Women in Business

A Demographic Review of Women’s Business Ownership

Ying Lowrey, Office of Economic Research, 

Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration

2006. [48] pages.

The opinions and recommendations of the authors of this study do not necessarily reflect official policies of the U.S. Small Business 

Administration or other agencies of the U.S. government.

Focusing on the special characteristics of womenowned businesses and women’s economic wellbeing, this report provides newly released information on women in the work force and women-owned 

businesses, including women’s population statistics, their labor force participation, age, education, 

occupation, work schedules, average personal and 

household income, business ownership, and business 

dynamics. 

Highlights

• Women constituted more than 51 percent of the 

American population and nearly 47 percent of the 

labor force in 2004.

• Of women in the United States, 14.5 percent 

were in poverty in 2004. The poverty rate among 

unemployed women was more than double the rate 

among women overall, at 31.8 percent.

• Nearly one in four families, or more than 8.3 

million, was headed by a single mother caring for 

her own children younger than 18. Families headed 

by single fathers numbered 2.3 million. 

• In 2002, women owned 6.5 million or 28.2 percent of nonfarm U.S. firms. More than 14 percent of 

these women-owned firms were employers, with 7.1 

million workers and $173.7 billion in annual payroll. 

• Women-owned firms accounted for 6.5 percent 

of total employment in U.S. firms in 2002 and 4.2 

percent of total receipts. 

• Compared with non-Hispanic white business 

owners, of whom 28 percent were women, minority groups in the United States had larger shares of 

women business owners, ranging from 31 percent of 

Asian American to 46 percent of African American 

business owners. 

• Of all women business owners, 8.33 percent 

claimed Hispanic heritage, 85.95 White, 8.43 percent 

African American, 1.23 percent American Indian and 

Alaska Native, 5.25 percent Asian, and 0.18 percent 

Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander.

• Almost 80 percent of women-owned firms had 

receipts totaling less than $50,000 in both 1997 and 

2002. Total receipts for firms in this under-$50,000 

group constituted about 6 percent of total womenowned business receipts in both years.

• The 7,240 women-owned firms with 100 

employees or more accounted for $275.0 billion in 

gross receipts or 34.2 percent of the total receipts of 

women-owned employer firms in 2002.

• The largest shares of women-owned business 

receipts were in wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing in both 1997 and 2002. 

• According to 2002 data, significant proportions 

of women-owned businesses were in professional, 

scientific, and technical services, and in health care 

and social assistance, but the share of receipts in 

these businesses was smaller than in the trades and 

manufacturing. 

• Between 1997 and 2002, the numbers of 

women-owned firms overall increased by 19.8 percent and of women-owned employer firms, by 8.3 

percent. 

• Firms owned by women increased employment by 70,000; those owned by men lost 1 million 

employees; those owned jointly by men and women 

lost 2.6 million; and publicly held and other firms 

not identified by gender of ownership increased 

employment by 10.9 million between 1997 and 

2002.

August 2006 No. 280
• Overall, neither women nor men saw the 

receipts and payroll of their firms increase as fast as 

those of large publicly held firms and other firms not 

classifiable by gender.

• The number of businesses owned by Native 

Hawaiian and other Pacific Island women grew 103 

percent between 1997 and 2002, compared with an 

80 percent increase in the number owned by men in 

this ethnic group. African American women added 

75 percent more businesses. Businesses owned by 

Hispanic men increased by 38 percent. 

• The number of businesses owned equally by 

men and women declined over the 1997–2002 period, except those owned by African Americans.

Scope and Methodology

Data sources include, but are not limited to 

the Current Population Survey, the American 

Community Survey, the Economic Census, and the 

Survey of Business Owners. See the report’s appendix for detail on data and its limitations.

This report was peer reviewed consistent with 

the Office of Advocacy’s data quality guidelines. 

More information on this process can be obtained 

by contacting the director of economic research at 

advocacy@sba.gov.

Ordering Information

The full text of this report and summaries of other 

studies performed under contract with the U.S. Small 

Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy are 

available on the Internet at www.sba.gov/advo/research. 

Copies are available for purchase from:

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

(800) 553-6847 or (703) 605-6000

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www.ntis.gov

Order number: PB2006-113527

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