A majority of companies in Los Angeles County are minority-owned, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday.
The results mean that Los Angeles County led the country in the number of Hispanic, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native-owned firms in 2012. And after Cook County, Illinois and Honolulu County, Hawaii, it ranked second in the country in the number of African-American and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned firms.
According to the data, 55 percent of firms were minority-owned amounting to a total of 631,218 in Los Angeles County.
Compared to the percentage of the population that resides in Los Angeles County, the data also revealed a proportionally large number of minority-owned firms.
While Los Angeles County has 3.2 percent of the nation’s population, the county was home to 7.9 percent of its minority-owned businesses in 2012. California led all states with 1.6 million minority-owned firms in 2012.
Overall, business ownership throughout the United States reflected the country’s increasingly diverse population.
Nationally, the number of minority-owned firms in the United States rose from 5.8 million in 2007 to 8 million in 2012, with the number of Hispanic-owned firms during the period growing by more than 46 percent, from 2.3 million to 3.3 million. The total number of U.S. firms increased two percent during the same period.
In a statement, National Director for Minority Business Alejandra Y. Castillo, said that the latest Census Bureau data underscored the rapid growth in minority-owned firms.
“Nonetheless, considerable disparities remain between their revenue and nonminority companies in our economy,” Castillo said. “(The Minority Business Development Agency) is committed to eliminating disparities in access to capital and contracts so that minority businesses may fully participate in the economy.”
Among other findings, the data also found 9.9 million women-owned firms nationally in 2012, up from 7.8 million or 27 percent from 2007.
The survey, called the 2012 Survey of Business Owners, gathered the data from a sample of more than 1.75 million businesses.
