--- url: 'https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/founder-the-weather-ranking/' title: Weather Losses Hit Accommodation and Food Service Almost Six Times as Often as Professional Services author: name: Samantha Lankford url: 'https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/author/sam/' date: '2026-10-10T15:30:00-04:00' modified: '2026-10-10T15:30:00-04:00' type: post summary: 'Across 21 Census survey rounds, 17.6% of accommodation and food service businesses reported weather losses. Professional services: 3.1%.' categories: - Blog Post image: 'https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/founder-the-weather-ranking-hero.webp' published: true --- # Weather Losses Hit Accommodation and Food Service Almost Six Times as Often as Professional Services ![The Lonely Entrepreneur](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/TLE_Logo_mobile-490W-26-26.png)Founder Data Report ![Weather Losses Hit Accommodation and Food Service Almost Six Times as Often as Professional Services](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/founder-the-weather-ranking-hero.webp) Founder Data Report # Weather Losses Hit Accommodation and Food Service Almost Six Times as Often as Professional Services By Michael Dermer • Updated October 10, 2026 Join us Fridays at 12 PM ET to ask TLE CEO Michael Dermer your questions live. [Join the CEO Call →](https://shorturl.at/364XX) A year of Census survey rounds, split by trade, shows the same trade near the top of the weather-loss table in every round — and one trade that swings from near the bottom to second. Quick Answer Across the 21 rounds of the Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey collected between November 2025 and October 2026, an average of **17.6%** of accommodation and food service businesses said they had lost money to an extreme weather event in the previous six months. For professional, scientific and technical services the average was **3.1%** — almost six times less often. Accommodation and food services ranked first or second of 16 trades in every one of the 21 rounds, sharing the top with agriculture. Professional services ranked 14th or lower in every round. Health care swung from 13th in late November 2025 to second in mid-February 2026. The 30-second version - Weather losses in the past six months, average of 21 rounds: accommodation and food services 17.6%, agriculture 15.1%, all businesses 8.4%, professional services 3.1%. - Accommodation and food services was first or second in all 21 rounds. Its lowest round (8.2%) was above professional services’ highest (6.5%). - Agriculture and accommodation and food services are statistically level in most rounds. Finance and professional services are level at the bottom in most rounds. - Health care went from 2.1% in late November 2025 to 20.9% in mid-February 2026, from 13th to second. - The survey records that a loss happened, not what caused it. This article does not guess. ## The trades at the top, and how far apart they sit Every two weeks the Census Bureau asks a large sample of employer businesses whether, in the last six months, they lost money because of an extreme weather event such as a hurricane, flood, drought or heat wave. Across all businesses the answer averaged 8.4% over the past year’s rounds. Split by trade, the range runs from 3.1% to 17.6%. Eight of the 16 trades sit above the all-business figure. At the top are accommodation and food services (17.6%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (15.1%), followed by retail trade (11.6%). At the bottom are finance and insurance (3.4%) and professional, scientific and technical services (3.1%). The Data Share of businesses reporting a weather loss in the last six months, by trade, 21 rounds Accommodation and food servicesavg 17.6% · range 8.2–32.3%Agriculture, forestry and fishingavg 15.1% · range 7.0–24.4%Retail tradeavg 11.6% · range 4.0–20.8%Other servicesavg 10.3% · range 3.5–20.5%Transportation and warehousingavg 10.3% · range 3.7–19.0%Health care and social assistanceavg 10.1% · range 2.1–20.9%Arts, entertainment and recreationavg 9.7% · range 5.4–17.3%Administrative and support servicesavg 8.5% · range 4.4–14.0%Educational servicesavg 7.1% · range 1.7–15.6%Constructionavg 6.9% · range 2.2–12.9%Manufacturingavg 6.3% · range 2.0–11.5%Wholesale tradeavg 5.8% · range 2.3–11.1%Real estate and rentalavg 5.3% · range 2.4–8.9%Informationavg 4.4% · range 1.8–7.6%Finance and insuranceavg 3.4% · range 1.4–7.2%Professional, scientific and technical servicesavg 3.1% · range 1.1–6.5% Each bar runs from zero to the trade’s highest round; the white tick marks its 21-round average. Bars are drawn on a 0% to 35% scale. Mining, utilities and management of companies are left out because most of their rounds are suppressed. Businesses operating in more than one sector are also left out. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), Sector.xlsx and National.xlsx, question 14, the 21 rounds collected November 17, 2025 to October 4, 2026 in which all 16 sectors shown are published; files dated October 6, 2026, retrieved from census.gov on October 9, 2026. > One trade sat in the top two for weather losses in every round. For a business in it, a weather loss is a recurring cost, not a stroke of bad luck. ## The top and the bottom held in every round Averages can hide a lot, so the ranking was checked round by round. Accommodation and food services was first in 12 of the 21 rounds and second in the other 9. Agriculture was in the top three in 16 rounds and retail in 11. Professional services was never higher than 14th. The gap at each end is wide: accommodation and food services’ lowest round, 8.2%, was above professional services’ highest, 6.5%. Two closer comparisons do not separate. Accommodation and food services and agriculture clear each other’s margin of error in only 4 of the 21 rounds, so they share the top. Finance and professional services separate in only 2, so they share the bottom. One caution: each round asks about the previous six months, so neighbouring rounds overlap and 21 rounds are not 21 separate pieces of evidence. The Data Rounds, out of 21, in which each trade ranked in the top three for weather losses Accommodation and food services21 of 21Agriculture, forestry and fishing16 of 21Retail trade11 of 21Health care and social assistance5 of 21Transportation and warehousing4 of 21Other services3 of 21Arts, entertainment and recreation3 of 21 Orange marks accommodation and food services, the only trade in the top three in every round. Ranks are among the 16 trades shown in the first chart. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), Sector.xlsx and National.xlsx, question 14, the 21 rounds collected November 17, 2025 to October 4, 2026 in which all 16 sectors shown are published; files dated October 6, 2026, retrieved from census.gov on October 9, 2026. ## The trade that went from 13th to second Health care and social assistance averaged 10.1% across the year, close to the middle. That average hides the widest swing of any trade except accommodation and food services. In the round collected in late November 2025 it reported 2.1%, 13th of 16. In the round collected in mid-February 2026 it reported 20.9%, second only to accommodation and food services, and it was second again in the round collected in early May. Other services (repair, personal care and the like) followed the same path, from 3.8% to 20.5%. Professional services rose too, from 1.1% to 6.1%, and stayed in the bottom three. The Data Share reporting a weather loss in the last six months, two survey rounds compared Health care and social assistance Late November 20252.1% Mid-February 202620.9% Accommodation and food services Late November 20258.2% Mid-February 202632.3% Other services Late November 20253.8% Mid-February 202620.5% Professional, scientific and technical services Late November 20251.1% Mid-February 20266.1% Slate is the round collected November 17–30, 2025; orange is the round collected February 9–22, 2026. Bars are drawn on a 0% to 35% scale. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), Sector.xlsx and National.xlsx, question 14, the 21 rounds collected November 17, 2025 to October 4, 2026 in which all 16 sectors shown are published; files dated October 6, 2026, retrieved from census.gov on October 9, 2026. ## What to take from this if you run one of these businesses If your trade sits at the top of this table, a weather loss is not a rare event to be surprised by. In accommodation and food services, roughly one business in six reported one in an average round, and in the worst round nearly one in three did. That is a planning number: it belongs in the cash reserve, the supplier list and the conversation with your insurer before the season that hits your trade, not after it. If you run a health care or personal-service business, the useful reading is the swing. A quiet autumn says little about February. If you run a professional firm, the risk in this table is low but not zero. Four limits worth holding. The survey covers **employer businesses**, not one-person operations. It records **that** a business lost money to weather, not how much or why. The figures are **estimates from a sample**, and two trades are only treated as different here when the gap clears both margins of error. And because each round looks back **six months**, neighbouring rounds share most of their window. The Data Where the numbers land 17.6% accommodation and food service businesses reporting a weather loss, 21-round average 3.1% professional services businesses reporting the same 21 of 21 rounds in which accommodation and food services ranked first or second 2.1% → 20.9% health care, late November 2025 to mid-February 2026 U.S. Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey, question 14, by sector. ## Frequently Asked Questions Which businesses lose money to extreme weather most often? Accommodation and food services (17.6%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (15.1%), on average across 21 rounds of the Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey from November 2025 to October 2026. Which businesses report weather losses least often? Professional, scientific and technical services (3.1%) and finance and insurance (3.4%). Professional services ranked 14th or lower of 16 trades in every round. How many businesses overall reported a weather loss? An average of 8.4% of employer businesses across the same 21 rounds said they had lost money to an extreme weather event in the previous six months. Does the ranking change through the year? At the top and bottom, no. Accommodation and food services was first or second in every round. In the middle it does: health care went from 13th in late November 2025 to second in mid-February 2026. Does the survey say what caused the losses? No. The question asks whether a business lost money because of an extreme weather event, with examples, but this table does not record the cause or the size of the loss. Keep reading - [Weather Doesn’t Hit Your Business Once. It Bills You Twice a Year.](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/founder-weather-loss-season/) - [Workplaces Under 50 People Held 43% of Private Jobs Before the 2020 Shock. They Made 53% of the Layoffs.](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/founder-the-spring-they-cut/) - [Solo Businesses Shook Off 2020 in a Year. 2023 Took Six Times the Hit.](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/founder-back-in-a-year/) Part of the entrepreneurial struggle: [Resilience](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/entrepreneur-struggle/resilience/) ![The Lonely Entrepreneur](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/TLE_Logo_mobile-490W-26-26.png) Published by **The Lonely Entrepreneur** — the community and coaching platform for entrepreneurs who are building alone. [lonelyentrepreneur.com](https://lonelyentrepreneur.com/) This article is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional financial or legal advice.