How many S corporations are there in the US?

The IRS counted 5,266,702 active S-corporation returns (Form 1120-S) for tax year 2022 — about 5.3 million. S corporations are the most common corporate tax election among U.S. small businesses, and the count includes both incorporated businesses and LLCs that have elected S-corp tax treatment.

What is the average S-corp income?

Across all 5,266,702 returns, the average business net income was $144,924 per S-corporation for tax year 2022, totaling roughly $763.3 billion in net income (less deficit). That figure measures net income from a trade or business only — it excludes portfolio and rental income reported separately on the return — so it reflects operating profit rather than an owner's total taxable income. Averages also hide wide variation: profitable S-corps pull the mean up, while roughly a third of returns report no net income.

Do most S-corps make money?

Yes, but not overwhelmingly. Of the 5,266,702 active S-corporation returns filed for tax year 2022, 3,475,311 — 66% — reported positive net income. The other roughly 34.0% broke even or ran at a loss for the year, a reminder that electing S-corp status does not guarantee the profit needed to make the election worthwhile.

Which industries have the highest-earning S-corps?

Ranked by average business net income per return, Mining leads at $756,660, followed by Manufacturing ($542,740) and Management of companies (holding companies) ($373,440). At the other end, Real estate and rental and leasing averages just $51,152 per return. High per-return averages often reflect capital-intensive sectors with fewer, larger filers rather than the typical small S-corp.

Where does this S-corp data come from?

The figures come from the IRS Statistics of Income, Returns of Active Corporations, Form 1120-S — Table 6.1 (Balance Sheet and Income Statement Items, by Major Industry) and Table 6.2 (Returns with Net Income, by Major Industry), for tax year 2022, retrieved 2026-07-16. The IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) program tabulates data from actual filed returns. SOI data runs a couple of years behind the current calendar year because it reflects fully processed returns, so tax year 2022 is the most recent complete year available.

Research & Data

S-Corp Statistics (2022): How Many S-Corporations Are There, and What Do They Earn?

Name: U.S. S-Corporation Statistics by Industry (Tax Year 2022)
Creator: MyStateLLC
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

More than 5.3million U.S. businesses file as S-corporations — but the “average” S-corp earns far less than the headline sectors suggest, and a meaningful share turn no profit at all. We compiled the IRS Statistics of Income tables for tax year 2022 into a single picture of how many S-corporations there are, what they earn, and which industries the election actually pays off in.

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

5.3MActive S-corp returnsTax year 2022

$144,924Avg. business net incomePer return, trade or business

66%Report a net profit3,475,311 returns

$763.3BTotal net incomeLess deficit, all sectors

The industries where S-corps earn the most

Ranked by average business net income per return, the highest-earning S-corporation industries are capital-intensive or wholesale sectors — mining leads at $756,660 per return. These averages reflect net income from a trade or business, and the leaders tend to be sectors with fewer but larger filers rather than where most S-corps operate.

Average business net income per return, in $ thousands, tax year 2022. Source: IRS SOI. Chart: MyStateLLC.

S-corporation income by industry, all 19 sectors

Every major NAICS sector ranked by average business net income per return (rank 1 = highest). The “active returns” column shows how many S-corporations filed in each sector — a useful counterweight to the average, since the biggest sectors by headcount are rarely the highest-earning per return.

Rank	Industry sector	Active returns	Avg. business net income
1	Mining	22,416	$756,660
2	Manufacturing	162,216	$542,740
3	Management of companies (holding companies)	38,415	$373,440
4	Wholesale trade	249,371	$371,678
5	Utilities	3,964	$330,106
6	Retail trade	424,367	$212,440
7	Information	88,947	$191,911
8	Finance and insurance	195,372	$152,221
9	Construction	690,444	$141,316
10	Arts, entertainment, and recreation	133,778	$137,025
11	Professional, scientific, and technical services	863,664	$123,740
12	Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	251,863	$119,007
13	Health care and social assistance	487,580	$116,139
14	Transportation and warehousing	269,711	$95,018
15	Educational services	55,113	$74,313
16	Accommodation and food services	277,241	$67,669
17	Other services	353,011	$54,101
18	Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting	103,541	$53,501
19	Real estate and rental and leasing	595,687	$51,152

What the S-corp numbers actually tell us

The single most useful figure on this page is the average business net income per return: $144,924 across all 5,266,702 active S-corporation returns for tax year 2022. That is net income from a trade or business— the IRS reports it separately from the portfolio and rental income that also flows through an S-corp — so it is a measure of operating profit, not an owner’s total taxable income. Read it as a benchmark for the business, not a salary.

Roughly a third of S-corps turn no profit

66%of active S-corporation returns reported positive net incomeOf the 5,266,702 returns filed, 3,475,311 — 66% — showed a net profit, which means about 34.0% broke even or ran a loss for the year. That matters for anyone weighing the S-corp election: the structure only pays off once there is enough profit to outrun its payroll and compliance costs, and a large minority of filers are not clearing that bar in a given year.

High averages usually mean fewer, larger filers

The industry ranking is dominated by capital-intensive and wholesale sectors, not by where most S-corps actually operate. Mining tops the list at $756,660 per return, with manufacturing ($542,740) and management of companies (holding companies) ($373,440) close behind — yet each of those has relatively few filers. By contrast, professional, scientific, and technical services is the largest sector by headcount at 863,664 returns but averages $123,740, and construction — another high-volume S-corp sector with 690,444 returns — averages $141,316. A high per-return average is often a sign of a sector with a handful of large corporations rather than a signal that a typical small business in it will earn that much.

Read this before you read the ranking

These figures measure net income from a trade or business, as tabulated on the IRS Statistics of Income Form 1120-S tables. They exclude the portfolio income (interest, dividends, capital gains) and rental income that an S-corporation reports separately, so they understate the total income that ultimately passes through to owners. Treat every “average net income” on this page as a measure of operating profit for the business, not a stand-in for what any individual shareholder takes home.

Should you elect S-corp status?

These benchmarks are context, not a recommendation. Whether an S-corp election saves you money depends on your own profit, the reasonable salary you would pay yourself, your state, and your compliance costs — not on the national average. The one honest takeaway from the data is directional: because roughly 34.0% of S-corps report no net income in a given year, and because the structure adds payroll and filing overhead, the election tends to pay off only once your business profit is comfortably established.

To see where that break-even falls for your specific numbers, run the S-corp break-even calculator — it models the self-employment tax savings against the payroll and compliance costs of an S-corp election. For the underlying structural trade-offs, the LLC vs. S-corp guide walks through how the two are taxed. Neither is a substitute for advice from a CPA about your own situation.

Methodology & data notes

Figures come from the IRS Statistics of Income, Returns of Active Corporations, Form 1120-S — Table 6.1 (Balance Sheet and Income Statement Items, by Major Industry) and Table 6.2 (Returns with Net Income, by Major Industry), for tax year 2022, retrieved 2026-07-16 via a direct download of the IRS SOI data files. The IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) program tabulates data from actual filed Form 1120-S returns of active S-corporations. Totals and per-return averages on this page are drawn from those tables; the per-return average shown in the sector table is the IRS-reported average business net income for that sector.

What “net income” counts here. The net income figures on this page are net income (less deficit) from a trade or business, per the Form 1120-S line definition. They exclude portfolio income (interest, dividends, and capital gains) and rental income, which an S-corporation reports separately and passes through to shareholders on Schedule K-1. As a result, these numbers describe operating profit at the business level, not the total income an owner receives.

Units and timing. The source SOI tables report dollar amounts in thousands of dollars; we present them as full U.S. dollars (for example, a source value of “5,539,514” thousand is shown as $5,539,514,000). SOI statistics also lag the calendar by roughly two years because they reflect fully processed returns, so tax year 2022 is the most recent complete year published. The underlying IRS data is public domain; our compiled ranking is released under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Last updated July 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

: The IRS counted 5,266,702 active S-corporation returns (Form 1120-S) for tax year 2022 — about 5.3 million. S corporations are the most common corporate tax election among U.S. small businesses, and the count includes both incorporated businesses and LLCs that have elected S-corp tax treatment.
: Across all 5,266,702 returns, the average business net income was $144,924 per S-corporation for tax year 2022, totaling roughly $763.3 billion in net income (less deficit). That figure measures net income from a trade or business only — it excludes portfolio and rental income reported separately on the return — so it reflects operating profit rather than an owner's total taxable income. Averages also hide wide variation: profitable S-corps pull the mean up, while roughly a third of returns report no net income.
: Yes, but not overwhelmingly. Of the 5,266,702 active S-corporation returns filed for tax year 2022, 3,475,311 — 66% — reported positive net income. The other roughly 34.0% broke even or ran at a loss for the year, a reminder that electing S-corp status does not guarantee the profit needed to make the election worthwhile.
: Ranked by average business net income per return, Mining leads at $756,660, followed by Manufacturing ($542,740) and Management of companies (holding companies) ($373,440). At the other end, Real estate and rental and leasing averages just $51,152 per return. High per-return averages often reflect capital-intensive sectors with fewer, larger filers rather than the typical small S-corp.
: The figures come from the IRS Statistics of Income, Returns of Active Corporations, Form 1120-S — Table 6.1 (Balance Sheet and Income Statement Items, by Major Industry) and Table 6.2 (Returns with Net Income, by Major Industry), for tax year 2022, retrieved 2026-07-16. The IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) program tabulates data from actual filed returns. SOI data runs a couple of years behind the current calendar year because it reflects fully processed returns, so tax year 2022 is the most recent complete year available.