How Many Small Businesses Are in Ohio in 2026?

Ohio is home to 1.1 million small businesses in 2026, which make up 99.6% of all firms in the state and employ 2.2 million people. Below is the current data on small business in Ohio: how many firms there are, what they do, where they cluster, and what it costs to start one.

Ohio’s Small Business Count in 2026

Small firms are almost the entire business population in Ohio and provide more than 40% of its private jobs. The counts here come from the current SBA state profile for Ohio.

Ohio has 1.1 million small businesses, which is 99.6% of all businesses in the state.
Small businesses employ 2.2 million people in Ohio, about 43.8% of the state’s workforce.
The state is home to 898,451 nonemployer businesses, solo ventures with no paid staff, which together took in $48.3 billion in receipts.
Small business employment rose from about 2.1 million in the 2024 profile to 2.2 million, a steady gain.

Ohio Pay Across Sectors

In Ohio, management roles average about $137,000 a year while food-service jobs pay closer to $23,000.

The state’s 4.8 million private-sector workers earned an average of $65,533 in 2024.
The highest-paying sectors are management of companies ($137,063) and professional, scientific and technical services ($100,627).
Manufacturing pays $76,503 a year on average, well above the private-sector average.
The lowest-paying major sector is accommodation and food services, at $23,358 a year.
Private employment grew 0.6% between 2023 and 2024.

Which Industries Drive Ohio

Ohio has 328,831 private establishments with about 4.8 million workers. Health care employs the most people, and the state’s manufacturing base is not far behind.

Health care and social assistance is the largest employer, with 850,252 jobs across 36,422 establishments.
Manufacturing is Ohio’s industrial backbone, with 682,242 jobs across 16,301 establishments.
Retail trade supports 541,361 jobs across 36,084 establishments.
Accommodation and food services employs 482,564 workers across 26,876 establishments.
Professional, scientific and technical services spans 46,940 establishments and 289,145 jobs.

Ohio’s Fastest Job Growth in 2024

Construction and health care were Ohio’s strongest sources of new jobs in 2024.

Construction added the most, growing employment 4.6% between 2023 and 2024.
Health care and social assistance grew 3.9%, and management of companies rose 3.2%.

Small Business Hubs: Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati

Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati carry much of Ohio’s business activity. Each county figure below counts all private establishments, not only small ones.

Franklin County (Columbus) leads with 39,104 establishments and 648,594 jobs.
Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) has 38,076 establishments and 613,851 jobs.
Hamilton County (Cincinnati) hosts 26,627 establishments and 460,340 jobs.

New Business Starts in Ohio

Ohioans filed for new businesses more in 2025 than in any year since 2020, staying well clear of pre-pandemic levels.

Ohioans filed about 169,000 new business applications in 2025, the most in the past six years, up from roughly 128,000 in 2020.
Applications topped 156,000 in 2021 and have stayed above 140,000 every year since.

Ohio Small Business Loans and Export Trade

Federal lending and export markets each give Ohio’s smaller companies room to grow.

How Much Ohio Businesses Borrow

The SBA stood behind close to $1.2 billion in Ohio lending in fiscal year 2024, per SBA loan approval data.

SBA 7(a) loans totaled 3,843 loans for $1.07 billion.
SBA 504 loans added 122 loans for $125.0 million.

Exporting from Ohio

Small businesses are the clear majority of Ohio’s exporters, at nearly 88% of all exporting firms.

13,683 small firms exported from Ohio in 2023, 87.7% of all identified exporters.
Small businesses generated $13.4 billion in exports, 25.5% of the state’s identified-firm export value.

Ohio Small Business Owner Demographics

As of 2022, Ohio had 170,212 employer firms. Women-owned businesses are the largest of the tracked ownership groups.

Women own 34,213 Ohio employer firms, the largest ownership group tracked.
Asian-owned employer firms number 9,466, followed by Black-owned (5,611) and Hispanic-owned (2,969).
Veteran-owned employer firms total 8,614.
In all, 18,173 Ohio employer firms are minority-owned.

Ohio’s Economic Output and Travel Sector

Ohio’s economy is broad and varied, which keeps plenty of customers within reach of its small firms.

Ohio’s GDP reached $966.8 billion in 2025 in current dollars.
Adjusted for inflation, real GDP was $734.4 billion.
Nonemployer businesses alone generated $48.3 billion in receipts in 2022.

Travel and Tourism in Ohio

Tourist dollars land in Ohio’s hotels, restaurants, and stores, and TourismOhio puts a number on it each year.

Tourism generated $57 billion for Ohio’s economy in 2024.
The state drew 242 million visits and tourism supported more than 436,000 jobs.

What It Takes to Start an Ohio Business in 2026

Ohio makes setup easy, with no yearly report to file once you form. Walk through it with our step-by-step guide to starting an LLC in Ohio.

Filing Fees for an Ohio LLC or Corporation

The Ohio Secretary of State sets the filing fees below.

Filing Articles of Organization for an Ohio LLC costs $99.
Ohio requires no annual or biennial report for LLCs, so there is no recurring state filing fee.
Filing Articles of Incorporation for a corporation also costs $99. Every entity must appoint an Ohio registered agent. To compare providers, see the best Ohio LLC services.

Ohio’s Income Tax, Sales Tax, and Wage Floor

Ohio’s 2026 income tax is a lower flat rate, and its base sales tax runs 5.75% before city and county add-ons.

Ohio’s individual income tax is a flat 2.75% on income above $26,050 for 2026, with no tax below that threshold.
The state sales tax rate is 5.75%, before county add-ons.
Ohio’s minimum wage rose to $11.00 per hour on January 1, 2026 (tipped wage $5.50) for larger employers.

Ohio Small Business Questions, Answered

Here are the questions Ohio founders look up most, with answers pulled from official state and federal sources.