The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data detailing the characteristics of business owners in the United States, including information on sex, race, ethnicity, and veteran status. For the first time, the data set includes estimates of employer firms by owner characteristics at the industry sector and congressional district levels.
The data are sourced from two major surveys: the Annual Business Survey (ABS), which covers businesses with paid employees, and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D), which focuses on businesses without paid employees. Together, these sources provide a comprehensive overview of U.S. business ownership demographics.
According to the 2023 data, there were 36.4 million employer and nonemployer businesses nationwide, generating $50 trillion in receipts. Of these, women owned 14.2 million businesses with $2.8 trillion in receipts. Veterans owned 1.6 million businesses accounting for $1 trillion in receipts.
Data from the 2024 ABS show that there were approximately 5.9 million employer firms in 2023; among them, women owned about 1.4 million (22.9%) and veterans owned roughly 261,000 (4.4%).
Demographic breakdowns for employer businesses reveal that White-owned firms comprised 80.6% (4.8 million) with $17 trillion in receipts; Asian-owned firms made up 11.5% (685,000) with $1.2 trillion; Hispanic-owned accounted for 8.4% (496,000) with $730 billion; Black or African American-owned represented 3.4% (201,000) with $249 billion; American Indian or Alaska Native-owned constituted 0.9% (55,000) with $70 billion; and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned firms represented 0.2% (9,000) with $13 billion.
The ABS is conducted jointly by the Census Bureau and sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). The survey collects annual data on economic and demographic traits of business owners as well as measures related to research development for microbusinesses and innovation technology.
For nonemployer businesses—those without paid employees—the NES-D reports there were about 30.4 million such entities in 2023 with total receipts of $1.8 trillion dollars: women owned around 12.9 million (42%) bringing in $423 billion while veteran-owned companies numbered about 1.4 million making up just over four percent of this segment’s total.
Further highlights from NES-D indicate that White-owned nonemployer firms made up nearly three-quarters at roughly 22 million out of a total universe defined as any entity earning at least $1,000 annually and filing federal taxes; Hispanic owners ran about five million companies representing almost one-fifth of all nonemployers; Black or African American entrepreneurs led more than four million ventures comprising over fourteen percent; Asian Americans operated close to three million organizations contributing nine percent overall; smaller shares belonged to American Indian/Alaska Native owners at one percent and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders at less than half a percent.
This release also provides insights into urban versus rural classifications for business owners as well as details on firm size by revenue category and legal structure such as sole proprietorships or partnerships.
The NES-D utilizes administrative records combined with census data to link demographic attributes to individual nonemployer businesses each year.
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