SMB Ownership & Succession Data by Industry (2026)
Original statistics from Serava.AI's first-party registry data on 5.8M+ owner-operated companies in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. The 30 largest verticals below cover 5,817,425 companies. Median across verticals: 29% succession-ready (15+ years in business, of companies with a known age), 11.4 years average years in business.
Snapshot: 2026-10-11 · Statistics recomputed monthly · CC BY 4.0: free to cite with attribution + link · Full methodology on each page
All industries
| Industry | Companies | Avg years in business | Succession-ready | No website on record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport & Logistics | 1,334,086 | 10.1 yrs | 23% | 99% |
| Construction & Building | 763,949 | 13.7 yrs | 38% | 99% |
| Behavioral Health | 373,480 | 9.3 yrs | 21% | 99% |
| Manufacturing | 291,923 | 9.7 yrs | 21% | 96% |
| Dental Practices | 285,919 | 13.7 yrs | 36% | 99% |
| Property Management | 274,569 | 11.1 yrs | 26% | 96% |
| Software & IT Services | 270,421 | 11 yrs | 25% | 93% |
| Auto Repair | 244,592 | 13.2 yrs | 35% | 93% |
| Electrical | 162,183 | 11.6 yrs | 29% | 98% |
| Home Health / Hospice | 140,231 | 19.1 yrs | 57% | 99% |
| Concrete & Masonry | 137,055 | 11.8 yrs | 29% | 99% |
| Law & Professional Services | 129,847 | 11.3 yrs | 28% | 91% |
| Independent Pharmacy | 129,079 | 13.4 yrs | 39% | 97% |
| Physical Therapy | 116,718 | 9.8 yrs | 19% | 99% |
| HVAC | 105,840 | 11.4 yrs | 28% | 97% |
| Chiropractic | 105,747 | 17.4 yrs | 62% | 99% |
| Staffing & HR Services | 95,122 | 12.1 yrs | 29% | 99% |
| Janitorial / Cleaning | 91,210 | 8.3 yrs | 16% | 95% |
| Landscaping | 88,560 | 11.9 yrs | 32% | 97% |
| Healthcare Facilities | 87,111 | 13.4 yrs | 36% | 99% |
| Painting Contractor | 82,963 | 11.5 yrs | 31% | 99% |
| Veterinary Practices | 68,012 | 13.3 yrs | 35% | 99% |
| Restaurants & Bars | 63,296 | 9.1 yrs | 22% | 99% |
| CPA / Accounting Firms | 63,272 | 10.4 yrs | 26% | 92% |
| Plumbing | 59,659 | 11.4 yrs | 29% | 91% |
| RIA / Financial Advisory | 55,121 | 7.5 yrs | 9% | 93% |
| Optometry / Eye Care | 53,238 | 15.8 yrs | 50% | 99% |
| MSP / IT Services | 52,084 | 9.6 yrs | 21% | 74% |
| Roofing | 48,612 | 9.9 yrs | 23% | 95% |
| Engineering Consulting | 43,526 | 11.1 yrs | 26% | 96% |
Most succession-ready verticals
- Chiropractic: 62% at 15+ years
- Home Health / Hospice: 57% at 15+ years
- Optometry / Eye Care: 50% at 15+ years
- Independent Pharmacy: 39% at 15+ years
- Construction & Building: 38% at 15+ years
Longest average years in business
- Home Health / Hospice: 19.1 years average
- Chiropractic: 17.4 years average
- Optometry / Eye Care: 15.8 years average
- Construction & Building: 13.7 years average
- Dental Practices: 13.7 years average
Country datasets
New Zealand Business Ownership Data: 395,696 companies from the official Companies Register, 98.1% with a named director (director names and websites updated monthly from the official bulk feed).
About this data
Every number comes from Serava.AI's first-party dataset: government business registries, licensing boards and public filings; the statistics are recomputed monthly. Average years in business uses known ages only, each capped at 40, with 100 needed per average; succession-ready means 15+ years in business. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with attribution and a link. See the 2026 State of SMB Acquisitions report for the cross-market analysis, or how the dataset is built.
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