Data Hub
Microbusiness Data Hub
Welcome to the GoDaddy Microbusiness Data Hub, offering unprecedented access to free, downloadable data on more than 20 million microbusinesses and the entrepreneurs who own them. The first-of-its-kind data and insights will be updated quarterly with refreshed measurements of microbusiness density, our proprietary Microbusiness Activity Index, and new survey responses from select markets across the United States. Please reach out to the Venture Forward team with any additional dataset requests.
Recent Use Cases
U.S. Microbusiness Density
Do you know how many active microbusinesses there are in a given city, county, or state?
Download this dataset to get a comprehensive insight into the quantity and distribution of active microbusinesses across the country at several geographic grains, including: CBSA, county, state, and national, normalized by population.
Updated quarterly, microbusiness density is a powerful tool for understanding where microbusinesses are taking hold and how those patterns are changing over time. Use this measure to help identify relationships to other key economic outcomes, such as unemployment, job creation, and household median income gains – all affected by microbusinesses.
To learn more about how we define U.S. Microbusiness Density, visit the FAQ’s here.
Entrepreneur Survey Results: U.S. & U.K.
Who are the microbusiness entrepreneurs and what are their needs, challenges, and goals?
The Entrepreneur Survey results provide unparalleled insight directly from over 30,000 microbusiness entrepreneurs. Since 2019, our team has conducted these surveys six times in the US and 2 times in the UK, and have surveyed over 24 cities.
Use this data to inform policies, programs, and trends for diverse entrepreneurs across the United States and United Kingdom.
To learn more about the research and methodology behind our survey data, visit the FAQ’s here.
U.S. Microbusiness Industry and Commerce
Our new Industry and Commerce dataset provides insight into the online commercial activity trends of microbusinesses at multiple geographic designations, including city, CBSA, county, and state.
This unique dataset ranks all the covered communities based on the number of sellers, orders, and gross merchandise value (GMV) observed, providing a new lens into how effectively microbusinesses are performing.
In addition, the dataset identifies the top 3 industry categories within the community, the average traffic we can observe, and the average microbusiness age, measured in months.
To learn more about our microbusiness industry and commerce data, visit the FAQ’s here.
U.S. Microbusiness Activity Index
How active and healthy is a community’s performance with respect to microbusinesses?
Developed by economists at the UCLA Anderson Forecast in partnership with GoDaddy Venture Forward, the Microbusiness Activity Index tracks dozens of factors that impact the success of online microbusinesses – all captured in one composite score. The score is made up of three subindices: infrastructure, participation, and engagement.
Updated quarterly, use this score to benchmark your community against others and track the effectiveness of programs to help microbusinesses thrive. The Index provides the most up-to-date snapshot of microbusiness health at the county, metropolitan, state, and national levels.
To learn more about the MAI dataset and our methodology, visit the FAQ’s here.
U.K. Microbusiness Density
What is the presence and impact of microbusinesses in the United Kingdom?
In 2021, Venture Forward expanded to include research on the United Kingdom, finding that, as in the United States, microbusinesses have a significant economic impact on their communities. In 2022, we continued our research and updated our findings.
Use this dataset to get insights into the presence of microbusinesses in the U.K., and read the associated white paper for more insights.
To learn more about the U.K. microbusiness dataset and the methodology behind the research, visit the FAQ’s here.
Data in Action
Venture Forward is dedicated to gathering and analyzing data around microbusinesses, and leveraging those insights to support local efforts that empower the everyday entrepreneurs who own them. Our research team synthesizes Venture Forward data with U.S. Census and other third party data to reveal how microbusinesses contribute to more prosperous and resilient economies. In turn, we make our data and insights available to anyone who shares our vision for stronger, more inclusive and healthy communities.
UCLA Anderson Forecast Microbusiness Activity Index 2022 Q4 Update
This report is the 2022 Q4 update and contains data up to December 2022 for the U.S nation, states, metropolitan areas, and counties. Download the report to view highlights and an in-depth analysis of MAI data over time.
Milken Institute: An In-Depth Study of Digital Microbusinesses Leveraging Best Performing Cities and GoDaddy's Microbusiness Activity Indices
This October report combines results from the Best Performing Cities Index (BPC) and GoDaddy’s Microbusiness Activity Index (MAI) to examine what may be happening in the economies of a selection of cities in the two rankings, essentially looking at the impact microbusinesses are having in the selected economies.
GoDaddy's data and resources were leveraged to help build a community of committed entrepreneurs with the experience, talent and resources to help each other succeed in Baltimore, MD.
"Our microbusiness density is three times the national average. We feature that statistic from Venture Forward on our website, and make a point of sharing it on the first day of our six-week Empower Baltimore program to help local businesses boost their digital presence. We want people to know that our city is unique – that we’ve got a lot of people with hustle, who are making things happen."
–Michelle Geiss, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Baltimore Impact Hub
Harvard Business Review: "The Rise of Everyday Entrepreneurs and Their Economic Impact"
In this data-backed report, the authors leverage data from Brookings Institute, US Census, and Venture Forward in-concert to discuss the variety of benefits online microbusinesses bring to their communities, who benefits most and what those benefits are, and how policymakers can encourage the creation of more microbusinesses.
Brookings: Microbusinesses boomed during the pandemic. Now, local leaders need to support them.
The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a massive shock to America’s workers – one result of this was a burst of microbusiness startups. But because microbusiness patterns of growth vary from state to state and community to community, local economic development officials need to understand these entrepreneurs in order to help them succeed.