About 816,000 Georgia businesses have no plan to be sold or handed on (2022 business counts, Gallup survey fielded 2024).
Business succession is often talked about as a problem for owners near retirement. By count, most of Georgia’s gap is not there. 69.7% of Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business have an owner younger than 55, and the largest single group has an owner aged 35 to 44: 187,860 businesses (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024). That is about 568,000 businesses with an owner younger than 55. If you have been told this is something to think about later: about 1,600 Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on can be expected to lose an owner younger than 55 this year, and probably somewhat fewer (see how we worked this out).
These are businesses, not people. Georgia has 1,374,972 small businesses (2022) and 554,479 people who currently work in their own business as their main job (2023). That is about two and a half businesses for every one of those owners. We say “businesses” everywhere we are counting businesses, and “owners” only where the data counts people. We say which one we mean in every sentence below. The full comparison is in How many business owners does Georgia have?
Key findings
69.7% of Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business have an owner younger than 55, and the largest single group has an owner aged 35 to 44: 187,860 businesses (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024).How we got this Source: U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Census Bureau data, with Gallup survey rates, analysed by The Hive Law
About 1,600 Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business can be expected to lose an owner younger than 55 this year, out of about 5,700 in all (28%), and likely fewer, because we used death rates for everyone that age and business owners are probably healthier than average (2022 death rates and business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024).How we got this Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, SBA and Gallup data, analysed by The Hive Law
In 2023, about 58% of Georgia business owners aged 55 or older were 55 to 64 (57.6% of owners of businesses with employees and 58.5% of owners of businesses with none), compared with 44.1% of all Georgians aged 55 or older.How we got this Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Business Survey, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics and 2023 American Community Survey, analysed by The Hive Law
In 2023, 89.5% of Georgia’s businesses with no employees filed their taxes as sole proprietorships, a tax category that can include one-owner LLCs, but in real estate, rental and leasing only 47.5% did.How we got this Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics
About 502,000 Georgia businesses have an owner who is unsure or has no long-term plan yet, and about 339,000 have an owner who plans to close the business; the two groups overlap (2022 business counts, Gallup survey fielded 2024).How we got this Source: U.S. Small Business Administration counts with Gallup Pathways to Wealth survey rates, analysed by The Hive Law
In Georgia’s real estate, rental and leasing industry, 48.7% of businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business have an owner aged 55 or older, the highest of the 17 industries large enough to report, and transportation and warehousing is lowest at 20.2% (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024).How we got this Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Census Bureau (owner ages by industry) and Gallup, analysed by The Hive Law
In 2023, 26.2% of Georgians aged 55 to 64 who currently work in their own business as their main job, and 26.4% of those aged 65 or older, were married and had been married more than once.How we got this Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 microdata, analysed by The Hive Law
About 764,100 Georgia businesses with no employees and about 51,900 Georgia businesses with employees have no plan to sell or hand on the business, a ratio of 14.7 to 1, or 8 to 1 where the owner is 55 or older (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024).How we got this Source: U.S. Small Business Administration counts with Gallup survey rates, analysed by The Hive Law
Two different meanings of “no plan”
“Succession plan” means different things to different people. Here is what one usually covers. The survey behind these numbers asked owners something simpler: what are your long-term plans for the business after you step away from it? There are two figures here, and mixing them up changes what they say.
Where this data comes from
Owners could pick more than one answer, so each group’s bars add up to more than 100% (101% and 102%). Do not add or subtract the bars.
National figures for U.S. owners of all ages, not Georgia. Gallup survey of 1,264 owners who work mainly in their own business, Sept. 20 – Oct. 28, 2024.
Source: Gallup Pathways to Wealth Survey, Year 2, fielded 2024 (n=1,264 U.S. owners who work mainly on their own business).
No plan to sell it or hand it on: about 816,000 Georgia businesses. This is the number above. It counts every business whose owner did not say they plan to sell it, take it public, or give it to someone.
No plan at all: about 502,000 Georgia businesses. These owners told the survey they are unsure or have no long-term plan yet.
About 502,000 Georgia businesses have an owner who is unsure or has no long-term plan yet, and about 339,000 have an owner who plans to close the business; the two groups overlap (2022 business counts, Gallup survey fielded 2024).
Planning to close is a plan. It is something the owner does at a time they choose. It may not cover what happens if the owner dies first, with invoices still unpaid or a lease in the owner’s name.
One thing to know before you use these figures. Gallup let owners pick more than one answer, so these groups overlap. Do not add them together or subtract one from another. The 339,000 and the 502,000 are each their own count, not slices of the 816,000.
The businesses with no plan at all also mostly have a younger owner. 74.5% of the Georgia businesses with no plan at all have an owner younger than 55, and the largest single group is businesses whose owner is 35 to 44 (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024). This figure uses Gallup’s separate planning rates for younger and older owners. The 69.7% above uses one rate for all ages, so do not compare the two. About 129,000 Georgia businesses have an owner aged 55 or older and no plan at all.
Georgia does not have one succession problem. It has two.
Two very different problems share the label “succession.” Splitting them is the single most useful thing in this data.
How many Georgia small businesses have no employees?
Georgia has 1,374,972 small businesses. 1,175,541 of them, 85.5%, have no employees (2022 data). “No employees” does not mean one owner. Some of these businesses are partnerships, which have two or more owners.
Where this data comes from
These count businesses, not owners. An estimate: 2022 SBA business counts × 2023 Census owner ages × national Gallup survey rates (2024).
“No employees” means no paid staff. It does not mean one owner: some of these businesses are partnerships with two or more owners.
The owner 55+ bars are part of the all-ages bars, not extra businesses. Among businesses whose owner is 55 or older, it is 8 to 1.
Gallup asked owners who work mainly in their business. The count of businesses with no employees also includes side businesses, which no survey has asked, so the true figure could be higher or lower.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2026 Georgia Small Business Profile (2022 Census data); U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Business Survey and 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (owner ages); Gallup Pathways to Wealth Survey Year 2 (2024). Analysis: The Hive Law.
About 764,100 Georgia businesses with no employees and about 51,900 Georgia businesses with employees have no plan to sell or hand on the business, a ratio of 14.7 to 1, or 8 to 1 where the owner is 55 or older (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024).
Businesses with employees. This is a real succession problem. There are staff, contracts, customers, and value that can be passed to someone else. If the owner dies with no plan, the wrong person can end up running it, or it sells cheaply, or it stalls while nobody has authority to sign for the owner. That is what business succession planning is for. If you are wondering what happens to your staff when the owner dies, or what it costs a business when the owner dies without a plan, those pages cover it. About 27,600 of the 51,900 Georgia businesses with employees and no plan to sell or hand on have an owner who is already 55 or older.
Businesses with no employees. For most of them, this is not a succession problem. Usually there is no running business to hand over. No staff and no management. For most of these businesses, the business is the person, so when the owner dies, the work usually stops. Whether a business could keep earning after its owner dies is not measured. In real estate, at least half of its businesses with no employees file their taxes as something other than a sole proprietorship, as the section on how these businesses file shows. What is left is an estate. If the owner ran the business in their own name, that means the truck, tools, client list, unpaid invoices and debts. If it was set up as an LLC, anything the LLC itself owns stays with the LLC, and what the owner leaves is a share in it. Much of it may have to go through probate unless it was set up to pass some other way. That is estate planning for a small business owner, not succession planning. About 219,300 of the 764,100 Georgia businesses with no employees and no plan to sell or hand on have an owner who is already 55 or older.
What share of Georgia’s businesses with no employees file as sole proprietorships?
The Census sorts businesses with no employees by how they file their taxes. That is a tax category, not a legal one.
Where this data comes from
Georgia businesses with no employees, 2023. No employees means no paid staff, not always one owner. The left-right scale counts businesses; the up-down scale counts owners.
A pattern, not a cause. Across 17 industries, the two rankings run in opposite directions (rank correlation −0.711).
“Sole proprietorship” is a tax-filing group: a one-owner LLC can file the same way. In real estate, 37.9% of these businesses file as partnerships, which have two or more owners.
Mining and management of companies are left out: too few businesses or not reported.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics (legal form by sector) and 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (owner age by sector), Georgia. Analysis: The Hive Law.
In 2023, 89.5% of Georgia’s businesses with no employees filed their taxes as sole proprietorships, a tax category that can include one-owner LLCs, but in real estate, rental and leasing only 47.5% did.
Because this is a tax category, it does not tell you how many of these businesses are true sole proprietorships in law. A one-owner LLC can file its taxes the same way. A true sole proprietorship is not separate from its owner. When the owner dies, the business’s property and debts are simply the owner’s own, and they are dealt with as part of the owner’s estate. Here is what happens to a sole proprietorship when the owner dies.
Real estate is where this matters most. At least half of Georgia’s real estate, rental and leasing businesses with no employees file as something other than a sole proprietorship. Most of those are partnerships, which have two or more owners: 37.9% of the industry’s businesses with no employees file as partnerships, 12.5% as S corporations, and 2.0% as C corporations or other corporations. The industry includes agents, brokers, property managers and rental companies, not only investors. If you are in real estate, the statewide number does not describe your industry. For entities, see what happens to an LLC when the owner dies, what happens to an S corporation, and what happens to a C corporation. Real estate investors can read what happens to your LLC when you die.
Industry
Filed as sole proprietorships
All businesses with no employees
Share filed as sole proprietorships
Real estate, rental and leasing
45,284
95,257
47.5%
Utilities
392
541
72.5%
Wholesale trade
11,507
14,579
78.9%
Finance and insurance
20,359
25,330
80.4%
Manufacturing
12,674
14,716
86.1%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
6,131
6,874
89.2%
Information
13,653
15,297
89.3%
Professional, scientific and technical services
122,489
136,618
89.7%
Construction
111,393
123,480
90.2%
Retail trade
70,868
77,432
91.5%
Arts, entertainment and recreation
53,347
56,211
94.9%
Accommodation and food services
31,233
32,826
95.1%
Other services
153,163
160,770
95.3%
Health care and social assistance
77,656
81,302
95.5%
Transportation and warehousing
138,460
143,570
96.4%
Administrative, support and waste management
141,315
145,980
96.8%
Educational services
32,150
32,978
97.5%
All industries
1,042,223
1,163,944
89.5%
Mining (183 businesses) is not shown; it is included in the All industries total.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics, Georgia. These are Census counts for 2023. Census counts each business tax return as one business, so the total differs from the SBA’s 1,175,541 for 2022. They are tax-filing categories: a one-owner LLC can be counted as a sole proprietorship.
There is a pattern behind the table, measured on the owners of businesses with no employees: industries with older owners tend to have fewer sole-proprietorship filings. Real estate has the highest share of older owners and the lowest share of sole-proprietorship filings. Transportation and warehousing has the lowest share of older owners and 96.4% sole-proprietorship filings. In plain terms, in the industries where owners are older, more businesses with no employees file as something other than a sole proprietorship. An LLC can have its own paperwork, such as an operating agreement, that says what happens to an owner’s share. An operating agreement and a will can say different things. This is a pattern across industries. It does not show why it happens.
One thing this page will not claim
816,000 businesses with no plan is not 816,000 families whose living is at risk.
32.9% of Georgia’s working owners of unincorporated businesses earn less than 25% of their household income from the business (2023). “Unincorporated” means the owner did not report the business as incorporated. It is not the same as “no employees”: an unincorporated business can still have staff. And the SBA’s count of businesses with no employees includes side businesses whose owners have a main job somewhere else.
Most businesses with no employees are small in dollars, too. At least three in five of Georgia’s businesses with no employees take in less than $25,000 a year (2023 Census Nonemployer Statistics). That is money coming in, not profit, and not what the business is worth. The Census publishes these revenue bands only for the whole country, so we applied the national bands to Georgia. Georgia’s businesses with no employees take in less on average than the national average, which is why we say “at least.”
That is the point. Most of these businesses do not need a succession plan. What their owners need is an estate plan, because what they usually leave behind is property and debts. The group whose household depends on the owner’s work is real, and it is much smaller. We size it further down this page.
The complete age table
This page does not stop at “55 and older.” Here is the whole table. Each figure is Georgia’s business count × that age group’s share of Georgia owners × the share of owners of that type of business who have no plan to sell or hand it on.
Where this data comes from
These are businesses, not people. Georgia has about two and a half small businesses for every person who works in their own business as their main job.
“No plan to sell or hand on” is wider than “no plan at all”. It counts every business whose owner did not say they plan to sell it, take it public or give it away.
An estimate: Georgia business counts (2022) × Georgia owner ages (2023) × national Gallup survey rates (2024). Gallup asked owners who work mainly in their business. The count of businesses with no employees also includes side businesses, which no survey has asked, so the true figure could be higher or lower.
The bars add up to 815,138, about 800 below the 816,000 total, because of rounding.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2026 Georgia Small Business Profile (2022 Census data); U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Business Survey and 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics; Gallup Pathways to Wealth Survey Year 2 (2024). Analysis: The Hive Law.
Age of owner
Businesses with no employees
Businesses with employees
Total with no plan to sell or hand on
Share of the gap
Younger than 25
48,903
104
49,006
6.0%
25 to 34
149,000
2,281
151,281
18.6%
35 to 44
179,564
8,296
187,860
23.0%
45 to 54
166,574
13,533
180,108
22.1%
55 to 64
128,369
15,919
144,288
17.7%
65 or older
90,928
11,667
102,595
12.6%
All ages
763,338
51,800
815,138
100%
Figures may not sum because of rounding. The table lands about 800 below the headline 816,000 because the Census age shares are published to one decimal place.
69.7% of Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business have an owner younger than 55, and the largest single group has an owner aged 35 to 44: 187,860 businesses (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024). The bars peak in the middle of this table, not at the end.
Georgia’s older owners are mostly in their late 50s and early 60s
“55 or older” sounds like one group. For Georgia’s business owners, it is weighted toward the younger end.
In 2023, about 58% of Georgia business owners aged 55 or older were 55 to 64 (57.6% of owners of businesses with employees and 58.5% of owners of businesses with none), compared with 44.1% of all Georgians aged 55 or older.
Both kinds of owner show the same thing, separately. This does not say Georgia’s owners are young. It says most of the older ones are in their late 50s and early 60s, not their 70s and 80s. That matters for the next table, because death rates climb steeply after 65.
How many of these businesses lose their owner in a year
We applied U.S. death rates published by the CDC to the business counts above. This is an estimate, not a count, and we round it on purpose. It counts businesses that lose an owner, not people.
Where this data comes from
These count businesses that lose an owner, not people who die: the number of businesses × the death rate for the owner’s age.
A rough estimate. We used death rates for everyone of that age. Owners are probably healthier than average, so the true numbers are likely lower. The under-25 bar (39) is too small to build anything on.
Businesses with no plan to sell or hand on, a wider group than “no plan at all”. Data: 2022 death rates and business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey (2024).
Gallup asked owners who work mainly in their business. The count of businesses with no employees also includes side businesses, which no survey has asked, so for that reason the true figure could be higher or lower.
Source: CDC/NCHS Data Brief 492 (2022 death rates); U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2026 Georgia Small Business Profile (2022 Census data); U.S. Census Bureau 2023 owner-age tables; Gallup (2024). Analysis: The Hive Law.
Age of owner
Businesses with no plan to sell or hand on
Death rate per 100,000
Businesses expected to lose their owner this year
Younger than 25
49,006
79.5
39
25 to 34
151,281
163.4
247
35 to 44
187,860
255.4
480
45 to 54
180,108
453.3
816
55 to 64
144,288
992.1
1,431
65 or older
102,595
2,634.4
2,703
All ages
815,138
5,717
About 4,100 Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business can be expected to lose an owner aged 55 or older this year. Treat that as a rough figure, not an exact one.
About 1,600 Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business can be expected to lose an owner younger than 55 this year, out of about 5,700 in all (28%), and likely fewer, because we used death rates for everyone that age and business owners are probably healthier than average (2022 death rates and business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024).
Assuming business owners are the same age as everyone else would give a higher number. Georgia’s working owners are younger, even inside the 65-and-older group. The death rates for ages 55 to 64 and younger are the CDC’s published rates. The 2,634.4 rate for owners 65 or older is our own blend of the CDC’s rates for ages 65 to 74, 75 to 84, and 85 and older, weighted to the ages of Georgians who currently work in their own business. It is not a CDC figure.
One row to read carefully: the “younger than 25” row uses the nearest published death rate, which covers ages 15 to 24. It produces 39 and is in the table for completeness. Do not build anything on that row.
How old are Georgia’s business owners?
It depends on which owners you count, and the two main sources count different people.
The median age of Georgians who currently work in their own business as their main job is 48, and the mean (average) is 47.5 (2023 Census data). The median is 46 for owners of unincorporated businesses and 49 for owners of incorporated ones. Incorporated does not mean the business has employees.
The Census business-owner surveys give a second answer, for a different group. The median owner of a Georgia business with employees is in the 55 to 64 age group, around 56. The median owner of a Georgia business with no employees is in the 45 to 54 age group, around 45 (2023). Those surveys only publish age groups, so the exact year is an estimate and the age group is the fact.
These two answers measure different groups of people. Do not combine them, and do not treat one as a correction of the other. Both are Georgia figures, not national ones.
816,000Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand them on (estimate)
69.7%of those businesses have an owner younger than 55
14.7 to 1businesses in that group with no employees, for each one with employees
The industry table
Each industry below uses its own owners’ ages, not the state average. The table is ranked by the size of the gap.
Where this data comes from
Each bar is a share of that industry’s businesses with no plan to sell or hand on. It is not a share of all its businesses, and it does not count owners.
This covers all businesses, most with no employees. For businesses with employees only, wholesale, manufacturing, real estate and transportation are tied for the oldest owners.
No margin of error is published for these, so real estate may not truly be ahead of finance (45.8%). Real estate means the whole industry: agents, brokers, managers, rentals.
An estimate: 2022 counts × 2023 owner ages by industry × 2024 Gallup rates. A business in several industries counts in each: do not add them up. Utilities: 392 businesses.
Gallup asked owners who work mainly in their business. The count of businesses with no employees also includes side businesses, which no survey has asked, so the true shares could be higher or lower.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2026 Georgia Small Business Profile (2022 Census data); U.S. Census Bureau 2023 Annual Business Survey and 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, by sector; Gallup (2024). Analysis: The Hive Law.
Industry
Businesses with no plan to sell or hand on
Of which the owner is 55 or older
Share 55 or older
Other services
110,108
25,549
23.2%
Administrative and waste services
98,177
25,838
26.3%
Transportation and warehousing
97,895
19,743
20.2%
Professional, scientific and technical
96,183
34,493
35.9%
Construction
86,063
23,915
27.8%
Real estate, rental and leasing
65,513
31,902
48.7%
Health care and social assistance
59,105
17,055
28.9%
Retail trade
58,970
18,056
30.6%
Arts, entertainment and recreation
37,296
9,338
25.0%
Accommodation and food services
24,834
6,454
26.0%
Educational services
23,279
6,778
29.1%
Finance and insurance
18,670
8,553
45.8%
Wholesale trade
11,825
5,294
44.8%
Manufacturing
11,579
3,995
34.5%
Information
10,866
2,375
21.9%
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
5,037
1,730
34.3%
Utilities
392
150
38.2%
Two more industries, management of companies and mining, are too small for a reliable figure, so we have left them out.
These are industry estimates. The column is not a clean split of the 816,000 and should not be added up.
In Georgia’s real estate, rental and leasing industry, 48.7% of businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business have an owner aged 55 or older, the highest of the 17 industries large enough to report, and transportation and warehousing is lowest at 20.2% (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024). In numbers, that is about 66,000 real estate businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business, and about 32,000 of them with an owner already 55 or older. If you own rentals, here is what happens to rental property when the owner dies. There is more for investors on our real estate investor page.
One caution on “oldest.” The ranking above covers all businesses, most of which have no employees. Look only at businesses with employees and there is no single leader. Among Georgia’s businesses with employees, wholesale trade, manufacturing, real estate, and transportation and warehousing are statistically tied for the oldest owners: 57% to 66% of their owners are aged 55 or older (2023 Census Annual Business Survey).
How many Georgians work for small businesses?
Georgia’s small businesses with employees employ 1,806,632 people, 42.5% of everyone employed by a Georgia business with employees (2022 data). That is a share of jobs at businesses with employees, not a share of all Georgia workers.
Where this data comes from
Businesses with employees only. Jobs and payroll: at those with an owner 55+ and no plan to sell or hand on. Bottom panel: share of each industry’s owners who are 55+.
Gold marks each panel’s leader: the most jobs (top), the most payroll (middle), and the four industries statistically tied for the oldest owners (bottom).
Payroll is wages paid. It is not sales, and not what a business is worth. An estimate: we assumed the businesses with no plan are average-sized for their industry.
16 industries. Mining, utilities and management of companies are left out: too few businesses or incomplete age data.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2026 Georgia Small Business Profile (2022 Census data) (employer firms, employment and payroll by sector); U.S. Census Bureau 2023 Annual Business Survey by sector; Gallup (2024). Analysis: The Hive Law.
These are the businesses where the succession problem is real: staff, payroll, and customers who depend on the business carrying on.
About 243,000 jobs and about $12.8 billion in yearly payroll are at Georgia businesses with employees whose owner is 55 or older and that have no plan to sell or hand on the business (2022 employment and payroll, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024). This is an estimate. We assumed that in each industry, the businesses with no plan are the average size for that industry. That may be off in either direction. Payroll is what the businesses pay their workers. It is not their sales, and it is not what they are worth. No single industry leads: one industry has the most jobs, a different one has the most payroll, and on owner age four industries are tied, as shown above.
Remarriage among Georgians who work in their own business
The figures in this section count people, not businesses. They come from Census microdata covering 554,479 Georgians who currently work in their own business as their main job (2023). That leaves out people who have retired, and it is not the same as “full-time.”
Where this data comes from
These are people, not businesses: Georgians working in their own business as their main job right now. People who have stopped working are not included. This is not the same as full-time.
“Remarried” means married now and married more than once. It does not show stepchildren or children from an earlier marriage.
From ages 45–54 to 55–64 the share rises by more than a third (19.1% to 26.2%), then holds at 26.4% at 65 or older. Georgia, 2023 Census survey.
Survey records behind each figure: Under 25: 204 records; 25–34: 738 records; 35–44: 1,146 records; 45–54: 1,385 records; 55–64: 1,328 records; 65+: 818 records
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample, Georgia (5,619 records of people currently working in their own business). Analysis: The Hive Law.
In 2023, 26.2% of Georgians aged 55 to 64 who currently work in their own business as their main job, and 26.4% of those aged 65 or older, were married and had been married more than once.
Age
Married
Remarried (share of all owners)
Divorced
Widowed
Separated
Never married
Sample size
Younger than 25
12.8%
0.0%
0.3%
0.0%
0.6%
86.3%
204
25 to 34
47.2%
3.4%
4.0%
0.2%
1.5%
47.0%
738
35 to 44
64.9%
10.6%
8.8%
0.9%
2.8%
22.5%
1,146
45 to 54
71.4%
19.1%
13.3%
1.3%
2.7%
11.3%
1,385
55 to 64
71.1%
26.2%
18.3%
1.7%
2.6%
6.3%
1,328
65 or older
70.8%
26.4%
12.6%
10.9%
1.1%
4.5%
818
“Remarried” here means married now and married more than once. It says nothing about stepchildren or children from an earlier marriage. Remarriage climbs with age. It rises by more than a third between ages 45 to 54 and 55 to 64, from 19.1% to 26.2%, then holds at 26.4% at 65 or older.
About 21,000 remarried Georgians aged 55 or older who currently work in their own business as their main job have no plan to sell or hand on the business (2023 Census microdata, Gallup survey fielded 2024). This is an estimate, not a count. If every owner in this group were given Gallup’s lower rate, the figure would be about 12,100; given the higher rate, about 30,400. Those ends use Gallup’s all-ages rates and leave out survey error, so they are not hard limits.
About 29,000 Georgians who currently work in their own business as their main job are married, have been married more than once, and live in a household with at least one of the household’s children under 18 (the householder’s own, adopted or stepchildren) (2023). About 13,000 of them have no plan to sell or hand on the business. The second number is an estimate, not a count.
Read the children figures carefully. The Census counts the householder’s never-married children under 18 who live in the home. The householder is the person (or one of the people) in whose name the home is owned or rented. The count includes stepchildren and adopted children. It misses every child aged 18 or older and every child living somewhere else. An owner whose three children are grown is counted as having none. That does not mean the owner has no children.
How much of the household’s income comes from the business
Different measures answer different questions here, and they should not be mixed.
The first measure is the business’s share of household income. This measure only works for owners of unincorporated businesses, because an incorporated owner’s pay shows up as wages instead.
Among Georgia’s working owners of unincorporated businesses, the share whose business provides 90% or more of household income is 19% to 23% at each age from 25 to 64, and 7.6% at 65 or older (2023). These figures include owners who live alone.
Age of owner
Business is 90 to 100% of household income
75 to 89%
50 to 74%
25 to 49%
Less than 25%
Sample size
Younger than 25
12.2%
1.5%
11.1%
8.0%
67.3%
114
25 to 34
21.8%
3.0%
19.0%
27.5%
28.7%
453
35 to 44
19.3%
7.5%
17.2%
31.1%
25.0%
665
45 to 54
20.6%
6.5%
15.9%
22.9%
34.0%
680
55 to 64
23.4%
4.3%
16.2%
25.5%
30.6%
675
65 or older
7.6%
5.6%
17.9%
24.7%
44.3%
448
All working owners of unincorporated businesses
19.2%
5.4%
16.8%
25.8%
32.9%
3,035
Do not read the 55 to 64 row as a peak. At this sample size it is not meaningfully different from the rows for ages 25 to 54. What the table shows is that the share holds steady through the working years and then falls at 65. The figure for owners younger than 25 rests on 114 records, so do not cite it on its own.
That steady share runs right through ages 55 to 64. For everyone in the U.S., not just business owners, the death rate more than doubles from ages 45 to 54 to ages 55 to 64: from 453.3 to 992.1 per 100,000 (2022 rates). The share falls only at 65 or older.
Most of the drop at 65 comes from the owner’s own retirement and Social Security income being added to the household’s income, which makes the business’s share smaller. Among owners who are still working, business income is not measurably lower at 65 or older.
The owner’s income, counted three ways
The second question is how much of the household’s income comes from the owner, not just the business. That depends on what you count, so here are three measures side by side. These figures cover working owners of unincorporated businesses who live with at least one other person.
Where this data comes from
Georgia owners of unincorporated businesses who are working now and live with at least one other person, 2023. Unincorporated does not mean no employees. People living alone are left out.
“All income” includes Social Security, pensions and investments, which can partly keep paying after a death. So it does not show income that ends when the owner dies.
At 65+, the all-income share (15.0%) is not measurably higher than at ages 25–64. Work income: 4.4%, give or take 2.2 points; business: 3.4%, give or take 2.0. Both rest on few people.
Under 25 rests on only 106 people. That is too few to rely on.
Survey records behind each figure: Under 25: 106 records; 25–34: 415 records; 35–44: 615 records; 45–54: 621 records; 55–64: 578 records; 65+: 367 records
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample, Georgia (working unincorporated owners in households of two or more). Analysis: The Hive Law.
In Georgia households of two or more people, among working owners of unincorporated businesses aged 65 or older, 15.0% provide 90% or more of the household’s income when all their income is counted, 4.4% when only their work income is counted, and for 3.4% the business provides it (2023).
Age of owner
Owner provides 90% or more, counting all income
Owner provides 90% or more, counting work income only
Business provides 90% or more
Sample size
Younger than 25
2.5%
0.8%
0.8%
106
25 to 34
16.1%
14.9%
13.7%
415
35 to 44
16.1%
14.6%
13.7%
615
45 to 54
17.7%
15.2%
13.9%
621
55 to 64
18.2%
15.8%
14.2%
578
65 or older
15.0%
4.4%
3.4%
367
“All income” includes Social Security, pensions and investment income. Of the owners 65 or older in that 15.0% group, 64.4% get Social Security. Some of that kind of income can keep being paid to a spouse or heirs after a death, so the 15.0% says nothing about income that ends when the owner dies. Counting all income, owners 65 or older are not measurably different from owners aged 25 to 64. Their households are not measurably more dependent on them than younger owners’ households.
Counting only what the owner earns by working, the share falls at 65, along with the business’s share. The 4.4% is the owner’s work income. The business’s share is the 3.4%.
This does not mean older owners don’t need a plan. They still own an asset, may still owe debts, and are in the age group with the highest death rate on this page. The business-income argument is an argument for owners aged 25 to 64. The estate argument runs all the way up.
The group whose household depends on the owner’s work
About 70,000 Georgians who currently work in their own business as their main job earn, from their own work, 90% or more of the income of a household of two or more people (2023). “Their own work” means wages plus self-employment income. It leaves out Social Security, pensions and investment income, because some of that can keep being paid after a death. People who live alone are not counted.
Where this data comes from
Work income means wages plus business income. Social Security, pensions and investments are left out, because part of them can keep paying after a death.
People, not businesses: Georgians working now in their own business as their main job, incorporated or not, who live with at least one other person and have household income.
Ages 25–64 are about level; none of those groups is clearly higher. The 65+ bar rests on 36 people in the 90%+ group: the true share could be 3.5% to 7.1%.
Under 25 rests on only 4 people in the 90%+ group. That is too few to rely on.
Survey records behind each figure: Under 25: 178 records; 25–34: 674 records; 35–44: 1,066 records; 45–54: 1,266 records; 55–64: 1,156 records; 65+: 688 records
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample, Georgia (people currently working in their own business, households of two or more; wages plus self-employment income as a share of household income). Analysis: The Hive Law.
About 42,000 of them live in a household with at least one of the household’s children under 18 (the householder’s own, adopted or stepchildren). About 36,000 of the 70,000 run an unincorporated business. About 14,000 of those have no plan at all. That last number is an estimate. If anything it is lower, because we applied the rate for businesses with no employees to every one of them, and some unincorporated businesses have staff. That is one reason it could be off, not the only one, so it is not a ceiling.
Age
Owners whose work income is 90% or more of a household of two or more
Of those, in a household with the household’s children under 18
Sample size
25 to 34
12,590
9,409
96
35 to 44
19,531
17,186
172
45 to 54
19,732
11,655
196
55 or older
17,372
3,453
184
All ages
69,698
42,005
652
Of which unincorporated
35,768
21,713
323
The 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 rows cannot be told apart at this sample size, so neither is a peak. Owners younger than 25 rest on only 4 records and are left out of the rows, though they are in the total. Owners 65 or older are too few for a reliable count on their own, so they are counted in the “55 or older” row. The chart above shows their share instead, with its likely range.
For these households, the owner’s earnings from work are 90% or more of what the household lives on, and those earnings end when the owner dies. This does not tell us the household’s whole income ends. The rest, up to 10%, comes from other people or from the owner’s other income, and we did not measure whether any of it continues. We also did not measure whether the business could keep earning for the family without the owner.
The family may also be unable to use the business’s assets until a probate court allows it, unless those assets were set up to pass outside probate. An LLC is its own legal entity, separate from the owner. What the owner leaves is a share in it. Here is what happens to a business during probate. If there are children under 18 in the home, read what happens to your children if you die without a will.
How many business owners does Georgia have?
There is no single answer, and we will not pretend there is.
554,479 Georgians currently work in their own business as their main job (2023), and Georgia has 1,374,972 small businesses (2022). That is about two and a half businesses for every one of those owners.
Neither number is “the number of Georgia business owners.” The first leaves out anyone whose business is a side business, and anyone not working right now. The second counts businesses, not people. One person can own several businesses, and one business can have several owners. The two numbers also come from different years.
The first number is also not a count of full-time owners. Only 71.8% of the 554,479 usually work 35 hours or more a week.
This is why this page says “businesses” for figures built on business counts and “owners” only for figures built on people. More for business owners is on our business owner page.
How we worked this out
Here is the arithmetic behind the headline figure, in full.
Step one. Georgia’s businesses with employees. 199,431 businesses with employees, from the SBA’s 2026 Georgia profile (2022 data). 26% of owners of businesses with employees do not plan to sell, take public, or give away the business, from Gallup’s national survey. 199,431 × 26% = 51,852.
Step two. Georgia’s businesses with no employees. 1,175,541 businesses with no employees, same SBA profile. 65% of owners of businesses with no employees do not plan to sell, take public, or give away the business, same Gallup survey. 1,175,541 × 65% = 764,102.
Step three. Add them. 51,852 + 764,102 = 815,954, which we round to about 816,000.
The age table uses the same method one age group at a time, using the share of Georgia’s owners in each age group as published by the Census.
What we assume, stated plainly. The only Georgia survey we found on this, from 2018, covers larger established companies, not the small and no-employee businesses this page counts. So we assume Georgia’s owners plan at the same rate as owners nationally, separately for the two business types. We also assume one owner per business. The business counts are 2022 data, which is the most recent the SBA publishes. The death figures assume business owners die at the same rate as everyone else their age, which is unproven. Owners healthy enough to be running a business may well live longer, which would make those figures too high. Gallup surveyed owners who spend most of their working hours on their business. The SBA’s count of businesses with no employees also includes side businesses. No survey we found measures side-business owners’ plans, so we apply Gallup’s rate to both. That could move the figures either way.
The family figures from Census microdata tell us whether a business is incorporated, not whether it has employees. We used that as a stand-in to pick which Gallup rate to apply. That can push the estimates either way, so we call them “about,” never “at least.”
What we corrected, and why these numbers changed. An earlier version of this work used one national planning rate for every Georgia business. Gallup measures the two business types separately, and 85.5% of Georgia’s businesses have no employees. Using one blended rate understated the gap by about 115,000 businesses. The same version assumed that 51% of Georgia’s owners were 55 or older. That holds for businesses with employees, where Georgia’s real figure is 53.2%, but it is far off for businesses with no employees, where it is 28.7%. And for the death figures, an earlier version of this work weighted the death rates for ages 65 and older by the ages of all Americans. Georgia’s working owners are younger, so the corrected figure is lower. Fixing these moved figures in both directions, not all one way.
U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2026 Georgia Small Business Profile, using 2022 Census data
Gallup Pathways to Wealth Survey, Year 2, surveyed September 20 to October 28, 2024, 1,264 respondents, including the age breakdown in the data behind the report’s chart
U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Business Survey, Georgia owner ages, statewide and by industry
U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, Georgia owner ages, statewide and by industry
U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics, Georgia by legal form of organization and by industry
U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics, United States by receipts size class (table NS2300NONEMP), the revenue bands behind “at least three in five”
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample, Georgia
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 1-year, Georgia population by age
CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Data Brief 492, death rates by age, 2022
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Frequently Asked Questions
About 816,000 Georgia businesses have no plan to be sold or handed on (2022 business counts, Gallup survey fielded 2024). This is an estimate, and it counts businesses, not owners. It counts every business whose owner did not say they plan to sell it, take it public, or give it to someone. About 764,100 of these Georgia businesses have no employees, and about 51,900 have employees.
69.7% of Georgia businesses with no plan to sell or hand on the business have an owner younger than 55, and the largest single group has an owner aged 35 to 44: 187,860 businesses (2022 business counts, 2023 owner ages, Gallup survey fielded 2024). That is about 568,000 businesses with an owner younger than 55. These are estimates, and they count businesses, not owners.
The Hive Law’s Georgia business succession figures come from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2026 Georgia Small Business Profile, which uses 2022 data; the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Annual Business Survey, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, 2023 Nonemployer Statistics and 2023 American Community Survey; the CDC’s U.S. death rates for 2022; and Gallup’s Pathways to Wealth survey, fielded in 2024. Gallup’s survey is national, so The Hive Law assumes Georgia’s owners plan at the same rate as owners nationally. Gallup also surveyed only owners who spend most of their working hours on their business, while the SBA’s count of businesses with no employees includes side businesses. No survey we found measures side-business owners’ plans, so that could move the figures either way.
554,479 Georgians currently work in their own business as their main job (2023), and Georgia has 1,374,972 small businesses (2022). That is about two and a half businesses for every one of those owners. Neither number is “the number of Georgia business owners.” The first leaves out anyone whose business is a side business and anyone not working right now, and it is not a count of full-time owners: only 71.8% of those 554,479 usually work 35 hours or more a week. The second counts businesses, not people. One person can own several businesses, and one business can have several owners. The two numbers also come from different years.
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