What types of new businesses are the most common started up within the
United States, and how many of each type are started? I'm looking
primarily for small business info...businesses like restaurants, dry
cleaners etc...

Hi! Thanks for the question.

Bizstats.com provides a list of the most popular small businesses in
the US. The ranking is based on the number of firms in that industry.
The link below provides the number of firms for each category and the
percentage of profitable firms.

Top 20 Most Popular US Small Businesses

1.  Special trade contractors  
2.  Administrative and support services 
3.  Personal and laundry services  
4.  Non-Store retailers - includes multi level marketing  
5.  Artists, entertainers and related industries  
6.  Offices of real estate agents, managers & appraisers  
7.  Child day care services  
8.  Management, scientific, and technical consulting services  
9.  Miscellaneous store retailers  
10. Professional & consulting services not classified elsewhere  
11. Miscellaneous repair services  
12. Residential building construction  
13. Accounting services - other than CPA's  
14. Insurance agencies and brokerages  
15. Educational services   
16. Legal services  
17. Food services and drinking places  
18. General freight trucking, long-distance  
19. Computer systems design services  
20. Religious, civic, professional & similar organizations 

"Most Popular Small Businesses"
http://www.bizstats.com/mostpopular.htm

Search terms used:      
most popular "small businesses"
          
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if 
you would need further information. 
          
Thanks for visiting us.           
          
Regards,           
Easterangel-ga           
Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 28 Jun 2003 01:57 PDT

In addition to the info I gave above, it would be helpful for you to
look at two more statistics from Bizstats.com. One is for the riskiest
and safest small businesses in the US plus those businesses
susceptible to rental costs.

"The Safest & Riskiest Small Businesses"
http://www.bizstats.com/sprisk2.htm

"Most Rent Sensitive Businesses"
http://www.bizstats.com/rentsensitive.htm 

Thanks!