”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of art and data.
Buzz: States with smaller businesses — including California — tend to have higher pay, larger pay raises and faster job growth.
Source: My trusty spreadsheet analyzed the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ quarterly deep dive into unemployment insurance filings. I created a state-by-state yardstick for small businesses by comparing employment trends with the number of establishments — 2003’s second quarter (when this metric’s database starts) vs. 2021’s third quarter (latest figures available).
The key stat was the number of employees at workplace establishments. That average varies widely across the nation, but it’s a universally shrinking number as companies either get lean-and-mean or launch as startups.
