DATA STUDY · U.S. CENSUS COUNTY BUSINESS PATTERNS 2022
The Most Mom-and-Pop Industries in America
We analyzed 49 U.S. industries using Census County Business Patterns data, scoring each 0-100 on how fragmented — how “mom-and-pop” — its ownership structure is. Food trucks ranks #1, the most fragmented industry in the country, at an average of just 3.2 employees per location. Golf courses sit at the other end, averaging 30.3 employees per location. If you’re using this to pick an acquisition target, the guide to buying a business covers valuing and financing one once you’ve chosen a category.
Key findings
- Most fragmented, top 3: Food trucks, Self-storage facilities, Laundromats — all score 95+/100, averaging under 4 employees per location.
- Most consolidated, top 3: Golf courses, Hotels, Full-service restaurants — all average 20+ employees per location and score under 14/100.
- Biggest surprise: Real estate agencies score 84/100 — the largest establishment count of any highly fragmented industry (165,585 nationally), yet still averages just 2.5 employees per office.
- Payroll scales with consolidation: Golf courses average $1,191,470 in annual payroll per location — over 13x food trucks’ $88,459.
- For buyers: high fragmentation means more small, independently owned targets and more room for a roll-up strategy — no chain has captured the category yet.
- For starters: low fragmentation (golf courses, hotels, full-service restaurants) signals a category where scale, capital, and existing operators already have the advantage — harder to break in solo.
All 49 industries, ranked
Sort any column. 100 = most fragmented (mom-and-pop), 0 = most consolidated (chain/institutional).
| 1 | Food trucks | 98 | 11,611 | 3.2 | $88,459 |
| 2 | Self-storage facilities | 97 | 18,286 | 2.6 | $105,154 |
| 3 | Laundromats | 95 | 10,911 | 3.8 | $95,487 |
| 4 | Nail salons | 90 | 33,802 | 4.3 | $108,778 |
| 5 | Barber shops | 89 | 7,363 | 3.9 | $121,952 |
| 6 | Convenience stores | 88 | 36,426 | 4.8 | $106,760 |
| 7 | Chiropractors | 88 | 40,179 | 3.7 | $145,537 |
| 8 | Hair salons | 84 | 82,964 | 4.7 | $141,650 |
| 9 | Florists | 84 | 11,999 | 4.8 | $118,124 |
| 10 | Real estate agencies | 84 | 165,585 | 2.5 | $206,919 |
| 11 | Bed & breakfasts | 80 | 2,464 | 4.9 | $143,051 |
| 12 | Auto repair shops | 74 | 84,101 | 4.6 | $228,426 |
| 13 | Liquor stores | 74 | 36,173 | 5.4 | $146,880 |
| 14 | RV parks & campgrounds | 73 | 4,972 | 5.2 | $189,487 |
| 15 | Dry cleaners | 72 | 16,394 | 5.7 | $155,875 |
| 16 | Tattoo parlors | 70 | 29,936 | 5.7 | $167,444 |
| 17 | Pet grooming & boarding | 66 | 24,267 | 6.5 | $177,041 |
| 18 | Painting contractors | 65 | 37,963 | 5.2 | $275,358 |
| 19 | Bookkeeping & accounting services | 63 | 46,452 | 5.3 | $294,358 |
| 20 | Optometrists | 52 | 22,781 | 6.5 | $303,868 |
| 21 | Gas stations | 51 | 96,486 | 8.6 | $227,722 |
| 22 | Car washes | 50 | 19,463 | 8.5 | $237,952 |
| 23 | Landscaping services | 49 | 117,109 | 6.6 | $328,945 |
| 24 | Funeral homes | 49 | 15,375 | 7.2 | $300,343 |
| 25 | Coffee shops | 46 | 78,856 | 11.1 | $226,604 |
| 26 | Local trucking | 46 | 45,436 | 7.0 | $340,466 |
| 27 | Bars | 46 | 40,258 | 10.0 | $247,432 |
| 28 | Used car dealers | 41 | 25,607 | 7.3 | $378,839 |
| 29 | Insurance agencies | 40 | 135,100 | 6.0 | $503,590 |
| 30 | Bakeries | 39 | 8,979 | 10.4 | $323,000 |
| 31 | Dental offices | 38 | 136,140 | 7.6 | $437,633 |
| 32 | Taxi & rideshare services | 35 | 3,162 | 6.8 | $498,790 |
| 33 | Law offices | 33 | 166,972 | 6.5 | $782,657 |
| 34 | Gyms & fitness centers | 32 | 40,786 | 15.9 | $296,448 |
| 35 | Pest control | 32 | 16,080 | 8.7 | $437,787 |
| 36 | Daycares | 29 | 80,120 | 12.1 | $343,856 |
| 37 | Roofing contractors | 28 | 24,532 | 8.4 | $542,194 |
| 38 | Moving companies | 25 | 9,803 | 10.8 | $480,103 |
| 39 | Limited-service restaurants | 24 | 265,179 | 17.8 | $354,540 |
| 40 | Janitorial services | 21 | 67,295 | 15.9 | $457,336 |
| 41 | Vending machine operators | 21 | 3,243 | 12.0 | $488,980 |
| 42 | Bowling alleys | 21 | 3,305 | 20.1 | $419,554 |
| 43 | HVAC & plumbing contractors | 19 | 109,601 | 10.7 | $750,313 |
| 44 | Electricians | 14 | 81,842 | 11.6 | $835,918 |
| 45 | Veterinary services | 14 | 34,000 | 13.8 | $668,420 |
| 46 | Movie theaters | 14 | 4,158 | 26.2 | $474,122 |
| 47 | Full-service restaurants | 9 | 257,282 | 20.2 | $544,508 |
| 48 | Hotels | 3 | 56,920 | 24.0 | $859,577 |
| 49 | Golf courses | 0 | 10,076 | 30.3 | $1,191,470 |
Methodology
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2022 national-level data — establishments, employees, and annual payroll by NAICS industry.
Score formula: Fragmentation Score (0-100, 100=most fragmented/mom-and-pop, 0=most consolidated): for each industry compute avg employees per establishment and avg annual payroll per establishment (both from Census CBP national totals). Rank-normalize each metric across all industries in this set (percentile rank, lower avg = higher percentile = more fragmented), average the two percentiles, scale to 0-100, round to nearest integer.
What it means: the score isn’t a measure of company count or market size — it’s a measure of average operating scale. A high score means the typical location in that industry is small (few employees, low payroll) — the signature of an owner-operator business rather than a chain with centralized management.
Limitations: these are national aggregates — fragmentation can vary by metro or region within an industry. NAICS codes group related but non-identical businesses at a fixed level of granularity, so some categories blend adjacent sub-industries. Most importantly, CBP counts only employer establishments — businesses with at least one paid employee. It excludes solo, nonemployer businesses (a huge share of true mom-and-pop operations, like independent contractors and single-owner shops with no staff), so the real-world fragmentation of every industry here is almost certainly higher than what this data can show.
HOW TO CITE THIS DATA
Cite as: “IdeaCrystal Fragmentation Index, based on U.S. Census County Business Patterns (CBP) data.” Link to https://ideacrystal.com/en/data/most-mom-and-pop-industries.
BUYING INTO A FRAGMENTED INDUSTRY?
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Fragmentation tells you the category has room for a buyer — it doesn’t tell you if one specific listing is priced fairly.