San Antonio Leads the Nation in Family-Owned Business Percentage, Study Finds

In a recent revelation, a study showed that the San Antonio metro area holds the highest percentage of family-owned businesses in the country. Compiled data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Annual Business Survey revealed that 34.11% of all small businesses in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro are family-owned. Therefore, out of all the U.S. metro regions, San Antonio emerged with the highest percentage of family-owned enterprises

A Winning Trend for San Antonio

The findings show an interesting trend in this Texan city. It seems that San Antonio is just one among three U.S. metro areas where more than a third of all businesses are family-owned. The other two metro areas that made it to this prestigious list are Fresno, California, and Oklahoma City, which ranked second and third, respectively.

The Significance of Family-Owned Businesses

The dominance of family-owned businesses indicates a strong culture of entrepreneurship and a vibrant local economy. Such enterprises often support local initiatives and charities, contributing not just to the monetary economy but also to the community’s social fabric.

For instance, Tammy Wood, founder of the annual Small Business Saturday event in Gruene, pointed out the city’s lack of big box retailers — a testament to the significance of family businesses. These family businesses, which have been around for quite a while, are a major factor in the city’s overall success, especially due to the strong support they receive from local shoppers

Encouraging Local Shopping

To further boost the economy, the City of San Antonio makes deliberate efforts to encourage residents to buy local during every holiday season. City officials state that for every $100 spent at a San Antonio-owned business, $68 is funneled back into the local economy.

Texas’ Statewide Scenario

Although San Antonio harbors a dense concentration of family-run businesses, it seems to be an outlier within Texas as a whole. Across the state, family-owned businesses only make up about 30.08% of all enterprises. Unfortunately, Texas did not make the top ten list in the study. Instead, South Dakota came in first place nationwide, with an impressive 41.52% of its businesses being family-run.

Ultimately, the presence of a large number of family-owned businesses in San Antonio speaks volumes about the city’s entrepreneurial culture, community support for local businesses, and the potential for economic growth and prosperity in the region.