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2025 Main Street Metrics: Trends over Time from the Small Business Credit Survey

April 24, 2025
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What Are Main Street Metrics?

Main Street Metrics are trends over time for small employer firms—those that employ at least one person besides the owner(s)—in categories such as overall business conditions, financial health, and credit demand and outcomes. These key trends can be used to gauge the strength of the small business sector. Small business trends are identified by looking at time-series data from the annual Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS). This is the second edition of Main Street Metrics; the first report was released in December 2024.

New Data from Small Businesses Included in This Edition of Main Street Metrics

The first edition of Main Street Metrics included SBCS data from 2016 through 2023, while the updated report includes SBCS data through 2024. This report provides a more up-to-date picture of longer-term small business trends across 11 key categories:

  • Small business revenue growth
  • Small business employment growth
  • Small business revenue growth expectations
  • Small business employment growth expectations
  • Small business profitability
  • Financial challenges
  • Use of personal funds in response to financial challenges
  • Financial condition
  • Small business debt outstanding
  • Application rate for new small business loans, lines of credit, or cash advances
  • Financing approvals

The accompanying appendix breaks down small business trends across these 11 key indicators for many different firm categories:

  • Age of firm
  • Industry
  • Geography (urban/rural)
  • Credit risk
  • Race/ethnicity of owners
  • Gender of owners
  • Veteran ownership
  • Immigrant ownership
  • LGBTQ ownership

About the Small Business Credit Survey

The 2024 survey was fielded from September to November 2024. It yielded 7,653 responses from a nationwide convenience sample of small employer firms with 1–499 full- or part-time employees across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This publication summarizes data for firms that were currently operating or temporarily closed at the time of the survey.

The SBCS is an annual survey of firms with fewer than 500 employees, which represent 99.7% of employer establishments in the United States. The survey is a collaboration of all 12 Federal Reserve Banks and provides timely information about small business conditions to policymakers and service providers. Respondents are asked to report information about their business performance, financing needs and choices, and borrowing experiences. Responses to the SBCS provide insights into the dynamics behind lending trends and shed light on various segments of the small business population. The SBCS is not a random sample; results should be analyzed with awareness of potential biases that are associated with convenience samples. Get detailed information about the survey design and weighting methodology.

Suggested Citation

“2025 Main Street Metrics: Trends over Time from the Small Business Credit Survey.” 2025. Small Business Credit Survey. Federal Reserve Banks. https://doi.org/10.55350/sbcs-20250424