Detroit Regional Chamber > Research > Small Business Indicators

Small Business Indicators

January 1, 2021

Small Businesses Open

Text as of 7/02/2021 *Currently the dataset is under revision* 

Following COVID-19-related shutdowns at the end of March 2020, the Detroit Region’s number of small businesses open decreased by 55%. As of June 21, 2021, the number of all small businesses open decreased by 45.8% in the Region compared to January 2020. Statewide, the number of small businesses opened decreased by 50.5% as of June 21 compared to January 2020.


Source: Raj Chetty, John Friedman, Nathaniel Hendren and Michael Stepner, Opportunity Insights

Small Business Revenue

Text as of 6/16/2021

Small business revenue also plummeted during the start of the pandemic. In April 2020, the Detroit Region’s small businesses saw revenues drop by more than half, 57% compared to January 2020. As of June, 21 2021, total small business revenue decreased by 41.3 % compared to January 2020. Statewide, small business revenue decreased by 41.5% as of June 21 compared to January 2020.


Opportunity Insights obtains data on small business transactions and revenues from Womply, a company that aggregates data from several credit card processors to provide analytical insights to small businesses and other clients. The key distinction is that location in Womply data measures the location of the business as opposed to the location where the cardholder lives.