The Succession Gap in North Carolina: Business Owners Nearing Retirement
22.5% of owners of North Carolina employer businesses were 65 or older in 2023, compared with 23.1% nationally, ranking 33rd among the 50 states and DC.
- 22.5%
- of North Carolina owners were 65 or older (U.S. 23.1%)
- 33rd
- rank among the 50 states and DC (1 = oldest owner base)
- 52.3%
- were 55 or older (U.S. 51.3%)
- 20.1%
- were 65 or older in 2017
North Carolina at a glance
- 52.3% of North Carolina owners were 55 or older (U.S.: 51.3%), ranking 23rd.
- The gap to the national share (-0.6 points) is within the survey's 90% margin of error (±1.0 points), so North Carolina's owner base is statistically similar in age to the nation's.
- In 2017 the 65+ share in North Carolina was 20.1%; in 2023 it was 22.5%, a change of +2.4 points (U.S.: +3.0).
- Among the B2B sectors we track, owners in North Carolina skew oldest in manufacturing, where 32.8% are 65 or older and 68.8% are 55 or older.
- Firms in business 16 years or more are 32.4% of North Carolina's employer firms and employ 76.5% of their workers (U.S.: 32.4% and 75.5%).
What stands out in North Carolina
Of the seven B2B sectors, health care and social assistance is North Carolina's largest employer, with 541,694 employees at 19,018 employer firms. In that sector, 18.3% of owners are 65 or older and 47.2% are 55 or older, against 19.3% and 45.0% for the sector nationally.
One of North Carolina's B2B sectors has a share of owners aged 65 or older measurably above the same sector nationally at 90% confidence: transportation and warehousing (25.5% vs. 20.2% nationally).
16.8% of North Carolina owners reporting say they founded or acquired their business before 2000 (U.S.: 17.9%).
Owner age by sector in North Carolina
† Low precision: Census standard error above 5 percentage points. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Business Survey (ABSCBO2023); Laurent Capital Research.
| Sector (NAICS) | Owners 65+ (NC) | Owners 55+ (NC) | Owners 65+ (U.S.) | Std. error (65+) | Employer firms | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction (23) | 20.3% | 50.4% | 19.9% | 1.6 | 27,126 | 224,896 |
| Manufacturing (31-33) | 32.8% | 68.8% | 30.7% | 2.7 | 7,258 | 444,613 |
| Wholesale trade (42) | 32.4% | 66.0% | 32.7% | 2.8 | 8,687 | 203,760 |
| Transportation and warehousing (48-49) | 25.5% | 61.9% | 20.2% | 2.5 | 6,357 | 176,218 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services (54) | 21.9% | 53.3% | 23.9% | 0.6 | 25,732 | 312,763 |
| Administrative, support and waste management (56) | 18.8% | 47.2% | 20.7% | 2.0 | 13,050 | 274,752 |
| Health care and social assistance (62) | 18.3% | 47.2% | 19.3% | 2.0 | 19,018 | 541,694 |
Owner shares are of owners of respondent employer firms who reported their age (ABSCBO2023). Firm and employee counts are all employer firms in the sector (ABSCS2023). Reference year 2023.
Other sectors in North Carolina
| Sector (NAICS) | Owners 65+ (NC) | Owners 55+ (NC) | Owners 65+ (U.S.) | Std. error (65+) | Employer firms | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing (11) | 10.8%† | 65.8%† | 26.7% | 7.2 | 595 | 3,834 |
| Mining and oil and gas (21) | Suppressed | Suppressed | 36.9% | - | 86 | 2,991 |
| Utilities (22) | 52.9%† | 76.5%† | 31.7% | 70.6 | 187 | 23,636 |
| Information (51) | 23.1% | 43.7% | 23.1% | 5.0 | 1,890 | 84,309 |
| Finance and insurance (52) | 28.1%† | 55.4%† | 25.7% | 5.6 | 5,444 | 218,599 |
| Real estate and rental (53) | 25.6% | 61.3% | 30.0% | 3.2 | 11,461 | 63,624 |
| Management of companies (55) | 61.7%† | 74.7%† | 39.5% | 76.9 | 689 | 122,456 |
| Educational services (61) | 22.5% | 46.5% | 18.2% | 4.7 | 2,943 | 107,232 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation (71) | 19.6% | 38.1% | 18.6% | 3.4 | 3,738 | 71,297 |
| Accommodation and food services (72) | 16.1% | 45.8% | 17.9% | 2.0 | 16,748 | 446,814 |
| Other services (81) | 21.6% | 45.3% | 18.9% | 2.0 | 13,286 | 88,417 |
| Retail trade (44-45) | 25.1% | 51.9% | 26.1% | 3.5 | 18,880 | 512,817 |
† Low precision: the Census standard error of the share exceeds 5 percentage points; read as indicative only. Owner shares are of owners of respondent employer firms who reported their age (ABSCBO2023). Firm and employee counts are all employer firms in the sector (ABSCS2023). Reference year 2023.
The national picture
Across the United States, 51.3% of employer-business owners were 55 or older in 2023 and 23.1% were 65 or older, up from 20.1% in 2017. Wholesale trade and manufacturing have the oldest owner bases among B2B sectors. The national report ranks every state and sector and explains the method.
Frequently asked questions
What share of North Carolina business owners are nearing retirement?
In reference year 2023, 22.5% of owners of North Carolina employer businesses who reported their age were 65 or older and 52.3% were 55 or older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey. Nationally the figures were 23.1% and 51.3%.
How does North Carolina compare with other states?
North Carolina ranks 33rd among the 50 states and DC by the share of owners aged 65 or older (1 is the oldest). The gap to the national share (-0.6 points) is within the survey's 90% margin of error (±1.0 points), so North Carolina's owner base is statistically similar in age to the nation's.
Which North Carolina industries have the oldest business owners?
Among construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, professional services, administrative and waste services, and health care, the highest 65+ share with an adequately precise estimate is in manufacturing (32.8%). The full sector table and CSV include every sector and its standard error.
Does this count businesses or owners?
Owners. The survey records up to four owners per employer firm, and the owner tables cover only firms that answered the owner questions. Shares are the reliable measure; the counts understate the full owner population.
Can I quote these figures?
Yes. Please cite Laurent Capital Research with a link to this page. The citation box below has a ready-made reference, and the full dataset is available as a CSV under a CC BY 4.0 license.
Methodology and sources
Laurent Capital Research compiled this report from public U.S. Census Bureau statistics. The owner figures come from the Characteristics of Business Owners file of the 2024 Annual Business Survey (ABS), which covers reference year 2023 and is published as dataset ABSCBO2023 (data.census.gov table AB2300CSCBO). It is the latest ABS owner release available. We used the rows for all owners (no sex, ethnicity, race or veteran filter) at the national and state level, for all sectors and for each two-digit NAICS 2022 sector.
Unit of measure. The ABS counts owners, not firms. Each sampled employer firm reports on up to four people who own the largest stakes. The owner tables cover only firms that answered at least one owner question, and the Census Bureau applies no nonresponse adjustment to them, so counts understate the full owner population. We therefore lead with shares. The share of owners aged 55 or over is owners aged 55 to 64 plus owners aged 65 or over, divided by owners reporting an age (question OWNRAGE). The share aged 65 or over is computed the same way and matches the Census-published percentage.
Precision. We publish the Census standard error of every 65+ share. A state is described as above or below the national share only when the difference exceeds 1.645 times the combined standard error (90% confidence, treating the two estimates as independent). Sector cells with a standard error above 5 percentage points are marked as low precision and are not used to name a state's oldest-owner sector. Cells the Census Bureau withholds for quality or disclosure reasons are shown as suppressed; none of the state-level or B2B-sector 65+ cells used here were suppressed in the 2023 release.
Firm context. Counts of employer firms, employees and annual payroll, and the split by years in business, come from the ABS Company Summary (dataset ABSCS2023), which covers all employer firms rather than respondents only. The ABS does not publish employment or payroll by owner age, so this report does not estimate the number of jobs at firms with older owners. Firms in business 16 or more years are shown instead as a related, but different, measure of established companies.
Trend. The 2017 comparison uses the same question and definitions from dataset ABSCBO2017. Each ABS year is an independent sample, so year-to-year differences mix real change with sampling variation; small changes in individual states should not be over-read.
Sectors. We highlight seven sectors most relevant to business-to-business acquirers: construction (23), manufacturing (31-33), wholesale trade (42), transportation and warehousing (48-49), professional, scientific and technical services (54), administrative, support and waste management (56), and health care and social assistance (62). The ABS excludes some activities, including crop and animal production, rail transportation, postal service, and public administration, and covers employer firms only.
- 1U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Business Survey, Characteristics of Business Owners (dataset ABSCBO2023, reference year 2023), bulk API file. Question OWNRAGE (owner age) and YRACQBUS (year the owner acquired the business); all owners, NAICS 2022 sectors, U.S. and states. Retrieved October 26, 2026
- 2U.S. Census Bureau, data.census.gov table ABSCBO2023.AB2300CSCBO. The published table behind the bulk file, with Census table notes
- 3U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Business Survey, Company Summary (dataset ABSCS2023, reference year 2023), bulk API file. Employer firms, employees, annual payroll and years in business (YIBSZFI) by state and sector. Retrieved October 26, 2026
- 4U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey, Characteristics of Business Owners, reference years 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 (ABSCBO2017, ABSCBO2019, ABSCBO2021, ABSCBO2022). Same OWNRAGE question, used for the 2017 to 2023 comparison. Retrieved October 26, 2026
- 5U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey methodology. Sample, weighting, owner coverage and suppression rules
- 6U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey APIs. Dataset definitions; the 2024 ABS is published under API vintage 2023
Data last updated October 26, 2026.
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Citation
Laurent Capital Research, “The Succession Gap in North Carolina: Business Owners Nearing Retirement,” 2026, https://laurent.capital/research/succession-gap/north-carolinaLink (HTML)
<a href="https://laurent.capital/research/succession-gap/north-carolina">The Succession Gap in North Carolina: Business Owners Nearing Retirement</a> (Laurent Capital)Other states
Share of owners aged 65 or older, 2023.
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