Key takeaways
Each takeaway links to its canonical data row. Reported figures belong to their cited producer; modeled results are labeled as calculations.
- All covered employer businesses: reported AI use in any business function: 23.2% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- All covered employer businesses: expected AI use in any business function during the next six months: 27.3% (Next-six-month expectations, collected August 24–September 6, 2026).U.S. Census Bureau
- 1–4 employees: reported AI use in any business function: 23.6% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- 5–9 employees: reported AI use in any business function: 21% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- 10–19 employees: reported AI use in any business function: 20.8% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- 20–49 employees: reported AI use in any business function: 23.3% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- 50–99 employees: reported AI use in any business function: 25.8% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- 100–249 employees: reported AI use in any business function: 34.5% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- 250+ employees: reported AI use in any business function: 38.4% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- Professional, scientific and technical services: reported AI use in any business function: 43.3% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- Information: reported AI use in any business function: 43.5% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
- Accommodation and food services: reported AI use in any business function: 8.5% (August 10–23, 2026 reference period).U.S. Census Bureau
How many U.S. employer businesses report using AI?
Census measures whether employers used AI in any business function during the reference fortnight. The national estimate covers employers of all sizes, not only small businesses.
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| Employer group | Current AI use | Expect AI use | Approx. 90% interval: current |
|---|---|---|---|
| All covered employer businesses | 23.2% | 27.3% | 22.74–23.66% |
Interval calculated by Workspace369 as estimate ± 1.645 × standard error, bounded to 0–100%. It covers sampling uncertainty only. Expected use is a survey response, not a forecast or a count of new adopters.
Primary source: U.S. Census Bureau — September 10, 2026
How does AI adoption vary by business size?
Reported AI use was 23.6% for employers with 1–4 employees, 21% for those with 5–9, and 20.8% for those with 10–19 in August 10–23, 2026. These are separate size groups, not a pooled small-business rate.
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| Employer group | Current AI use | Expect AI use | Approx. 90% interval: current |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 employees | 23.6% | 27.3% | 22.83–24.37% |
| 5–9 employees | 21% | 25.4% | 20.29–21.71% |
| 10–19 employees | 20.8% | 25.1% | 19.7–21.9% |
| 20–49 employees | 23.3% | 28.8% | 21.98–24.62% |
| 50–99 employees | 25.8% | 31.8% | 24.02–27.58% |
| 100–249 employees | 34.5% | 40.4% | 30.6–38.4% |
| 250+ employees | 38.4% | 46.6% | 34.16–42.64% |
Interval calculated by Workspace369 as estimate ± 1.645 × standard error, bounded to 0–100%. It covers sampling uncertainty only. Expected use is a survey response, not a forecast or a count of new adopters.
Primary source: U.S. Census Bureau — September 10, 2026
Which industries report using AI?
Information and professional, scientific and technical services have relatively high point estimates in this release. Differences between estimates are not necessarily statistically significant.
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| Industry (NAICS grouping) | Current AI use | Expect AI use | Approx. 90% interval: current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selected agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting | Suppressed | Suppressed | Suppressed |
| Mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction | 5.3% | 8.4% | 1.93–8.67% |
| Utilities | 16.4% | 18% | 10.81–21.99% |
| Construction | 16% | 18.1% | 14.52–17.48% |
| Manufacturing | 23.4% | 26.1% | 21.79–25.01% |
| Wholesale trade | 20.4% | 24.8% | 18.66–22.14% |
| Retail trade | 15.5% | 19.3% | 13.9–17.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 7.9% | 11.5% | 6.26–9.55% |
| Information | 43.5% | 49.1% | 40.88–46.12% |
| Finance and insurance | 36.5% | 43.8% | 32.73–40.27% |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 31.9% | 37.7% | 29.51–34.29% |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 43.3% | 48.5% | 41.72–44.88% |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 34.8% | 27.3% | 8.38–61.22% |
| Administrative and support and waste management services | 20.7% | 24.9% | 18.58–22.82% |
| Educational services | 35.5% | 38.8% | 32.08–38.92% |
| Health care and social assistance | 24.7% | 29.7% | 23.4–26% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 20% | 22.3% | 17.1–22.9% |
| Accommodation and food services | 8.5% | 11.8% | 7.53–9.47% |
| Other services | 13.7% | 16.9% | 13.11–14.29% |
| Multi-sector businesses | 38.2% | 43.1% | 34.09–42.31% |
Interval calculated by Workspace369 as estimate ± 1.645 × standard error, bounded to 0–100%. It covers sampling uncertainty only. Expected use is a survey response, not a forecast or a count of new adopters. Multi-sector businesses are reported separately; suppressed values are retained as missing.
Primary source: U.S. Census Bureau — September 10, 2026
How does reported AI use vary by state?
State estimates describe covered employer businesses assigned to each state, not the state’s entire workforce. Multi-state businesses are a separate category, not an additional state.
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| State or published group | Current AI use | Expect AI use | Approx. 90% interval: current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 12.7% | 17.9% | 7.3–18.1% |
| Alabama | 13.4% | 17.8% | 9.24–17.56% |
| Arkansas | 21.3% | 23.9% | 18.52–24.08% |
| Arizona | 28.7% | 31% | 24.37–33.03% |
| California | 25.1% | 28.4% | 24.03–26.17% |
| Colorado | 25% | 30.5% | 21.51–28.49% |
| Connecticut | 17.3% | 21.5% | 13.62–20.98% |
| District of Columbia | 24.6% | 28.3% | 19.53–29.67% |
| Delaware | 35.8% | 39.3% | 27.43–44.17% |
| Florida | 28.2% | 33.3% | 26.05–30.35% |
| Georgia | 25.6% | 31.2% | 21.52–29.68% |
| Hawaii | 20.1% | 26.2% | 15.63–24.57% |
| Iowa | 21.5% | 25% | 16.43–26.57% |
| Idaho | 24.4% | 29.3% | 19.58–29.22% |
| Illinois | 23.3% | 27.4% | 22–24.6% |
| Indiana | 18.4% | 22.8% | 16.16–20.64% |
| Kansas | 19% | 23.4% | 14.08–23.92% |
| Kentucky | 21.7% | 22.1% | 17.08–26.32% |
| Louisiana | 19.2% | 23.7% | 15.91–22.49% |
| Massachusetts | 27.7% | 29.5% | 24.61–30.79% |
| Maryland | 21.9% | 25.9% | 17.49–26.31% |
| Maine | 26.2% | 26.2% | 19.27–33.13% |
| Michigan | 24.8% | 28.9% | 22.94–26.66% |
| Minnesota | 21.1% | 27.7% | 16.69–25.51% |
| Missouri | 21.7% | 25.3% | 17.7–25.7% |
| Mississippi | 11.5% | 14.6% | 7.12–15.88% |
| Montana | 16.2% | 22.5% | 10.48–21.92% |
| North Carolina | 25.4% | 28.4% | 22.72–28.08% |
| North Dakota | 20.6% | 21.3% | 14.68–26.52% |
| Nebraska | 16.9% | 22.1% | 11.46–22.34% |
| New Hampshire | 13.3% | 16.2% | 5.95–20.65% |
| New Jersey | 16.4% | 20.1% | 14.16–18.64% |
| New Mexico | 21.4% | 28.4% | 17.16–25.64% |
| Nevada | 30.3% | 30.3% | 26.7–33.9% |
| New York | 17% | 21.5% | 15.45–18.55% |
| Ohio | 20.6% | 24.8% | 17.94–23.26% |
| Oklahoma | 17.1% | 19.2% | 13.56–20.64% |
| Oregon | 22.6% | 25.7% | 18.93–26.27% |
| Pennsylvania | 19% | 22.9% | 16.4–21.6% |
| Puerto Rico | 14.4% | 25.8% | 10.22–18.58% |
| Rhode Island | 10.9% | 17.3% | 6.47–15.33% |
| South Carolina | 23.9% | 29.4% | 19.39–28.41% |
| South Dakota | 17.8% | 26.3% | 10.96–24.64% |
| Tennessee | 23.1% | 26.7% | 20.48–25.72% |
| Texas | 25.2% | 29.5% | 23.74–26.66% |
| Utah | 33.7% | 39.2% | 30.8–36.6% |
| Virginia | 27.1% | 29.7% | 24.98–29.22% |
| Vermont | 23.9% | 26.7% | 13.95–33.85% |
| Washington | 25.7% | 30.2% | 23.05–28.35% |
| Wisconsin | 21% | 25.8% | 18.45–23.55% |
| West Virginia | 8.7% | 11.1% | 5–12.4% |
| Wyoming | 21.1% | 28.4% | 13.45–28.75% |
| Multi-state businesses | 38.5% | 47.4% | 35.7–41.3% |
Interval calculated by Workspace369 as estimate ± 1.645 × standard error, bounded to 0–100%. It covers sampling uncertainty only. Expected use is a survey response, not a forecast or a count of new adopters.
Primary source: U.S. Census Bureau — September 10, 2026
Can these figures be compared with older AI-adoption statistics?
Not without accounting for a question change: in November 2025, Census broadened the question from AI used in producing goods or services to AI used in any business function.
Collection took place August 24–September 6, 2026, for the August 10–23 reference period; the workbooks were released September 10. This page does not splice the old and new questions into a growth series.
Primary sources: U.S. Census Bureau — checked September 12, 2026 · U.S. Census Bureau — checked September 12, 2026
Which AI-adoption measure should you cite?
Use the current-use estimate for reported adoption and the expected-use estimate for plans. Keep the employer-business population, reference dates and question wording alongside the number.
This is the fixed August 2026 snapshot, not a live counter. Nonemployer freelancers are excluded, and expectations do not establish later adoption. Source verification remains dated separately from editorial updates.
Methodology and limitations
- We extracted the Yes responses to Questions 7 and 24 from the national, sector, state and employment-size workbooks for cycle 202618. The source ledger preserves workbook cell coordinates, standard errors and file SHA-256 fingerprints.
- The current-use question asks about any business function in the last two weeks. The expected-use question asks about the next six months. These are different measures and must not be subtracted to estimate new adopters.
- The tables use published survey estimates without combining employer-size groups or averaging states. Suppressed observations remain null in the JSON and blank in numeric CSV fields.
- Approximate 90% intervals use the published standard errors. We do not claim that point-estimate rankings pass pairwise significance tests.
What these numbers cannot tell you
- The survey excludes nonemployer businesses and is not a survey of all self-employed people. State and industry results are not restricted to small businesses.
- Survey sampling, nonresponse and self-reporting can affect estimates. The displayed intervals do not quantify every source of error.
- The public workbooks are rolling files. The cycle identifier, saved values and SHA-256 fingerprints distinguish this edition from future replacements.
Freshness and corrections
Maintained by the Workspace369 editorial team. Review each new Census BTOS release; publish substantive data updates at least quarterly. The edition date changes only when the evidence or content is substantively reviewed; it does not change the underlying observation period.
First edition: . Data extraction, source attribution and arithmetic checked for this edition. No independent peer review is claimed.
Found an error or a newer primary release? Send a correction with the source and affected statistic. Confirmed corrections are recorded below before republishing.
Revision history
Evidence dates above describe the report. Download and citation updates below do not imply that sources were checked again.
- — Versioned CSV and JSON archives, checksums and reference-manager exports added. Source observations and evidence dates are unchanged.
Primary sources and provenance
Every reported numeric cell links directly to its producer. The downloads include exact table or workbook locators, observation periods, access dates, formulas and input references.
- U.S. Census BureauBusiness Trends and Outlook Survey: national workbook, cycle 202618 ↗Published September 10, 2026. Accessed September 12, 2026.U.S. federal government data; attribution requested. No agency endorsement.
Source file fingerprint (SHA-256)
16487a7d419f556d33da63da289a79868755405fbcd1f30cb9917b4cf897cf35 - U.S. Census BureauBusiness Trends and Outlook Survey: sector workbook, cycle 202618 ↗Published September 10, 2026. Accessed September 12, 2026.U.S. federal government data; attribution requested. No agency endorsement.
Source file fingerprint (SHA-256)
39dbb5a89375ccbe1246ff78ed15c8cd1849a9f9e730238e2f46e11384938b16 - U.S. Census BureauBusiness Trends and Outlook Survey: state workbook, cycle 202618 ↗Published September 10, 2026. Accessed September 12, 2026.U.S. federal government data; attribution requested. No agency endorsement.
Source file fingerprint (SHA-256)
d43a68ab4188afa9844c0d1f5fd86e023ba0935e2d7462c59ea15139a727638f - U.S. Census BureauBusiness Trends and Outlook Survey: size workbook, cycle 202618 ↗Published September 10, 2026. Accessed September 12, 2026.U.S. federal government data; attribution requested. No agency endorsement.
Source file fingerprint (SHA-256)
698f03679e1f9a52b59c2a76b886144a54934c2fc525d871f57877607db531a1 - U.S. Census BureauBTOS methodology ↗Publication date not recorded; see the original source. Accessed September 12, 2026.U.S. federal government data; attribution requested. No agency endorsement.
- U.S. Census BureauAbout BTOS and questionnaire changes ↗Publication date not recorded; see the original source. Accessed September 12, 2026.U.S. federal government data; attribution requested. No agency endorsement.
How to cite this report
For a source-reported statistic, credit the original publisher and link to the exact row here when using our compilation. For a modeled result, cite Workspace369 and include the assumptions. Linking to this page does not make us the original producer of third-party data.
Workspace369. (2026-10-09). Small Business AI Adoption Statistics: 2026 Census Data by Size. https://workspace369.com/research/small-business-ai-adoption-statistics/. Primary sources and observation periods as listed in the report.
Versioned data
Use an archived file when your analysis needs to stay reproducible. The version identifies the exact CSV and JSON bytes; unchanged data keeps the same version.
Dataset version: 9fe1beae482382289828a2eb9869e04220c5dd64e6ccb807687a6d7d51c72f85
Reference exports describe Workspace369’s compilation. When citing a reported observation, also credit its original producer.