Oct. 28, 2021 —  The U.S. Census Bureau today released new estimates on the characteristics of employer businesses. According to the 2020 Annual Business Survey (ABS), which covers reference year 2019, approximately 18.7% (1.1 million) of U.S. employer businesses were minority-owned, veteran-owned businesses made up about 5.7% (331,151) of all businesses.  About 20.9% (1.2 million) of businesses were owned by women.

Additional highlights:

• Veteran-owned businesses had an estimated $963.4 billion in receipts, 4.0 million employees and about $191.6 billion in annual payroll.
• The number of Hispanic-owned businesses had a growth of about 4.6% from 2018. In 2019, Hispanic-owned businesses made up about 6.0% (346,836) of all businesses, with an estimated $463.3 billion in annual receipts, 2.9 million employees and about $108.4 billion in annual payroll.
• There were an estimated 581,200 Asian-owned businesses with about 23.8% (138,043) in the Accommodation and Food Services sector. Asian-owned businesses had the largest estimated receipts ($874.6 billion) among minority race groups across all sectors.
• There were an estimated 134,567 Black- or African American-owned businesses with $133.7 billion in annual receipts, 1.3 million employees and about $40.5 billion in annual payroll. About 29.5% (39,705) of these businesses were in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector.
• There were an estimated 26,064 American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses with $35.8 billion in receipts, 215,049 employees and about $8.7 billion in annual payroll.
• There were an estimated 7,331 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses with approximately $8.5 billion in receipts, 51,869 employees and about $1.9 billion in annual payroll.

The ABS is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation and conducted jointly with the Census Bureau. The ABS measures research and development for microbusinesses, innovation, and technology and provides annual data on select economic and demographic characteristics for businesses and business owners by sex, ethnicity, race and veteran status. Additional data on research and development and innovation will be released by NCSES in the coming months.

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