Authors: Michael Powe, Ph.D (Senior Director of Research) & Emi Morita (Manager of Research) – Main Street America
Main Street America distributed our Spring 2025 Small Business Profiles Survey on April 10. We closed the survey on April 29 after hearing from 1,587 business owners in more than 500 cities and 47 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Our small business surveys focus on businesses that operate within downtowns and neighborhood commercial corridors. Our research has found that these businesses tend to be small, with modest staffing and limited revenue. In our Spring 2025 survey, more than half of all responding Main Street businesses (52%) have only one or two full-time staff members, and 93% have fewer than 20 staff members, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, or temporary employees. Fifty-three percent reported that their family and friends frequently or occasionally help staff the business on an unpaid basis.
