The Small-Business Ceiling: SBA Size Standards Across 1,012 U.S. Industries

What Are SBA Size Standards?

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) establishes numerical size standards under Title 13, Part 121 of the Code of Federal Regulations (13 CFR § 121.201). These thresholds define whether an economic entity qualifies as a "small business concern" eligible for federal procurement set-aside contracts, federal contracting preferences, and specialized small business lending programs.

Each size standard is mapped directly to a specific 6-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. Our research team evaluated all 1,012 active NAICS codes in the Census Bureau's 2022 manual against official SBA size tables to analyze the distribution of revenue and headcount caps across the economy. Detailed guidance on calculating annual receipts is available in our Annual Receipts Calculation Guide and our comprehensive SBA Size Standards Guide.

Key Findings: Revenue vs. Employee Metric Split

The federal government evaluates business size using two distinct primary metrics: gross annual receipts (averaged over five years) and average total employee headcount (averaged over 24 months). A comprehensive breakdown reveals a strict structural divide across economic sectors:

• 500 Revenue-Capped Industries (49.4%): Ranging from a minimum of $2,250,000 to a maximum of $47,000,000, with a median cap of $20,500,000.
• 478 Employee-Capped Industries (47.2%): Ranging from a minimum of 100 employees to a maximum of 1,500 employees, with a median cap of 800 employees.
• 34 Uncapped Industries (3.4%): Public Administration (Sector 92) and specialized financial reserve bodies where federal small business designations do not apply.

Revenue Cap Extremes ($2.25M to $47M)

The maximum allowable revenue limit for a small business is $47,000,000, established for 42 high-capital or high-volume service industries. Key examples include:

• NAICS 711211 — Sports Teams and Clubs ($47.0M)
• NAICS 711212 — Racetracks ($47.0M)
• NAICS 713110 — Amusement and Theme Parks ($47.0M)
• NAICS 722310 — Food Service Contractors ($47.0M)
• NAICS 622310 — Specialty Hospitals ($47.0M)
• NAICS 812332 — Industrial Launderers ($47.0M)
• NAICS 812930 — Parking Lots and Garages ($47.0M)
• NAICS 813219 — Other Grantmaking and Giving Services ($47.0M)

Conversely, the lowest annual revenue cap is $2,250,000, assigned exclusively to 5 agricultural crop production industries:

• NAICS 111110 — Soybean Farming ($2.25M)
• NAICS 111120 — Oilseed Farming ($2.25M)
• NAICS 111140 — Wheat Farming ($2.25M)
• NAICS 111191 — Oilseed and Grain Combination Farming ($2.25M)
• NAICS 111199 — All Other Grain Farming ($2.25M)

Employee Headcount Extremes (100 to 1,500)

In manufacturing and wholesale sectors, size is dictated by headcount. The highest employee threshold is 1,500 employees, covering 42 heavy manufacturing, telecommunications, and aerospace industries, including:

• NAICS 517111 — Wired Telecommunications Carriers (1,500 emp)
• NAICS 517112 — Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (1,500 emp)
• NAICS 517121 — Telecommunications Resellers (1,500 emp)
• NAICS 517122 — Agents for Wireless Telecommunications Services (1,500 emp)
• NAICS 524126 — Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Carriers (1,500 emp)
• NAICS 336411 — Aircraft Manufacturing (1,500 emp)
• NAICS 324110 — Petroleum Refineries (1,500 emp)

The lowest employee threshold is 100 employees, enforced across 13 Merchant Wholesale trade industries in Wholesale Trade (Sector 42), such as Furniture Merchant Wholesalers (423210) and Home Furnishing Wholesalers (423220).

Sector Analysis: Why Manufacturing Uses 100% Headcount

Our structural analysis demonstrates that SBA metric choices correlate perfectly with industry asset intensity:

Manufacturing (Sectors 31-33) & Wholesale Trade (Sector 42): 100% of all 346 manufacturing industries and 69 wholesale industries use employee headcount caps. Because material throughput and wholesale gross sales fluctuate heavily with commodity prices, revenue limits would unfairly penalize efficient high-volume producers.

Construction (Sector 23), Healthcare (Sector 62), & Services (Sectors 54-81): 100% of construction and healthcare industries are measured by gross receipts. Service firms typically operate with minimal physical plant assets, making gross billings the accurate gauge of market dominance. You can explore sector-specific industry listings in our General Contracting Directory and IT Support Directory.

Top & Bottom Size Standard Reference Table

Sample of extreme size standard thresholds extracted from official 13 CFR § 121.201 schedules:

Get the Complete Dataset

We provide the raw underlying dataset of all 1,012 NAICS size standards free of charge under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) for journalists, economic researchers, and compliance developers.

Methodology & Data Integrity

All statistical figures reported in this study were computed directly from our canonical data/naics.json dataset, matching the U.S. Small Business Administration Table of Size Standards (13 CFR § 121.201, effective as of March 17, 2023). Every record carries complete provenance metadata. For more details on our data integrity audit methods, read our official Methodology Statement.