What the numbers say
Of the 14 common small-business types the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks for Missouri, 8 added jobs over the year and 5 lost them. Coffee shops & cafés led, with employment up 9.9% across 1,385 establishments paying an average of $401 a week. Nail salons came second at +7.1%. At the other end, food trucks & mobile food lost 31.2% of jobs.
| Business type | Jobs, yr/yr | Establishments | Avg weekly wage | Typical cost to open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee shops & cafés | +9.9% | 1,385 | $401 | $50k–$300k |
| Nail salons | +7.1% | 418 | $643 | $20k–$100k |
| Auto repair shops | +4.3% | 1,652 | $1,087 | $50k–$300k |
| Gyms & fitness studios | +3.7% | 794 | $393 | $30k–$200k |
| Pet care & grooming | +2.0% | 555 | $555 | $10k–$50k |
| Landscaping services | +0.6% | 2,279 | $887 | $10k–$50k |
| Quick-service restaurants | +0.5% | 4,867 | $425 | $50k–$300k |
| Cleaning & janitorial | +0.3% | 1,413 | $596 | $10k–$50k |
| Full-service restaurants | 0.0% | 4,699 | $537 | $50k–$300k |
| Child day care | -1.0% | 1,341 | $570 | $30k–$150k |
| Hair & beauty salons | -1.9% | 1,167 | $644 | $20k–$100k |
| Bars & taverns | -2.4% | 747 | $455 | $50k–$300k |
| Dry cleaning & laundry | -10.7% | 184 | $591 | $25k–$150k |
| Food trucks & mobile food | -31.2% | 225 | $495 | $50k–$300k |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private sector, Missouri, 2026 Q1. Job change is over the year. Cost to open is Neur's planning range for the business type, not a quote.
What it means if you are opening one
Coffee shops & cafés are being paid for. Employers do not add 9.9% more staff without the revenue to cover it, so demand in Missouri is real and growing. The question for a new entrant is the neighborhood, not the state: 1,385 establishments already operate here, and the competition per resident varies more between cities than between states. Plan on $50k–$300k to open.
The quieter bet: nail salons. Growth of +7.1% with an average wage of $643 a week and $20k–$100k to open. Second place in a ranking like this often has less new competition than first place, because everyone read the same headline.
Hiring will cost the most in auto repair shops. At $1,087 a week on average, it pays the highest wages of the types tracked here. Budget staff at local rates, not the national average; the report does this automatically for your city.
Shrinking is not the same as closed. Child day care, Hair & beauty salons, Bars & taverns, Dry cleaning & laundry, Food trucks & mobile food lost jobs over the year in Missouri. That can mean a market with room to differentiate as weaker operators exit, or a market people are leaving. The competitor map and reviews for your city tell you which; the state number alone does not.
A state ranking tells you which way the wind blows. It does not tell you whether the corner you are looking at has the households, the income and the gap in competition to support one more. That is the part a Neur report does for one business in one city, with the Neur Score™ and the moves that would raise it.
This page is generated from the BLS feed and rewritten when a new quarter publishes; the prose is drafted with AI assistance from the figures above and reviewed by Neur. Live data page for Missouri · All states
Related
Should You Open a Second Location? When Expansion Helps and When It Hurts
Expansion is the point where good businesses go wrong most expensively. Whether a second location helps depends on the business type, the cash in the bank and the distance to the first door. Here is how to tell which side of the line you are on.
Best Cities to Open a Gym or Fitness Studio in 2026
Boutique fitness keeps growing, but studio economics are brutal in the wrong market. We scored US metros on demographics, competition, and rent to find the best bets.
Best Cities to Open a Coffee Shop in 2026
We analyzed Census demographics, competition density, and commercial rent data across 50 metro areas to find the top cities for a new coffee shop.
One number a week
Which small business is growing fastest, and where, from Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Plus new guides as they publish. No hype, no filler.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.