Wisconsin Small Business Statistics: 2026 Breakdown

Count every business in Wisconsin and 99.4% of them, 497,370 in all, are small; together they employ 1.2 million people, 48.0% of the state’s workforce. That employment share exceeded the national small business figure in 2022, as the SBA Office of Advocacy points out.

The last two years zigzagged. New business applications fell 4.9% in 2024, then roared to a series record of about 71,475 in 2025, a 15.1% jump. Meanwhile the everyday economy stayed quietly positive: private employment rose 0.5% in 2024, and between March 2023 and March 2024 the state opened a net 2,067 more establishments than it closed.

All of it traces to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis or a Wisconsin state agency, with every source linked at the bottom.

How Wisconsin’s Half a Million Businesses Break Down

The count comes from the latest SBA state profile for Wisconsin, and it keeps rising: 481,444 small businesses in the 2024 edition, 497,370 in the current one. Fold in the large companies and the state holds roughly 500,000 businesses.

Two very different groups live inside that number. The 107,594 small firms with employees make up 97.3% of Wisconsin employers and paid $61.9 billion in wages in 2022, 40.4% of the state’s payroll. The other 389,776 businesses have nobody on staff; 342,364 of them, about 87.8%, are sole proprietorships, and together they still earned $22.4 billion in receipts that year.

• Wisconsin holds 497,370 small businesses, 99.4% of every business in the state.
• They employ 1.2 million people, or 48.0% of Wisconsin workers.
• For those tracking establishments rather than firms: the federal wage census counts 195,879 private establishments statewide in 2024, and 203,377 once government locations are included.

What a Year of Work Earns in Wisconsin

These 2024 averages cover every private employer in the state, small or not.

• The average private-sector job paid $63,799 in 2024.
• Management of companies leads at $123,904, with utilities at $122,089, information at $112,737, and finance and insurance at $103,959.
• The other end belongs to accommodation and food services at $22,064, retail at $35,444, and arts and recreation at $38,640.

By county, the private-sector averages run from $73,778 in Dane County through $70,817 in Waukesha and $69,194 in Milwaukee down to $63,669 in Brown County.

Wisconsin Top Industries: Manufacturing Still First

Manufacturing remains the largest private employer in Wisconsin, with 465,626 jobs in 2024, about 18.2% of all private employment, at pay roughly 12.6% above the state private average; it was also the year’s biggest loser, shedding 8,811 jobs, a 1.9% decline. Health care and social assistance sits second at 417,852 jobs and leads every sector on establishments, with 38,478 locations.

• Retail trade employs 297,943 people, accommodation and food services 241,606, and construction 140,998.
• Manufacturing matters to small business too: 206,231 small business employees work in the sector, 43.2% of its workforce, making it the largest small-business employer in the state (2022 data).
• Counting firms of every size including solo ventures, professional services leads with 59,922 small firms, followed by construction (55,387) and other services (54,287).

How 2024 Treated Each Wisconsin Industry

Generously, for the most part. Arts, entertainment and recreation grew fastest among sizeable sectors at 4.8%, educational services added 3.8%, other services 3.7%, construction 3.4%, and health care 3.3%, which in absolute terms meant 13,416 new jobs, far more than any other sector.

The exceptions were concentrated: administrative and waste services fell 2.4% (3,365 jobs) and manufacturing gave back 8,811 positions. Add it all together and private employment still finished 0.5% higher, up 12,759 jobs on the year.

Four Counties That Anchor Wisconsin Business

A note before the county figures: they span every private employer, whatever its size. Milwaukee County is the heavyweight, with 28,960 private establishments and 416,310 jobs, about 16.3% of the state’s private employment; health care is its largest sector at 94,837 jobs, and finance and insurance pays the most there, $143,466 on average.

• Dane County around Madison grew fastest of the four in 2024 (up 1.7% across all employers, on 17,608 private establishments); its information sector stands out with 19,267 jobs at $142,042 average pay, and about 22.6% of the county’s employment is government work, the state capital and university effect.
• Waukesha County (14,330 private establishments) runs on manufacturing: 42,071 jobs, about 18.2% of its private employment, though the county finished 2024 flat overall.
• Brown County around Green Bay bucked the statewide trend: its manufacturing base, 28,647 jobs and about 20.3% of county employment across 7,371 private establishments, grew 3.0% in the same year the sector shrank statewide.

Together the four counties carry about 41.7% of Wisconsin’s private jobs. That leaves nearly three private jobs in five outside the four biggest counties, a reminder of how spread out this state’s economy runs.

Eight Years of Wisconsin Business Applications

The yearly totals below add up monthly Census figures, so treat them as close approximations. Wisconsinites filed about 45,420 new business applications in 2018, surged to 65,238 in 2021, and then plateaued near that level through 2023. In 2024 the count actually fell 4.9%, to about 62,118. Then 2025 blew past every previous year of the series: roughly 71,475 applications, a 15.1% jump.

The churn data backs up the momentum. Between March 2023 and March 2024, 18,895 establishments opened and 16,828 closed across businesses of every size (temporary closures and reopenings counted), a net gain of 2,067, and the state added 12,800 jobs on net; the SBA profile credits small businesses with a net gain of 15,910 jobs over the same window, more than the overall total, which the underlying accounting allows when larger firms run negative. By either yardstick, more doors opened than closed.

Where Wisconsin Firms Find Money and Buyers

Both channels below run through small firms: SBA programs lend to them by definition, and 85.2% of Wisconsin’s exporters are small.

Wisconsin’s Federal Loan Tally for 2024

SBA lenders approved 1,099 7(a) loans worth $524.5 million in Wisconsin in fiscal 2024, roughly 14.0% more loans and 8.8% more dollars than the year before. The 504 program split the difference: 173 loans, down 5.5%, but $188.3 million, up 7.7%. Combined, the two programs delivered about 1,272 loans and $712.9 million, with 69 microloans adding about $1.0 million more.

• Under the Community Reinvestment Act, banks reported $1.2 billion in new loans to Wisconsin firms with revenues of $1 million or less in 2023.

Made Here, Sold Abroad: Wisconsin’s Exporters

Wisconsin identified 8,489 exporting firms in 2023, and 7,235 of them, 85.2%, were small businesses. Their shipments totaled $6.8 billion, about 26.2% of the state’s $26.1 billion in identified exports. Against 2022, the small-exporter count and value both edged down even as the state total rose from $25.3 billion.

A Look at Who Owns Wisconsin’s Firms

The rows below mix employer firms (2022 Census business survey) with totals that include solo businesses.

• Women own 42.5% of Wisconsin businesses; 19,047 employer firms are female-owned and another 14,500 are owned equally by women and men.
• Veterans own 6.2% of the state’s businesses while making up 3.8% of its workers: about 25,341 businesses, 4,841 of them with employees.
• Hispanic entrepreneurs own 4.4% (20,333 businesses, 2,333 employer firms); Black-owned businesses number 27,450 (1,950 employer firms) and Asian-owned 17,609 (4,109 employer firms).
• The countryside carries real weight here: 162,067 rural businesses against 297,018 urban ones, about 35.3% of the classifiable total.

Wisconsin’s Economy Grew While Tourism Set Another Record

Wisconsin produced $473.04 billion in goods and services in 2025 at current prices, up from $453.30 billion the year before. Measured in real, inflation-adjusted terms, the economy grew about 1.5%, per federal economic accounts.

Wisconsin Tourism in 2025, Itemized

The state’s tourism study calls 2025 the fourth consecutive record year, and the line items explain why.

• 117.9 million visits in 2025, up 3.1% from 2024.
• Total economic impact reached $27.0 billion (up 4.4%), with direct visitor spending at $17.0 billion, about $46.7 million every day.
• Visitor activity supported 183,594 jobs, one in 21 statewide, and generated just over $1.7 billion in state and local taxes.
• Lodging was the biggest spending category at $4.6 billion, narrowly ahead of food and beverage at $4.5 billion.

Wisconsin’s Startup Paperwork and Tax Bill for 2026

Two administrative facts shape the cost side in Wisconsin: filings go through the DFI, and the tax schedule still has four brackets.

The DFI Price List for Wisconsin LLCs

One thing trips up new founders here: Wisconsin LLCs register with the Department of Financial Institutions, not a Secretary of State.

• Articles of Organization cost $130 filed online through the DFI, or $170 by mail.
• The annual report runs $25 online ($40 on paper), due each year starting the calendar year after registration, in the quarter of your registration anniversary.
• Dissolution costs $20 online, an agent change $10, and the truly impatient can pay up to $500 for one-hour, in-person expedited processing in Madison.
• Every LLC also names a registered agent for Wisconsin with a physical in-state address.

We walk the full sequence in our guide to how to start an LLC in Wisconsin, and owners who would rather delegate can weigh the best LLC services for Wisconsin before filing anything.

Income, Sales and Corporate Rates Across Wisconsin

Most owners pay the personal schedule on their business income, and the sales tax depends heavily on where the register sits.

• Individual income tax runs four brackets: 3.50%, 4.40%, 5.3% and 7.65% (2025 schedule), the top rate starting above $323,290 for single filers and $431,060 for joint filers.
• Corporations pay a flat 7.9% franchise or income tax on Wisconsin net income; partnerships and S corporations can also elect entity-level taxation under state statute.
• Sales tax starts at 5%, counties that have adopted the county tax add 0.5%, and Milwaukee County charges 0.9% since January 1, 2024; the city of Milwaukee layers its own 2% on top, per the Department of Revenue.
• The minimum wage is $7.25, unchanged since 2009, with a $2.33 cash wage for tipped workers whose tips must bring them to at least $7.25, per the Department of Workforce Development.

Inside the city of Milwaukee the register rings at 7.9%, which happens to be the same number the state charges corporations on their income.

Wisconsin Small Business Quick Facts

Sources

• Business counts, churn dynamics, ownership figures and export data come from the SBA Office of Advocacy, Wisconsin 2025 Small Business Profile.
• Sector and county employment, pay and establishment counts for 2024 are drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
• The application series and no-employee business totals build on the Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics and its Nonemployer Statistics.
• Fiscal 2024 approval figures were summed from U.S. Small Business Administration loan program data.
• Output and growth numbers sit in the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts.
• Every filing fee cited here appears on the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions business entity fee table.
• The income tax schedule is printed by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
• Visit counts, spending and tourism jobs come from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism’s economic impact research.