MSA-Level Chartbooks

The Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS), a collaboration among all 12 Federal Reserve Banks, is an annual survey of small businesses that has been conducted nationally since 2016. The survey includes long-running questions on business performance and financing needs, including questions on special topics such as challenges with hiring and retaining workers. Since its inception, the SBCS has provided stakeholders from researchers to policymakers valuable data on the challenges business owners face when trying to grow and fund their firms. Importantly, the SBCS also collects data about owner and business demographics. The data allow for detailed analyses of business conditions across subcategories such as race and ethnicity of the owner(s), age of the business, and geography.

For the first time in SBCS history, the appendix accompanying the most recent 2023 Report on Employer Firms included data across metropolitan statistical area (MSA), and MSA-level findings are additionally included among the Firms in Focus chartbooks. MSA-level data are published only for those states in which 100 or more employer firms responded to the SBCS. As such, Firms in Focus chartbooks are available only for select MSAs.

The Firms in Focus chartbooks include appendix slides that provide information on the SBCS, and additional information on survey methodology and definitions can be found in the 2023 Report on Employer Firms. For more on MSAs, visit the United States Census Bureau.