The U.S. Census Bureau has published new data detailing the demographic characteristics of both employer and nonemployer business owners in the United States. The release provides insights into sex, race, ethnicity, veteran status, and other attributes of business proprietors.
For the first time, the data includes estimates for employer firms by owner characteristics, industry sector, and congressional district. This information is sourced from two key programs: the Annual Business Survey (ABS), which tracks businesses with paid employees, and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D), covering businesses without paid staff.
In 2023, there were an estimated 36.4 million employer and nonemployer businesses in the country with combined receipts totaling $50 trillion. Women owned about 14.2 million of these businesses with $2.8 trillion in receipts, while veterans owned approximately 1.6 million businesses generating $1 trillion in receipts.
According to findings from the 2024 ABS referencing 2023 data, around 5.9 million U.S. employer firms existed; women owned roughly 1.4 million (22.9%) and veterans owned about 261,000 (4.4%).
Demographic breakdowns show that White-owned firms represented 80.6% of employer businesses—totaling about 4.8 million—with $17 trillion in receipts. Asian-owned companies accounted for 11.5% or approximately 685,000 firms ($1.2 trillion in receipts). Hispanic-owned businesses made up 8.4% (496,000) with $730 billion in revenue; Black or African American-owned firms comprised 3.4% (201,000) bringing in $249 billion; American Indian or Alaska Native-owned companies held a share of 0.9% (55,000) with $70 billion; and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander-owned firms accounted for just under one percent at roughly 9,000 companies earning $13 billion.
The ABS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) and conducted jointly with the Census Bureau to measure research and development among microbusinesses as well as provide annual demographic snapshots of business owners by sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status.
On the nonemployer side—businesses without paid employees—the NES-D reports there were about 30.4 million such enterprises generating $1.8 trillion in receipts last year. Women led ownership among nonemployers as well: they owned nearly half at about 12.9 million entities producing over $423 billion in revenue; veteran-owned nonemployers numbered approximately 1.4 million with more than $65 billion in receipts.
Other notable statistics include:
– White-owned nonemployer firms made up nearly three-quarters at around 22 million ($1.3 trillion).
– Hispanic owners controlled approximately one out of every six nonemployer ventures at over five million ($244 billion).
– Black or African American entrepreneurs managed more than four million such enterprises ($128 billion).
– Asian owners ran close to three million ($163 billion).
– American Indian or Alaska Native proprietors operated just under half a million ($15 billion).
– Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander owners had slightly more than one hundred thousand such entities ($4 billion).
This dataset also provides classifications by urban versus rural location as well as details on firm size based on employment numbers or annual receipts.
NES-D draws upon administrative records and census data to link owner demographics to all qualifying nonemployer operations—defined as those reporting at least $1,000 annually on federal tax returns.
More detailed methodological information can be found through NES-D documentation.
