The Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics series (NES-D) provides information on the demographic characteristics of nonemployer businesses. The NES-D is the result of a research project by the Census Bureau to complete the picture of U.S. business ownership by demographics for the United States. Historically, the quinquennial Survey of Business Owners (SBO) provided the only comprehensive source of information on both employer and nonemployer businesses by demographic characteristics of the business owners. In 2017, the SBO was replaced by the Annual Business Survey (ABS). The ABS is an annual survey that collects demographic characteristics from employer businesses. However, the ABS excludes the collection of demographic data from nonemployer businesses. The NES-D was developed to produce similar estimates as ABS on owner demographics for nonemployer businesses. The NES-D is not a survey; rather, it leverages existing individual-level administrative records to assign demographic characteristics to the universe of nonemployer businesses. Demographic characteristics including sex, ethnicity, race, veteran status, owner age, place of birth, and U.S. citizenship are assigned to nonemployer business owners.

Together, the NES-D and the ABS will continue to provide the only source of detailed and comprehensive statistics on the scope, nature and activities of all U.S. businesses by the demographic characteristics of the business owners. NES-D data will be available annually by detailed geography and industry levels, receipt-size class, and legal form of organization (LFO).