Orlando Market Commentaries are a series of timely analyses produced by the Orlando Economic Partnership’s Market Intelligence team. Commentaries are typically associated with a major data release or cover areas key to advancing the Partnership’s goal of Broad-based Prosperity®.
| ✓ | The number of businesses with paid employees in the Orlando region surpassed 76,000 in 2022. |
| ✓ | Orlando’s business base is among the fastest growing in the country, with strong growth across sectors, sizes and geographies. |
| ✓ | Hearing directly from local businesses is critical to developing sound economic policy. |
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau publishes estimates of the number of businesses with paid employees. New data for 2022 provides valuable insight into the growth of the Orlando region’s business base.
Florida’s Fastest-Growing Regional Business Base
Over 76,000 business with paid employees called the Orlando region home in 2022. This was approximately 11,000 more than in 2017 – a 17.5% increase over the period, or a net gain of approximately 2,300 businesses per year.
Among the 30 most populous regions in the United States, Orlando’s business base expanded at the second-highest rate after Austin and at a considerably faster pace than Florida peers Miami and Tampa. Northern regions were most likely to see weak growth or, in the case of New York, even a net loss in businesses.
Growth on All Fronts
The number of businesses increased across all size groups. Small businesses with less than 5 employees saw the greatest increase – growing 22.5% and contributing approximately 75% of the 11,000 businesses added between 2017 and 2022.
Medium and large businesses also saw considerable growth in the region. The number of businesses with between 10 and 50 employees grew by 12.4% (to almost 14,400 businesses); businesses with more than 100 employees grew by 7.7% (to over 1,700 businesses): and the number with more than 250 employees grew by 7.7% to surpass 500 for the first time in 2022.
Similarly, all but two industry sectors (utilities and wholesale trade) added businesses over the period. Construction, real estate, healthcare, transportation & warehousing, arts & recreation, and accommodation & food services all expanded at rates higher than the overall business base, growing their share of the regional business base. Collectively, these 6 sectors contributed approximately 60% of new business added over the period.
Business growth has broadly followed strong residential growth. For example, Winter Garden (34787) recorded the greatest single zip-code increase in number of businesses between 2017 and 2022 (828) while the three zip codes in and around Lake Nona (32832, 32827, and 34771) saw the highest percentage increases of any area of size, together adding over 900 businesses. Downtown Orlando (32801) welcomed a net gain of more than 250 businesses over the period.
At a county level, Osceola County saw by far the greatest percentage increase in its business base (31.6%). Growth in Seminole County was more modest (8.6%) while Orange County and Lake County expanded in line with the region, at 18.3% and 17.7% respectively.
Moving Beyond Numbers
The number, sector composition, or geography of businesses actually tell us very little about the health of a regional economy. What is more important is growing the Orlando regional economy in an intentional manner with an understanding of the daily experiences of the businesses who call our region home – the opportunities they’re pursuing as well as the challenges they’re facing
In 2023, the OEP launched the Orlando MSA Business Conditions Survey to fill this need for timely qualitative data, developing a mechanism to help monitor local business performance, and, ultimately, to inform economic strategy. Now in its second year and powered by OUC, OEP teams develop programs in response to the insight we generate.
Our Q3 survey – with a special focus on the cost pressures business are facing - is currently live, and we encourage all 76,000 businesses in the region to add their voice here.
