A recent report shows that 33% of small and midsize U.S. businesses could not pay their rent in May, a 5% increase from the month prior. Restaurants, beauty salons and retailers were more likely than other businesses to be behind on their rent.
New Jersey small and midsize businesses (SMBs) fared better than the national average, however, with 29% reporting they could not pay their rent. This was a significant improvement from April when the rent delinquency rate was 37% for New Jersey SMBs.
The Alignable Q2 Rent Report also showed that rent delinquencies were significantly higher in some industries compared to others. For example, 41% of small and midsized U.S. restaurants reported being unable to pay their rent, an 8% increase compared to the month prior.
Other sectors with rent delinquency rates exceeding the 33% national average are beauty salons and retailers (both 40%), travel and lodging businesses (36%), animal hospitals and shelters (34%) and construction businesses (34%).
The report noted that most U.S. small businesses (52%) have experienced rent increases over the past six months, with 18% saying their rent is up by 10% to 20%, and another 14% saying their rent is 20% or more higher than it was six months ago.
The Q2 Rent Report is based on Alignable’s latest survey of 5,321 randomly selected small business owners polled between May 7 and May 31.
