In California, are certain counties more friendly to small businesses than others? To pinpoint the areas where small businesses abound, altLINE used Census Bureau data to find the counties in California with the highest concentration of small businesses in 2021, calculated as small establishments per 1,000 residents. Small establishments are defined as those with fewer than 500 employees. Counties with fewer than 1,000 residents were excluded from the analysis, as well as counties for which the Census Bureau didn’t have population estimates.
You can find the full list of counties covered in the article HERE, but for brevity sake here’s the Top-10 most friendly counties for small business in CA:
#10. Los Angeles County
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– Total small business establishments: 296,746 (30.2 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.8%
– 2021 population: 9,811,842
#9. Plumas County
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– Total small business establishments: 614 (30.8 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.8%
– 2021 population: 19,940
#8. Nevada County
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– Total small business establishments: 3,224 (31.2 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.8%
– 2021 population: 103,457
#7. San Luis Obispo County
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– Total small business establishments: 8,716 (31.2 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.9%
– 2021 population: 279,298
#6. Napa County
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– Total small business establishments: 4,400 (32.3 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.9%
– 2021 population: 136,206
#5. Orange County
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– Total small business establishments: 103,620 (32.8 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.8%
– 2021 population: 3,161,005
#4. Alpine County
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– Total small business establishments: 44 (35.6 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 93.6%
– 2021 population: 1,235
#3. Marin County
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– Total small business establishments: 9,991 (38.6 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.9%
– 2021 population: 259,162
#2. San Francisco
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– Total small business establishments: 33,937 (41.8 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.5%
– 2021 population: 811,253
#1. Mono County
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– Total small business establishments: 658 (49.6 per 1,000 residents)
– Share of establishments that are small: 99.4%
– 2021 population: 13,261