“By 2044, the Nation’s prosperity will rely even more on minorities, the fastest growing segment of the population. Entrepreneurship is a sure pathway to wealth creation and a thriving national economy. Today, U.S. minority business enterprises (MBEs) represent 29% of all firms but only 11% have paid employees. If MBEs were to obtain entrepreneurial parity, the U.S. economy would realize 13 million more jobs.”

Key Stats

From Census.gov / Topics / Business and Economy:

Business and Owner Characteristics

Press Release: Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (December 2021)

Infographic: Employer and Nonemployer Firms (December 2021)

Note: The source for the stats in the table above can be found in Table AB1800NESD05 below.

Table AB1800NESD05, Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics series (NES-D): Statistics for Employer and Nonemployer Firms by Industry, Sex, Ethnicity, Race, and Veteran Status for the U.S., States and Metro Areas: 2018

Press Release: Census Bureau Releases New Data on Minority-Owned, Veteran-Owned and Women-Owned Businesses (October 2021)

More Stats

From the Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI):

Data Tool: QWI Explorer, Beginning of Quarter Employment Counts by Race (scroll down for table)

Data Tool: QWI Explorer, Beginning of Quarter Employment Counts by Ethnicity (scroll down for table)

Note: From QWI 101, Overview: The Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) provide local labor market statistics by industry, worker demographics, employer age and size. Unlike statistics tabulated from firm or person-level data, the QWI source data are unique job-level data that link workers to their employers. Because of this link, labor market data in the QWI is available by worker age, sex, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity. This allows for analysis by demographics of a particular local labor market or industry – for instance, identifying industries with aging workforces.

From Surveys & Programs > Annual Business Survey (ABS) Program:

ABS Tables for 2020, find tables below (Note: 2020 ABS covers reference year 2019)

2020 Annual Business Survey (ABS) – Company Summary (3 Table links below)

2020 Annual Business Survey (ABS) – Characteristics of Businesses

2020 Annual Business Survey (ABS) – Characteristics of Business Owners

Table AB1900CSA01, Annual Business Survey: Statistics for Employer Firms by Industry, Sex, Ethnicity, Race, and Veteran Status for the U.S., States, Metro Areas, Counties, and Places: 2019

Table AB1900CSA02, Annual Business Survey: Years in Business Statistics for Employer Firms by Sector, Sex, Ethnicity, Race, and Veteran Status for the U.S., States and Metro Areas: 2019

Table AB1900CSA03, Annual Business Survey: Receipts Size of Firm Statistics for Employer Firms by Sector, Sex, Ethnicity, Race, and Veteran Status for the U.S., States and Metro Areas: 2019

Note: To pen the three tables above, you may need to first click “Filters” on the right to close that window, then under “DOWNLOAD TABLE,” click “open the table.”

Source: 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates.

Related Information

Table DP05, ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, see RACE

United States Profile, select Race and Ethnicity