This briefing assembles verified federal and industry data on the coming ownership transition in U.S. small business. It focuses on owner age, the share of owners with a succession plan, how owners intend to exit (family transfer, third-party sale, or closure), and the pace of business acquisitions as a record cohort of older owners approaches retirement.

The core tension is simple and well documented: more than half of U.S. business owners are 55 or older, yet only about half have a formal succession plan, and a large minority intend to close rather than transfer their firm. The numbers below come from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Reserve, Gallup, the Exit Planning Institute, BizBuySell, and U.S. Bank. Every figure carries its year, geography, and source. Contested figures are flagged.

Executive Summary

• 52.3% of U.S. employer-business owners were age 55 or older as of the 2022 reference year, including 29.5% aged 55 to 64 and 22.8% aged 65 and over (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, 2022 data, released 2025).
• 33% of U.S. small-business owners say they either have no long-term plan for their business or are unsure what will happen to it after they leave (Source: Gallup, survey of 1,264 owners fielded Sept 20 to Oct 28, 2024).
• 74% of U.S. employer-business owners plan to eventually sell or transfer ownership, while 5% plan to close and 5% have no plan (Source: Gallup, 2024).
• 54% of U.S. small-business owners report having a formal succession plan, even though 85% say they became owners to build something to pass on (Source: U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, 2025).
• 73% of privately held U.S. companies plan to transition ownership within the decade, an exit-planning opportunity the Exit Planning Institute valued at roughly $14 trillion (Source: Exit Planning Institute, 2023 National State of Owner Readiness).
• Project Equity estimates 2.9 million U.S. businesses are owned by people aged 55 or older, supporting 32.1 million employees, about $1.3 trillion in payroll, and about $6.5 trillion in revenue (Source: Project Equity).
• 9,546 small-business transactions closed in the U.S. in 2024, up 5% year over year, with retirement cited by 38% of sellers as their reason for exiting (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).
• The widely repeated claim that only 30% of family businesses survive to the second generation and 12% to the third traces to a single 1987 study of Illinois manufacturers and is disputed by later researchers (Sources: SCORE/SBA; Harvard Business Review, 2021).

Key Findings

• 52.3% of U.S. employer-business owners were 55 or older in the 2022 Annual Business Survey reference year (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, released 2025).
• 22.8% of U.S. employer-business owners were 65 or older in the same 2022 data (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, released 2025).
• 74% of U.S. employer-business owners plan to sell or transfer ownership at some point, per a fall 2024 survey (Source: Gallup, 2024).
• 22% of U.S. employer-business owners plan to sell or transfer within the next five years (Source: Gallup, 2024).
• 33% of all surveyed U.S. owners have no long-term plan or are unsure what happens to the business after they leave (Source: Gallup, 2024).
• 27% of U.S. nonemployer-business owners plan to close their business rather than transfer it, versus 5% of employer owners (Source: Gallup, 2024).
• 54% of U.S. small-business owners report a formal succession plan in 2025 (Source: U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, 2025).
• 36% of U.S. Gen Z and Millennial owners say they plan to acquire a business from a retiring owner (Source: U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, 2025).
• 73% of privately held U.S. companies plan to transition ownership within the decade (Source: Exit Planning Institute, 2023 National State of Owner Readiness).
• 49% of surveyed business owners planned to exit within five years as of the 2023 report (Source: Exit Planning Institute, 2023).
• 76% of owners surveyed regretted selling their business one year later, and 60% had no formal personal plan for life after the transition (Source: Exit Planning Institute, 2023).
• 9,546 U.S. small-business transactions closed in 2024, with a combined enterprise value of $7.59 billion, up 15% from 2023 (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).
• The 2024 median small-business sale price was $345,000, up 3% year over year, on an average cash-flow multiple of 2.57 (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).
• Project Equity estimates 2.9 million U.S. businesses are owned by people 55 or older, supporting 32.1 million jobs (Source: Project Equity).
• The Federal Reserve fielded its 2024 Small Business Credit Survey to more than 7,600 small employer firms between September and November 2024 (Source: Federal Reserve, 2024 Small Business Credit Survey).

Owner Age and the Retirement Wave

The demographic pressure behind succession is measurable in federal data. The U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey is the primary source for owner age.

52.3% of U.S. employer-business owners were age 55 or older as of the 2022 reference year (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, released 2025).

Within that group, 29.5% were aged 55 to 64 and 22.8% were 65 or older in the same data (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, released 2025).

Project Equity translates this age profile into scale, estimating 2.9 million U.S. businesses are owned by people 55 or older, supporting 32.1 million employees, about $1.3 trillion in payroll, and about $6.5 trillion in revenue (Source: Project Equity).

What it means: when more than half of owners are within roughly a decade of traditional retirement age, the question is not whether ownership transfers but how, and how many transfers happen in an orderly way rather than through closure. Project Equity’s figures are estimates built on Census microdata, so treat the totals as directional rather than exact.

Who Has a Succession Plan

The planning gap is the central finding across multiple independent surveys, though exact percentages vary with how each survey defines a plan.

54% of U.S. small-business owners reported having a formal succession plan in 2025, against 85% who said they became owners specifically to build something to pass on (Source: U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, 2025).

33% of owners told Gallup in fall 2024 that they have no long-term plan or are unsure what will happen to the business after they leave (Source: Gallup, 2024).

49% of business owners planned to exit within five years, yet 78% lacked a formal transition team, as of the 2023 readiness report (Source: Exit Planning Institute, 2023).

What it means: roughly half of owners have some form of plan and roughly half do not, a split that holds across surveys despite different sampling and definitions. The consistency strengthens the headline even where individual percentages differ.

How Owners Intend to Exit: Family, Sale, or Closure

Exit intent splits sharply between firms with employees and the much larger population of solo nonemployer firms.

74% of employer-business owners plan to sell or transfer ownership, with 26% intending to give the business to family or others and 23% intending to sell (Source: Gallup, 2024).

Among nonemployer owners, only 35% plan to transfer via sale or gift while 27% plan to close and 40% are uncertain (Source: Gallup, 2024).

36% of Gen Z and Millennial owners say they intend to acquire a business from a retiring owner, signaling demand on the buyer side (Source: U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, 2025).

What it means: third-party sale and family transfer dominate among employer firms, but closure is a real outcome for solo businesses, where 27% expect to wind down. The buyer-side appetite from younger owners is a counterweight, but it concentrates on firms with employees and transferable value.

Acquisition and Sale Activity

Transaction data shows the market absorbing part of the transition wave, with retirement as the leading seller motive.

9,546 U.S. small-business transactions closed in 2024, up 5% from 2023, with combined enterprise value of $7.59 billion, up 15% (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).

38% of 2024 sellers cited retirement as their primary reason for selling, the single most common motive (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).

The 2024 median sale price was $345,000, up 3% year over year, with median time on market of 168 days (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).

What it means: BizBuySell tracks listed transactions through its own marketplace, so its counts are a sample of the for-sale market, not a census of all U.S. business sales. The retirement share confirms the demographic driver, but reported deal volume undercounts total ownership changes, many of which happen privately or through closure.

Family Business Survival: A Contested Statistic

The most quoted succession statistic is also the least reliable, and it deserves explicit caution.

The claim that 30% of family businesses survive to the second generation, 12% to the third, and 3% to the fourth is widely attributed to the SBA and circulated by SCORE (Source: SCORE/SBA).

That figure traces to a single 1987 study by John Ward of 200 Illinois manufacturers tracked from 1924 to 1984, and later analysts argue the inverse “70% fail” framing is statistically unfounded (Source: Harvard Business Review, 2021).

What it means: use the survival figures only with attribution and a caveat. They reflect one industry in one state across one historical period, and treating them as a current national law of family business is not defensible.

Original Synthesis

The following insights are derived by combining the verified public datasets above. They are presented as ratios and gaps, not new survey results, and their limitations are stated.

1. The Succession Readiness Gap. Combining the U.S. Census age profile with the U.S. Bank planning rate: 52.3% of owners are 55 or older (Census, 2022) while only 54% of owners have a formal plan (U.S. Bank, 2025). The logic: a near-retirement majority overlaps with a bare-majority planning rate, leaving a large share of older owners exposed. Limitation: the two surveys use different samples and definitions, so this is a directional overlay, not a matched cohort.

2. The Transfer-versus-Closure Spread for Solo Firms. Using Gallup 2024 nonemployer data, the ratio of owners planning to close (27%) to those planning to transfer (35%) is about 0.77 to 1. The logic: among solo businesses, nearly four closures are expected for every five transfers. Limitation: “uncertain” owners (40%) could move either way, widening or narrowing the spread.

3. Market Absorption Ratio. Against Project Equity’s estimate of 2.9 million businesses owned by people 55 or older, BizBuySell recorded 9,546 closed listed transactions in 2024. Even allowing that listed deals are a fraction of all transfers, the order-of-magnitude gap shows the formal sale market can absorb only a small slice of the at-risk population in any single year. Limitation: BizBuySell captures only listed-marketplace deals; private sales, internal transfers, and gifts are not counted, so the true transfer rate is higher than this ratio implies.

Tables

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, 2022 reference year (released 2025). “Under 55” derived as the residual of 100% minus 52.3%.

Source: Gallup, survey of 1,264 U.S. owners fielded Sept 20 to Oct 28, 2024 (funded by JPMorganChase and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation).

Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024. Reflects listed-marketplace transactions only.

Charts to build

• Owner age distribution. Data: Census ABS age bands (under 55, 55-64, 65+). Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ABS 2022. Insight: more than half of owners are 55+. Citation-worthy because it is the federal baseline for the entire succession narrative.
• The planning gap. Data: share 55+ (52.3%) versus share with a formal plan (54%). Sources: Census ABS 2022; U.S. Bank 2025. Insight: a near-retirement majority meets a bare-majority planning rate. Citation-worthy as a single-image summary of the problem.
• Exit intent, employer vs nonemployer. Data: sell/transfer vs close vs uncertain by firm type. Source: Gallup 2024. Insight: closure is a solo-firm phenomenon. Citation-worthy for distinguishing the two owner populations.
• Transaction volume trend. Data: closed deals and enterprise value, 2023 vs 2024. Source: BizBuySell Q4 2024. Insight: rising deal value alongside the retirement wave. Citation-worthy for market-activity stories.
• Why owners sell. Data: seller motivation shares, retirement leading at 38%. Source: BizBuySell Q4 2024. Insight: demographics drive the sell side. Citation-worthy for tying transactions to the age data.

Simple inline chart, share of U.S. employer-business owners by age band (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ABS 2022):

Methodology

Source selection prioritized primary data: the U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey for owner age, the Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey for the employer-firm panel, and the Gallup survey funded by JPMorganChase and the Kauffman Foundation for exit intent. Industry sources (Exit Planning Institute, BizBuySell, U.S. Bank, Project Equity) were included where they publish their own survey or transaction data and disclose methodology or sample.

Inclusion rule: a statistic was retained only if a named source, a year, and a U.S. geography could be attached. Exclusion rule: figures from a 2016 Nationwide survey were dropped as outdated for a 2026 briefing, and any number that could not be traced to a specific report was removed.

Conflicting numbers were handled by reporting the range and naming each source rather than blending them. For example, succession-plan prevalence is reported as roughly half across surveys, with U.S. Bank at 54% and Gallup’s “no plan or unsure” at 33%, because the surveys define a plan differently. Derived figures (the “under 55” residual and the three synthesis ratios) are labeled as derived, with inputs and limitations stated. Last updated June 2026.

Source Quality

Tier 1 (primary, government): U.S. Census Bureau Annual Business Survey; Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey.

Tier 2 (credible research and primary survey/transaction data): Gallup (funded survey, large sample); Exit Planning Institute National State of Owner Readiness; BizBuySell Insight Report; U.S. Bank Small Business Survey; Project Equity (Census-derived estimates).

Tier 3 (reputable journalism and expert commentary): Harvard Business Review analysis of the family-business survival myth; SCORE (SBA resource partner) for the contested generational survival figures.

Most Quotable Statistics

• “52.3% of U.S. employer-business owners were 55 or older as of 2022.” (U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, released 2025)
• “Only 54% of U.S. small-business owners have a formal succession plan, even though 85% started out wanting to build something to pass on.” (U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, 2025)
• “73% of privately held U.S. companies plan to transition ownership within a decade, a roughly $14 trillion event.” (Exit Planning Institute, 2023)
• “Retirement was the top reason for selling, cited by 38% of sellers in 2024.” (BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024)
• “Among solo nonemployer owners, 27% plan to close rather than transfer.” (Gallup, 2024)

Data Limitations

• Census ABS owner age reflects the 2022 reference year, the most recent detailed release, not real-time 2026 figures.
• Survey definitions of a “succession plan” differ, so the 54% (U.S. Bank) and 33% no plan/unsure (Gallup) are not directly comparable.
• BizBuySell counts only listed-marketplace transactions and understates total ownership transfers.
• Project Equity totals are estimates derived from Census microdata, not direct counts.
• The family-business survival figures (30%/12%/3%) come from a single 1987 regional study and are disputed; cite with caveat.
• The 2016 Nationwide succession survey was excluded as outdated.

Recommended Dataset Fields

For a downloadable CSV companion: metric_name, value, unit, owner_segment (employer/nonemployer/all), age_band, geography (US), reference_year, survey_field_dates, source_name, source_tier, source_url, derived_flag, notes_or_limitations.

Press Summary

More than half of U.S. business owners are now 55 or older, with 52.3% in that bracket as of the 2022 Annual Business Survey, yet only about half have a formal succession plan. A 2025 U.S. Bank survey put the planning rate at 54%, while a fall 2024 Gallup survey found 33% of owners have no long-term plan or are unsure what happens to the business after they leave. The Exit Planning Institute estimates 73% of privately held companies will transition ownership within a decade, an event it values near $14 trillion. The market is absorbing part of the wave: BizBuySell recorded 9,546 closed transactions in 2024, up 5%, with retirement the top seller motive at 38%. Closure is a real outcome for solo firms, where 27% of owners plan to wind down rather than transfer. The often-quoted claim that only 30% of family businesses reach the second generation rests on a single 1987 study and should be cited with caution.

Suggested Headlines

• Half of U.S. Business Owners Are Over 55. Only Half Have a Plan.
• The $14 Trillion Handoff: Inside America’s Small Business Succession Wave
• Retirement Now Drives Two in Five Small Business Sales
• For Solo Owners, Closing Up Shop Rivals Selling
• The Family Business “Third Generation” Stat Everyone Cites Is Built on One 1987 Study

FAQ

What share of U.S. business owners are near retirement age? 52.3% of employer-business owners were 55 or older as of the 2022 reference year (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, released 2025).

How many older owners are 65 or above? 22.8% of employer-business owners were 65 or older in the same 2022 data (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, released 2025).

What percentage of owners have a succession plan? 54% reported a formal succession plan in 2025 (Source: U.S. Bank Small Business Survey, 2025).

How many owners have no plan at all? 33% have no long-term plan or are unsure what will happen to the business after they leave (Source: Gallup, 2024).

Do most owners plan to sell or pass the business on? 74% of employer-business owners plan to sell or transfer ownership eventually (Source: Gallup, 2024).

How many owners plan to close rather than transfer? Among nonemployer (solo) owners, 27% plan to close, versus 5% of employer owners (Source: Gallup, 2024).

How big is the coming ownership transition? 73% of privately held companies plan to transition within a decade, valued near $14 trillion (Source: Exit Planning Institute, 2023).

How many small businesses actually sold recently? 9,546 listed transactions closed in 2024, up 5% year over year (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).

Why are owners selling? Retirement was the leading reason, cited by 38% of 2024 sellers (Source: BizBuySell Insight Report, Q4 2024).

Is it true most family businesses fail by the third generation? The 30%-to-second, 12%-to-third figures come from a single 1987 Illinois study and are disputed by later analysts (Sources: SCORE/SBA; Harvard Business Review, 2021).

For research collaboration or a deeper read on what these transition figures mean for a specific industry, see CO Consulting. Teams weighing a succession-driven acquisition or sale can book a consultation.