In brief
On October 1, 2026 the City of Long Beach’s license layer held 179,455 records, and 24,024 of them were Active licenses located inside the city. That figure counts licenses, not businesses: landlords, companies with several accounts and out-of-town contractors all hold records.
- Records by location: 134,353 inside Long Beach, 45,100 outside the city and 2 with no location stated1.
- Active licenses: 24,024 inside the city and 5,724 outside it, 29,748 in all1.
- Home-based: 3,781 of the 24,024 active in-city licenses; the other 20,243 are not home-based1.
- Largest group: Property rental, 9,604 active licenses, followed by Professional and office at 4,0071.
- Largest single description: Apartment House, 6,600 active licenses, ahead of Commercial/Industrial Space Rental at 2,7841.
There is no official count of “businesses in Long Beach” on the city’s open data portal. What the city does publish is its business license register, one record per license account, along with the account’s status. This page tallies that register as of October 1, 2026: how many records it holds, how many are Active, how the active in-city licenses split between home-based and not home-based and across category groups, and which license descriptions are largest.
It is the count to start from for anyone sizing the local market or checking a quoted figure, and the reasons it is not a count of businesses matter as much as the numbers. The definitions are on How the Long Beach Data Pages Are Made, and the steps a business takes to appear in the register are in How to Start a Business in Long Beach. The figures are this site’s tallies of the city’s records, used under the MapsLB terms of use, which allow reuse and do not allow any suggestion of city endorsement2.
Source Business Licenses Public View, City of Long Beach (MapsLB), fetched October 1, 2026; nightly refresh by the city. Period: active licenses on the fetch date; every record in the layer on the fetch date. Method: Every record in the city’s license layer counted by status and by whether the licensee’s location is inside the city. Active, in-city licenses grouped from the city’s license description with the site’s category groups (defined on the methodology page). The figures are this site’s own tallies of the city’s published records, used under the City of Long Beach’s open-data terms; the city does not endorse this site. How these pages are made.
The short answer
| If you are… | Read this |
|---|---|
| Looking for one number | 24,024 Active licenses located inside Long Beach, as of October 1, 20261 |
| Asking how many records the city holds in all | 179,455, including closed, expired and out-of-city accounts1 |
| Asking how many are home-based | 3,781 of the 24,024 active in-city licenses1 |
| Asking what the largest kinds are | Apartment House at 6,600, then Commercial/Industrial Space Rental at 2,784 and Business Office at 1,2021 |
| Quoting the figure as a number of businesses | Not supported; the count is of license accounts, and the section below explains why1 |
What the register holds
The city’s Business Licenses Public View is a register of every license account the city’s system has on file, not only the ones in force today. On October 1, 2026 it held 179,455 records1. Of those, 134,353 are located inside Long Beach, 45,100 belong to licensees located outside the city, and two have no location stated1.
A record stays in the register after the license ends. That is why the largest status in the table is Inactive, with 84,554 in-city records, against 24,024 in-city records that are Active1. The register is a history of accounts as well as a list of current ones.
Records by status
The table shows every record by status and by location, with a Total row. The status names are the city’s labels, shown as the layer writes them; this site does not rename them.
| License status | In Long Beach | Not stated | Outside the city | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inactive | 84,554 | 2 | 32,924 | 117,480 |
| Active | 24,024 | 5,724 | 29,748 | |
| Expired | 9,174 | 2,775 | 11,949 | |
| CollcInBus | 7,841 | 2,215 | 10,056 | |
| Pending | 6,065 | 1,020 | 7,085 | |
| Denied | 1,065 | 31 | 1,096 | |
| ClosedWBal | 959 | 53 | 1,012 | |
| Withdrawn | 595 | 143 | 738 | |
| Reactivate | 22 | 213 | 235 | |
| Revoked | 52 | 2 | 54 | |
| Appealed | 1 | 1 | ||
| Suspended | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 134,353 | 2 | 45,100 | 179,455 |
Inside the city, the order is Inactive at 84,554, Active at 24,024, Expired at 9,174, CollcInBus at 7,841 and Pending at 6,0651. Denied licenses number 1,065 and ClosedWBal 959, and Withdrawn 595. Revoked is 52 records, and Appealed and Suspended have one each1.
The outside-the-city column follows a different pattern. It holds 5,724 Active records against 32,924 Inactive, and a Reactivate count of 213, compared with 22 for in-city records1. The two records with no location stated are both Inactive1.
Three labels in the table are the city’s shorthand and are left as written: CollcInBus, ClosedWBal and Reactivate. This page does not define them either.
Active licenses by category group
The category groups are this site’s, not the city’s: each of the city’s license descriptions is placed in one of thirteen groups by keywords, as the methodology page spells out. The table counts only Active records located inside the city and splits each group into home-based and not home-based. A blank cell means the table has no records there.
| Category group | Home-based | Not home-based | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property rental | 16 | 9,588 | 9,604 |
| Professional and office | 1,859 | 2,148 | 4,007 |
| Food and drink | 96 | 2,068 | 2,164 |
| Other services | 461 | 1,409 | 1,870 |
| Retail | 380 | 1,021 | 1,401 |
| Health and medical | 67 | 1,251 | 1,318 |
| Personal care | 1,026 | 1,026 | |
| Construction and trades | 688 | 244 | 932 |
| Cannabis | 681 | 681 | |
| Manufacturing and wholesale | 23 | 430 | 453 |
| Arts, fitness and recreation | 183 | 258 | 441 |
| Other | 8 | 74 | 82 |
| Sidewalk vending | 45 | 45 | |
| Total | 3,781 | 20,243 | 24,024 |
The largest group is Property rental, with 9,604 active licenses, of which 9,588 are not home-based and 16 are home-based1. Professional and office is second with 4,007, split almost evenly: 1,859 home-based and 2,148 not1. Food and drink follows with 2,164 and Other services with 1,8701.
The home-based share differs sharply by group. Construction and trades has 688 home-based licenses out of 932, the only group where home-based records are the majority1. Other services has 461 home-based out of 1,870, and Retail has 380 out of 1,4011. Personal care, Cannabis and Sidewalk vending show no home-based records at all1.
Across all groups, 3,781 of the 24,024 active in-city licenses are home-based and 20,243 are not1. The smaller groups are Arts, fitness and recreation at 441, Other at 82 and Sidewalk vending at 451.
The largest license descriptions
The city assigns each license one description. The table lists the twenty-five largest descriptions among active in-city licenses, in the city’s wording.
| City’s license description | Active licenses |
|---|---|
| Apartment House | 6,600 |
| Commercial/Industrial Space Rental | 2,784 |
| Business Office | 1,202 |
| Restaurant & Ready to Eat Foods | 951 |
| Consulting | 725 |
| Retail Sales | 631 |
| Barber/Beauty Shop Owner | 448 |
| Restaurant & Ready to Eat Foods with Alcohol | 435 |
| General Services – Other | 431 |
| Medical Office/Clinic | 349 |
| Attorney | 324 |
| Internet Sales/Service | 297 |
| Professional Services – Other | 292 |
| Contracting – Building | 277 |
| Food Retail Store | 249 |
| Barber/Beauty (booth ) | 235 |
| Food Retail Store w/ Alcohol | 219 |
| Communication Facility – Cell Site | 166 |
| Physician/Surgeon | 163 |
| Auto Repair – General | 161 |
| Gardening/Landscape Maint. | 158 |
| Instructor/Personal Trainer | 152 |
| Nails/Manicure Shop | 145 |
| Wholesale | 142 |
| Psychology | 137 |
Two descriptions are well ahead of the rest: Apartment House at 6,600 and Commercial/Industrial Space Rental at 2,784. Business Office is third at 1,202, followed by Restaurant & Ready to Eat Foods at 951 and Consulting at 7251.
Restaurant & Ready to Eat Foods with Alcohol has 435 active licenses and Food Retail Store 249, with Food Retail Store with alcohol at 2191. Retail Sales has 631 and Internet Sales/Service 2971. Barber/Beauty Shop Owner has 448 and Barber/Beauty (booth) 2351.
The foot of the table is Psychology, at 137, so every description below it has fewer active licenses than that1. Medical Office/Clinic has 349, Attorney 324 and Contracting – Building 2771.
Why licenses are not businesses
Four features of the register separate a license count from a business count.
Landlords hold licenses. An apartment house holds a license, and Apartment House is the largest description at 6,600 active licenses. Commercial/Industrial Space Rental adds 2,7841. These count buildings and leased space, not shops or offices operating inside them.
One company can hold several licenses. The register has one record per license account. A company with separate accounts for separate locations or activities appears more than once, and the table cannot tell which records share an owner1.
Some licenses are not storefronts. Communication Facility – Cell Site is a license description with 166 active licenses in the table1. It is a license for equipment, as the description’s own name says.
Out-of-town licensees are in the layer. Contractors and vendors based elsewhere hold Long Beach licenses to work in the city. The table shows 5,724 Active licenses for those licensees, 29,748 Active licenses in all, and 24,024 of them inside the city1.
What the tables do not show
The tables do not estimate businesses that operate without a license, and they do not state revenue or employment. Home-based licenses appear only as totals; this site does not publish names or addresses from the layer. The tax each category pays is set out on What a Long Beach Business License Costs. How many licenses started in each recent month is on New Business Licenses in Long Beach, Month by Month1.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many businesses are in Long Beach?
The city does not publish a count of businesses. Its license layer showed 24,024 Active licenses located inside the city on October 1, 2026, a count of license accounts that includes landlords and multiple accounts per company1.
How many business licenses does Long Beach have in all?
The layer held 179,455 records on October 1, 2026, of which 134,353 are inside the city, 45,100 outside it and 2 with no location stated. Most are not Active1.
How many Long Beach businesses are home-based?
Of the 24,024 active in-city licenses, 3,781 are flagged home-based and 20,243 are not1.
What kind of license is the most common in Long Beach?
Apartment House, with 6,600 active licenses, is the largest description, followed by Commercial/Industrial Space Rental at 2,784 and Business Office at 1,2021.
Why is the number of Active licenses so much smaller than the number of records?
The register keeps accounts after they end. In-city records include 84,554 Inactive and 9,174 Expired, against 24,024 Active1.
Do the figures include businesses based outside Long Beach?
The status table does, in its own column: 45,100 records belong to licensees located outside the city, 5,724 of them Active. The group and description tables count in-city records only1.
How often is the count updated?
The city describes the layer as updated nightly. This page’s figures are a snapshot taken on October 1, 2026, and the methodology page gives the refresh schedule1.
Related Articles
Sources
- Business Licenses Public View — City of Long Beach, MapsLB. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Terms of Use — City of Long Beach, MapsLB. Accessed 2026-09-30.