Census Bureau Releases Nonemployer Business Data

Women owned 41.1% (11.2 million) and minorities owned 36.7% (10 million) of the nation’s nonemployer businesses (those without paid employees) and had $307.9 billion and $345.l billion, respectively, in receipts in 2020, according to the new Non­ employer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D) released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. There were a total of 27.2 million nonemploy­er businesses with $1.3 trillion in receipts in 2020.

In addition to demographic characteristics of nonemployer business owners, this release also includes data by urban and rural classifi­cation, receipt size of firm, and legal form of organization (e.g., sole proprietorships and partnerships).

The NES-D is an annual statistical series that uses existing administrative records and census data to link demographic characteristics of owners to the universe of nonemployer busi­ nesses. Nonemployer businesses are those with­out paid employees and are subject to federal income tax, with receipts of $1,000 or more. The NES-D statistics are the accompanying dataset to the Annual Business Survey (ABS) data on employer businesses (those with paid employees) and when combined with the ABS, provide a complete picture of business owner demographics, such as sex, race, ethnicity and veteran status.

Highlights for nonemployer businesses in 2020:

• Hispanic-owned firms accounted for 16.4% (4.5 million) of nonemployer businesses and had $164.0 billion in receipts.
• Veteran-owned firms made up about 8% (1.3 million) of nonemployer businesses with $57.0 billion in receipts.
• Asian-owned finns accounted for 6% (2.3 million) of nonemployer businesses, with receipts of $106.1 billion, the most receipts among businesses owned by minority race groups.
• Black or African American-owned firms made up 2% (3.6 million) of nonemployer businesses, with receipts of $85.8 billion.
• American Indian or Alaska Native­ owned firms accounted for 2% (329.0 thou­ sand) of nonemployer businesses, with $10.7 billion in receipts.
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Island­ er-owned firms accounted for 3% (83.5 thou­ sand) of nonemployer businesses, with $2.8 billion in receipts.

This release also includes demographic sta­ tistics of all businesses, those with and without employees, combining results from the previ­ ously released 2021ABS (data year 2020) and the 2020 NES-D (data year 2020).

Highlights from these combined statistics total employer and nonemployer businesses):

• There were 9 million employer and nonemployer businesses, with $40.2 trillion in receipts.
• Minorities owned l million businesses, with $1.9 trillion in receipts.
• Women owned 4 million businesses, with $2.2 trillion in receipts.
• Hispanics owned 8 million businesses, with $636.2 billion in receipts. Veterans owned 1.6 million businesses, with $983.7 billion in receipts

Learn more at census.gov

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