RentYard What rental-industry establishment counts can—and cannot—tell you
Research checked November 5, 2026 (Pacific Time).
County Business Patterns (CBP) counts establishments with paid employees: locations, not necessarily distinct companies. Our source extract includes NAICS 532412 (construction, mining and forestry machinery/equipment rental and leasing) and 532310 (general rental centers). These describe different business scopes, not a fully deduplicated directory of all equipment yards.
The current official CBP data page says 2023 is the latest reference year and gives no planned 2024 release date. Therefore these figures must be labeled 2023, even though we checked/downloaded them in November 2026. Do not relabel them current 2026 market size.
The state extract contains 101 published industry/geography rows across 50 states plus DC. The metropolitan-file extract contains 520 rows across 359 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas; those areas are not individual cities. A missing row is not an inferred zero. State and CBSA counts overlap and should not be added together.
Employment and payroll use disclosure-avoidance noise. Keep the source flags attached; suppressed/not-available values must stay blank rather than becoming zero. Payroll is reported in thousands of dollars. None of these fields measures rental revenue, today's machine stock, consumer rental demand or seasonal utilization.
Use these statistics to prioritize research and compare like-for-like industry footprints. Use first-party yard confirmations and actual customer inquiries to assess present availability or demand.
Sources:
https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/data.html
https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/cbp/2023-cbp.html
https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/resources/2023-CBP-User-Guide.pdf
General information only, not legal, safety-certification or insurance advice. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions and the rental yard's terms.