Operating picture · measured 2026-09-03
The median US MSP has 9 employees. 37% of the market is under 10.
This is a small-business industry, whatever the conference stage suggests.
37% Under 10 employees (12,472)10 or more, or headcount unknown (21,320)
Median9 employees
75th pct28 employees
90th pct88 employees
Median headcount of 9 re-confirmed against 39,351 in-scope firms as of 2026-09-03. The coverage count (24,690 firms with headcount on file), the under-10 count and the p75 / p90 percentiles were last measured 2026-08-26 against a base of 33,792 and were not re-run.
Limitations
- The median of 9 is from 2026-09-03. The under-10 share, the 24,690 coverage count and the percentiles are from 2026-08-26 against a base of 33,792 and have not been re-run, do not read the 37% against this edition's 39,351 base.
- Headcount is on file for 24,690 of 33,792 in-scope firms; the under-10 share is quoted against the full directory, so firms with no headcount on file count against it rather than for it. The share among firms we have measured is higher.
- Employment figures come from public sources and lag real headcount, particularly for firms that grew recently.
What to do with this
- Benchmark against the median, not the conference stage. Nine people is the market.
- At this size, the highest-leverage marketing investment is usually the one that does not need maintaining, a complete profile, listed certifications, a working booking link.
Cite this
MSP Signal, "The median US MSP has 9 employees. 37% of the market is under 10.", measured 2026-09-03. https://mspsignal.com/msp-trends/msp-market-structure
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