-Growing Sectors

A few Nevada industries added jobs faster than the rest from 2023 to 2024.

Arts, entertainment and recreation grew employment 8.2%, the fastest of any sector.
Information rose 5.9%, followed by educational services and management of companies at about 5.2%.
Health care added 4.5% and professional, scientific and technical services 4.3%.

Clark and Washoe: Nevada’s Two Business Hubs

Nevada business is heavily concentrated in two counties. Each county total below includes private employers of every size.

Clark County (Las Vegas) holds 64,778 establishments and 1,008,580 jobs, about 73% of statewide private employment.
Washoe County (Reno) has 16,738 establishments and 211,715 jobs.

New Business Formation in Nevada

Nevadans have filed for new businesses well above pre-2020 levels every year since the pandemic.

Nevadans filed about 64,800 new business applications in 2025, up from roughly 52,000 in 2020.
Applications peaked near 68,000 in 2021 and have held in the low-to-mid 60,000s since.
Between March 2023 and March 2024, Nevada businesses opened 14,820 establishments and closed 12,241, a net gain of about 2,600.

Capital and Exports for Nevada Firms

Access to capital and foreign buyers rounds out the Nevada small business story.

Nevada’s SBA Loan Totals

Nevada’s fiscal 2024 total came to about $464 million across the SBA’s two flagship programs, according to SBA loan approval data.

The SBA backed 838 loans through its two main programs (7(a) and 504), worth about $464 million in Nevada in FY2024.
SBA 7(a) loans totaled 747 loans for $355.7 million.
SBA 504 loans added 91 loans for $108.7 million, and the Microloan program provided 2 loans for about $59,000.

What Nevada Exports

By count, roughly 85% of Nevada’s exporters are small; by value, a handful of large firms dominate.

3,156 small firms exported from Nevada in 2023, 85.4% of all identified exporters.
Small businesses generated $2.1 billion in exports, 28.7% of the state’s identified-firm export value.
Nevada’s identified firms exported $7.2 billion total across 3,697 businesses.

The Faces of Nevada Business Ownership

Women and Hispanic entrepreneurs hold some of the largest ownership shares in Nevada, and the state’s employer firms span many backgrounds.

Women-owned businesses make up 46.0% of the Nevada total, roughly in line with women’s 45.7% of the workforce.
Hispanic owners account for 22.1% of all firms and run 5,742 of the businesses that employ staff.
Among employer firms, 7,178 are Asian-owned, 1,755 Black-owned, and 556 American Indian or Alaska Native-owned.
Veterans run 6.0% of Nevada firms, including 2,829 businesses with employees.

Nevada’s Economy and the Tourism Engine

A tourism-driven economy gives Nevada’s small firms an enormous, if seasonal, customer base.

Nevada’s GDP reached $281.5 billion in 2025 in current dollars.
Adjusted for inflation, real GDP was $210.9 billion.
Nonemployer businesses alone generated $18.2 billion in receipts in 2022.

Tourism and Las Vegas Small Business

Visitor spending is the lifeblood of Nevada’s hospitality and retail firms, and Travel Nevada reports the totals annually.

Travelers spent $58.5 billion in Nevada in 2024, up 6.0% from the year before.
The state welcomed 52.4 million visitors in 2024.
Tourism supported about 306,000 direct jobs and generated $6.2 billion in state and local taxes.

Nevada Business Costs and Its Tax Advantage in 2026

Forming a Nevada business involves several state fees, set against a tax code with no income tax. Our step-by-step guide to starting an LLC in Nevada walks through each step.

Nevada LLC Formation Fees

Nevada bundles a few required filings into the cost of starting an LLC.

Filing Articles of Organization for a Nevada LLC costs $75.
The initial list of managers or members is $150 and the state business license is $200, so a new LLC pays $425 to start.
Each year an LLC files a $150 annual list and renews the $200 business license. A corporation’s Articles of Incorporation start at $75 and its state business license runs $500, and every entity must appoint a Nevada registered agent with a physical in-state address.

No Income Tax: Nevada’s Business Tax Picture

Nevada levies no personal income tax at all, and its state-level business taxes are limited.

Nevada has no state personal income tax, no corporate income tax, and no franchise tax.
The state sales and use tax base rate is 6.85%, and combined local rates reach 8.375% in Clark County and 8.265% in Washoe County.
Nevada’s minimum wage is $12.00 per hour, a single rate in effect since July 2024.

To compare formation services, see our roundup of the best Nevada LLC services for small business owners.

Nevada Small Business Questions People Search Most

Here are quick, sourced answers to what Nevada founders search for most.