Issue in Brief
 Prepared by the National Women’s Business Council January 2004 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments: 

1997 to 2000 

The NWBC has entered into a ground-breaking agreement with the Census Bureau to produce annual tabulations on trends in the number and 

employment of women-owned employer establishments by state and industry. These are the only data available annually between Census years, and 

allow us to provide a detailed, more up-to-date picture of trends in women’s entrepreneurship. This issue in brief looks at changes between 1997 and 

2000, looking at two key measures: survival and changes in employment. These measures allow us to examine the stability and growth of existing 

businesses and their locations. Industry- and state-level changes are investigated to allow an understanding of not only the overall picture, but detailed 

trends. Future issues in brief based on these tabulations will be published in 2004, and will focus on such topics as survival and growth among 

minority women-owned establishments and changes by size of enterprise, based on number of employees. This issue in brief, as well as those to be 

published in the future, looks at establishments – or locations – in total, rather than focusing on individual businesses at the enterprise level. 

Background1 

In 1997, women owned more than 5.4 million non-farm 

businesses, generating $818.7 billion in business revenues.2 

Sixteen percent (15.6%) of these business enterprises3 had 

a paid employee or employees other than the owner, 

employing in total nearly 7.1 million people. 

This Issue in Brief describes trends among just those 

enterprises with at least one paid employee at any point 

during 1997 and focuses on business establishments – or 

locations.4 Comparisons are made to all establishments, 

1 The Census Bureau’s Economic Census is the major source of 

detailed information about the structure and functioning of the 

Nation’s economy. Title 13 of the United States Code directs the 

Census Bureau to take the economic census every 5 years, 

covering years ending in 2 and 7. The most recently available 

statistics come from the 1997 Economic Census, published in 

2001. 

2 Women-owned firms include only privately-held firms with 

51% or more ownership by a woman or women. 

3 An enterprise is a business organization consisting of one or 

more domestic establishments (locations) that were specified 

under common ownership or control. 

4 The following example illustrates the difference between 

establishments and enterprises: if a business consolidated 

multiple locations and employees into a single location, we 

would see a decrease in the number of establishments without a 

corresponding decrease in either enterprises or employment. 

This is important to consider, as an establishment “death” does 

not necessarily equate to a business enterprise closure. 

which also include only those with at least one paid 

employee during 1997. 

In 1997, more than 97% of businesses with paid 

employees – both women-owned and in total – consisted 

of a single establishment. Among women-owned employer 

firms, those with a single location accounted for 78% of 

the employment and 69% of the revenues of all womenowned employer firms, while multiple-establishment firms 

accounted for 22% of employment and 31% of revenues 

of all women-owned employer firms. Among all employer 

firms, those with a single location accounted for 47% of 

the employment and 34% of the revenues of all employer 

firms, while multiple-establishment firms accounted for 

53% of the employment at 66% of the revenues of all 

employer firms. 

Business Establishment Survival 

Fully three-quarters (75.5%) of the employer business 

locations in existence in 1997 were still in operation three 

years later. Women-owned employer establishments were 

just as likely to have remained in business over the period 

(75.1% survived). Thus, women-owned businesses exhibit 

the same tenacity and survival rates as the average U.S. 

employer firm. 

409 3rd Street, SW, Suite 210  Washington, DC 20024  202-205-3850 (p)  202-205-6825 (f)  www.nwbc.gov 
 

 

 

 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments, pg. 2 

Across the United 

States, survival 

rates among 

women-owned 

businesses appear 

to be strongest in 

the Northeast and 

Mid-Atlantic – six 

out of the ten 

states with the 

highest survival 

rates were in these 

regions. 5 

The ten states with 

the highest survival 

rates from 1997 to 

2000 among 

women-owned 

employer 

Survival Rates Among Women-Owned 

Establishments, 1997 to 2000
 

Well-Above Average

 Above Average 

Average 

Below Average 

Well Below Average 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau tabulations, prepared under contract to the National Women's Business Council 

establishments 

were: 

•	 New York (80.8% survival); 

•	 New Hampshire (80.0%); 

•	 Connecticut (79.2%); 

•	 Maryland (78.1%); 

•	 New Jersey (77.9%); 

•	 Illinois (77.8%); 

•	 Oklahoma (77.6%); 

•	 California (77.2%); 

•	 Pennsylvania (77.0%); and 

•	 Nebraska (76.9%). 

Two of these states (Pennsylvania and Nebraska) also 

ranked in the top ten based on survival rates among all 

establishments. 

The ten states with the lowest survival rates from 1997 to 

2000 among women-owned employer establishments were: 

•	 Arizona (67.9%); 

•	 Tennessee (68.0%); 

•	 Arkansas (68.1%); 

5 It is interesting to note that the best-performing states do not 

necessarily correlate to the fastest-growing states for womenowned businesses, as discussed in recent research. The rankings 

discussed here are based on the stability and growth of existing 

businesses and locations, as opposed to new business growth. 

Additionally, this issue brief examines only enterprises with 

employees. 

•	 Vermont 

(69.0%); 

•	 Nevada (69.0%); 

•	 Delaware 

(69.3%); 

•	 New Mexico 

(70.3%); 

•	 Oregon (70.8%); 

•	 Florida (71.0%); 

and 

•	 Alaska (71.2%). 

Five of these states 

(Arizona, Arkansas, 

Nevada, New Mexico, 

and Florida) also ranked 

in the bottom ten based 

on survival rates among 

all establishments. 

Survival rates between 

1997 and 2000 were highest for women-owned employer 

establishments in these industries: 

•	 Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing (78.7% survival); 

•	 Wholesale Trade (78.5%); 

•	 Manufacturing (78.2%); 

•	 Finance/Insurance/Real Estate (77.7%); and 

•	 Services (74.9%). 

Looking at more detailed industry categories, nine of the 

fifteen detailed industry categories with the highest survival 

rates for women-owned employer establishments are 

found in Manufacturing: 

•	 Manufacturing - Petroleum/Coal Products 

(93.8%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Primary Metal industries (92.8%); 

•	 Finance/Insurance/Real Estate - Depository 

Institutions (92.0%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Chemicals (88.1%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Paper (87.9%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Fabricated Metal (84.2%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Industrial Machinery and 

Equipment (83.6%); 

•	 Retail Trade - Building Materials & Garden 

Supplies (83.4%); 

•	 Finance/Insurance/Real Estate - Security and 

Commodity Brokers (82.1%); 

•	 Retail - Automotive Dealers & Service Stations 

(82.0%); 
 

 

 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments, pg. 3 

•	 Manufacturing - Instruments (82.0%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Stone, Clay and Glass Products 

(80.9%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Electronics (80.7%); 

•	 Transportation/Communications/Utilities - Water 

Transportation (80.0%); and 

•	 Wholesale Trade - Durable Goods (79.9%). 

Trends in Employment 

In addition to examining survival, business health may also 

be measured by employment growth. Looking at those 

employer firms that 

were in business in 

decrease in employment (29%, compared to 32% of all 

businesses). 

Stated another way, among the surviving women-owned 

employer establishments, those that expanded employment 

outnumbered those that shed jobs – fully 42% expanded 

their employment between 1997 and 2000, while 29% saw 

their employment remain the same, and 29% contracted, 

or decreased the number of employees. 

Similarly, among the surviving establishments in total, 43% 

expanded their 

employment between 

1997 and 2000, 26% 1997, there was a net Employment Change Among Women-Owned saw their employment loss of employment of Establishments, 1997 to 2000	 remain the same, and 6.7% between 1997 

and 2000.6 Womenowned employer firms 

proved to be more 

resilient over the 

period, with a much 

lower 4.2% decline in 

employment among 

those firms in 

business in 1997. This 

is due in large part to 

job growth from 

women-owned 

establishments that 

expanded their 

employee base over 

this period. 

Among those employer establishments that were still in 

business in 2000, similar percentages of women-owned 

and all establishments increased employment (42% and 

43%, respectively), while a greater percentage of womenowned establishments held their employee base (29%, 

compared to 26% of all businesses) and a smaller 

percentage of women-owned establishments saw a 

6 Establishments that were formed after 1997 are not included in 

these tabulations. Thus, references to changes in employment 

refer to changes from 1997 to 2000 among only those 

establishments in existence in 1997 and do not take into account 

new firm creation since that time. According to a new Census 

Bureau working paper, start-ups in the first two years of 

operation accounted for virtually all of the net new jobs in the 

economy. Factoring in new firm formation, overall employment 

grew by 5.3% between December 1997 and December 2000, 

according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor 

Statistics. 

Well-Above Average

 Above Average 

Average 

Below Average 

Well Below Average 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau tabulations, prepared under contract to the National Women's Business Council 

32% contracted, or 

decreased the number 

of employees. 

From 1997 to 2000, 

five states (New 

Jersey, Maine, New 

York, Pennsylvania, 

and Rhode Island) saw 

growth in employment 

among women-owned 

establishments, while 

no states experienced 

growth in employment 

among all 

establishments. 

The ten states with the greatest growth (or smallest 

declines) in employment from 1997 to 2000 among 

women-owned establishments were: 

•	 New Jersey (22.3% growth in employment); 

•	 Maine (14.3%); 

•	 New York (8.1%); 

•	 Pennsylvania (4.2%); 

•	 Rhode Island (2.9%); 

•	 Virginia (-0.1%); 

•	 Montana (-0.4%); 

•	 Delaware (-0.4%); 

•	 Wisconsin (-0.9%); and 

•	 New Hampshire (-1.1%). 

Three of these states (Maine, Wisconsin and New 

Hampshire) also ranked in the top ten based on 

employment change among all establishments. 
 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments, pg. 4 

As with survival rates, employment change among women- Looking at more detailed industry categories, five of the 

owned businesses is strongest in the Northeast and Mid- fifteen strongest industry categories based on employment 

Atlantic regions, with eight out of ten states with the change are found in Services: 

highest change in employment in these regions. New 

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania 

ranked among the top ten states for women-owned 

establishments on both survival and employment change. 

The ten states with the largest declines in employment 

from 1997 to 2000 among women-owned establishments 

were: 

•	 Louisiana (-16.8%); 

•	 North Dakota (-16.3%); 

•	 District of Columbia (-13.9%); 

•	 Tennessee (-13.9%); 

•	 New Mexico (-13.4%); 

•	 Idaho (-13.0%); 

•	 Vermont (-12.8%); 

•	 Hawaii (-12.7%); 

•	 Alaska (-11.8%); and 

•	 Michigan (-11.3%). 

Five of these states (Louisiana, Tennessee, New Mexico, 

Hawaii and Michigan) also ranked in the bottom ten based 

on employment change among all establishments. 

Interestingly, Vermont ranked in the bottom ten states 

from 1997 to 2000 among women-owned establishments 

based on both survival rates and employment change, 

while it ranked in the top ten states for both measures 

among all establishments. Alaska, New Mexico, Tennessee 

and Vermont all ranked among the bottom ten states for 

women-owned establishments on both survival and 

employment change. 

From 1997 to 2000, two industries – Agriculture/ 

Forestry/Fishing and Construction – saw growth in 

employment among women-owned establishments and 

among all establishments. Four out of five of the top 

industries based on survival rates among women-owned 

establishments were also the top industries in terms of 

employment growth. The industries with the greatest 

growth (or smallest decline) in employment from 1997 to 

2000 among women-owned establishments were: 

•	 Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing (7.4% growth in 

employment); 

•	 Construction (6.4%); 

•	 Services (-1.2%); 

•	 Wholesale Trade (-2.9%); and 

•	 Finance/Insurance/Real Estate (-5.5%). 

•	 Services - Museums and Botanical & Zoological 

Gardens (13.4%); 

•	 Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing - Agricultural 

Services (7.7%); 

•	 Finance/Insurance/Real Estate - Depository 

Institutions (7.7%); 

•	 Construction - Heavy Construction excluding 

Building (7.3%); 

•	 Construction - Special Trade Contractors (6.8%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Transportation Equipment 

(5.4%); 

•	 Retail – Building materials & garden supplies 

(5.0%); 

•	 Services - Engineering and Management Services 

(4.6%); 

•	 Finance/Insurance/Real Estate - Security and 

Commodity Brokers (4.3%); 

•	 Services - Business Services (3.8%); 

•	 Construction - General Building Contractors 

(3.6%); 

•	 Finance/Insurance/Real Estate - Insurance 

agents, brokers and services (2.4%); 

•	 Manufacturing - Furniture and Fixtures (2.1%); 

•	 Services - Social Services (1.9%); 

•	 Services - Health Services (1.3%); and 

•	 Manufacturing – Paper (1.3%). 

Conclusions and Recommendations 

Women-owned employer establishments showed similar 

rates of survival as all establishments from 1997 to 2000, 

with three-quarters of establishments still in existence after 

three years. While variations in survival were seen across 

the U.S. – with the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states 

outperforming other areas of the country – even the states 

with the lowest levels of survival saw more than two-thirds 

of women-owned employer establishments surviving from 

1997 to 2000. Similarly, at least two-thirds of womenowned employer establishments in each industry survived 

over this time period, with some industries – Agribusiness 

and Wholesale Trade – enjoying nearly 80% survival rates. 

Employment among women-owned establishments that 

were in existence in 1997 decreased by just 4.2% between 

1997 and 2000, compared to 6.7% employment loss 

among all establishments. The growth in employment 

among women-owned establishments that expanded – that 
 

 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments, pg. 5 

is, those establishments with more employees in 2000 than 

in 1997 – almost completely offset losses in employment 

from those establishments that either closed or contracted 

(decreased employment between 1997 and 2000). Again, it 

is important to remember that a decrease in the number of 

establishments does not necessarily equate to the closure 

of a business enterprise, as consolidations and the like may 

explain establishment “deaths.” 

Among those employer establishments that were still in 

business in 2000, similar percentages of women-owned 

and all establishments increased employment, while a 

greater percentage of women-owned establishments held 

their employee base and a smaller percentage of womenowned establishments saw a decrease in employment. 

Among the surviving employer firms – both womenowned and in total – establishments that expanded 

employment outnumbered those that shed jobs. 

Despite overall losses in employment among womenowned establishments, Agribusiness and Construction – as 

well as sub-industries within the Services, Manufacturing 

and Retail Trade sectors – showed net employment gains 

from 1997 to 2000 among women-owned businesses. In 

nearly every industry – excluding Mining and Retail – 

employment in women-owned establishments saw lower 

declines or greater gains than all establishments. 

As with survival rates, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic 

regions outperformed the rest of the U.S., with eight of the 

ten states with the highest growth rates in employment 

among women-owned establishments falling in these 

regions. In contrast, just three of the ten states with the 

highest employment growth among all establishments were 

in the Northeast, with none in the Mid-Atlantic region. 

Thus, rather than attributing this growth to overall 

employment growth, there appear to be different factors at 

work for women-owned establishments. We recommend 

further investigation into these state and regional 

differences to uncover such factors. 

We also believe that, in between Census years, there would 

be great benefit in examining new firm creation, even if 

only among businesses with employees. We recommend 

that this data be collected and made available for analysis, 

in order to provide an even richer understanding of 

establishment dynamics and sources of employment gains 

and losses. 

Future analysis of the data that have been provided to us 

by the Census Bureau will delve into such issues as race 

and establishment size to examine potential impacts on 

survival and employment change. The next analysis, 

expected to be released in the spring of 2004, will examine 

whether there are differences in survival and employment 

change among employer firms owned by women of color. 
 

 

 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments, pg. 6 

Table 1: Survival Rates and Change in Employment for Employer Establishments By State 

Survival Rate 

1997–2000 

% Change in 

Employment 

1997-2000 

Rank in Survival Rate 

By State 

Rank in % Change in 

Employment By State 

WomenOwned All WomenOwned All WomenOwned All WomenOwned All 

U.S. 75.1 75.5 -4.2 -6.7 

Alabama 71.9 74.8 -5.3 -9.0 39 23 35 46 

Alaska 71.2 74.4 -11.8 -7.3 42 43 40 32 

Arizona 67.9 72.0 -2.8 -7.6 51 14 49 38 

Arkansas 68.1 73.9 -8.4 -6.3 49 35 43 21 

California 77.2 74.4 -6.9 -5.5 8 31 41 13 

Colorado 72.5 73.7 -6.0 -5.6 35 28 45 14 

Connecticut 79.2 77.5 -4.6 -7.5 3 19 13 33 

Delaware 69.3 74.9 -0.4 -10.5 46 8 34 49 

District of 

Columbia 74.6 77.3 -13.9 -5.9 23 49 16 16 

Florida 71.0 70.3 -8.0 -7.8 43 33 51 40 

Georgia 72.2 73.0 -6.8 -6.8 37 30 47 26 

Hawaii 76.6 76.3 -12.7 -10.6 12 44 23 50 

Idaho 71.4 74.4 -13.0 -7.5 41 46 39 37 

Illinois 77.8 77.4 -2.2 -4.9 6 12 15 10 

Indiana 73.4 77.1 -5.8 -4.8 29 25 18 9 

Iowa 74.2 79.1 -1.9 -3.6 25 11 1 5 

Kansas 76.0 76.6 -3.4 -7.3 19 15 20 30 

Kentucky 73.8 76.5 -7.8 -7.5 27 32 21 34 

Louisiana 76.1 75.7 -16.8 -10.1 17 51 27 48 

Maine 76.1 77.6 14.3 -2.3 18 2 12 3 

Maryland 78.1 75.6 -4.1 -7.5 4 17 30 35 

Massachusetts 76.5 78.1 -2.4 -6.3 14 13 9 20 

Michigan 76.4 77.0 -11.3 -8.2 15 42 19 43 

Minnesota 76.8 78.8 -5.2 -4.0 11 22 5 6 

Mississippi 73.4 75.1 -5.1 -7.5 28 21 33 36 

Missouri 72.7 75.9 -4.4 -8.1 32 18 25 42 

Montana 71.6 75.8 -0.4 -5.9 40 7 26 17 

Nebraska 76.9 78.8 -10.8 -5.1 10 41 4 11 

Nevada 69.0 70.5 -4.9 -4.1 47 20 50 7 

New 

Hampshire 80.0 77.7 -1.1 -1.6 2 10 11 1 

New Jersey 77.9 75.5 22.3 -7.3 5 1 31 31 

New Mexico 70.3 74.0 -13.4 -11.8 45 47 42 51 

New York 80.8 76.3 8.1 -6.5 1 3 22 23 

North Carolina 75.5 75.7 -9.7 -7.1 20 37 29 28 

North Dakota 72.6 79.1 -16.3 -5.9 33 50 2 15 

Ohio 75.2 78.3 -5.8 -6.0 21 26 8 19 

Oklahoma 77.6 74.5 -6.0 -8.0 7 27 38 41 

Oregon 70.8 74.6 -10.1 -9.9 44 38 37 47 

Pennsylvania 77.0 78.6 4.2 -7.1 9 4 6 27 

Rhode Island 76.5 77.7 2.9 -6.8 13 5 10 25 

South Carolina 74.0 75.3 -9.5 -5.9 26 36 32 18 
 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments, pg. 7 

Table 1: Survival Rates and Change in Employment for Employer Establishments By State 

Survival Rate 

1997–2000 

% Change in 

Employment 

1997-2000 

Rank in Survival Rate 

By State 

Rank in % Change in 

Employment By State 

WomenOwned All WomenOwned All WomenOwned All WomenOwned All 

South Dakota 76.2 77.5 -10.7 -3.1 16 40 14 4 

Tennessee 68.0 74.6 -13.9 -8.3 50 48 36 44 

Texas 74.5 73.4 -6.2 -7.7 24 29 46 39 

Utah 71.9 72.7 -3.8 -7.1 38 16 48 29 

Vermont 69.0 78.5 -12.8 -2.2 48 45 7 2 

Virginia 72.9 75.9 -0.1 -5.1 31 6 24 12 

Washington 72.6 73.8 -5.5 -6.5 34 24 44 24 

West Virginia 73.2 77.2 -10.4 -8.8 30 39 17 45 

Wisconsin 74.8 79.1 -0.9 -4.8 22 9 3 8 

Wyoming 72.5 75.7 -8.1 -6.4 36 34 28 22 

Table 2: Survival Rates and Change in Employment for Employer Establishments By Industry 

Survival Rate 

1997–2000 

% Change in Employment 

1997-2000 

Women-Owned All Women-Owned All 

Total, All Industries 75.1 75.5 -4.2 -6.7 

Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing 78.7 75.2 7.4 0.6 

Construction 74.3 73.7 6.4 4.0 

Finance/Insurance/Real Estate 77.7 73.8 -5.5 -14.6 

Manufacturing 78.2 78.8 -7.6 -7.8 

Mining 66.6 72.7 -26.0 -19.9 

Retail Trade 74.5 74.6 -11.1 -10.8 

Services 74.9 77.2 -1.2 -3.4 

Transportation/Communications/Utilities 70.7 71.1 -7.8 -8.3 

Wholesale Trade 78.5 76.9 -2.9 -6.1 
 

 

Trends in Women-Owned Employer Establishments, pg. 8 

Methodology 

The data used in this analysis was provided by the Census 

Bureau, utilizing data based on the 1997 SWOBE7 survey. 

Establishments8 owned by the enterprises reported in the 

1997 SWOBE file were extracted and matched to the 1997 

data on the Business Information Tracking Series (BITS), a 

database containing longitudinal data (annual data from 

1989 through 2000) on virtually all non-farm U.S. business 

establishments with paid employees. Only those womenowned establishments with matching entries in the BITS 

are included in these tabulations. Using the BITS file, the 

Census Bureau was able to create longitudinal tabulations, 

which are tabulations that provide a study of business 

entities across a span of years. 

The tabulations make no attempt to track changes in 

ownership for those businesses that were identified as 

women-owned in 1997. Thus, the tabulations may include 

some establishments that were women-owned in 1997 but 

have changed ownership or undergone reorganization 

since 1997. Likewise, the tabulations do not include any 

women-owned establishment births or existing 

establishments which became women-owned after 1997. 

While the tabulations are at the establishment level, 

weights that were developed for the 1997 SWOBE survey 

were used. These weights were assigned at the enterprise 

level for the SWOBE; for this project, the enterprise 

weight was assigned to each of the establishments 

belonging to the enterprise. 

The 1997 SWOBE estimates were derived from a sample 

survey that was subject to sampling error. The sample size 

(which includes both SWOBE and SMOBE – The Survey 

of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises) was 2,532,911. 

This particular sample was one of a large number of all 

possible samples of the same size that could have been 

selected using the same sample design. Estimates derived 

from different samples would differ from each other. The 

relative standard error is a measure of the variability among 

the estimates from all possible samples. 

All surveys and censuses are subject to non-sampling 

errors. Non-sampling errors are attributable to many 

sources, including coverage problems, imputation for 

missing data, and errors in data collection. Explicit 

measures of the effects of these non-sampling errors are 

not available for the 1997 SWOBE and therefore are 

unavailable for these tabulations. 

We are extremely grateful to Ruth Runyan, Valerie Strang 

and Trey Cole at the Census Bureau for their assistance on 

this project. 

The National Women’s Business Council is a bi-partisan 

Federal government body created to serve as an 

independent source of advice and policy recommendations 

to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business 

Administration on economic issues of importance to 

women business owners. Members of the Council are 

prominent women business owners and leaders of 

women’s business organizations. For more information 

about the Council, its mission and activities, contact: 

National Women’s Business Council, 409 3rd Street, SW, 

Suite 210, Washington, DC 20024; phone: 202-205-3850; 

fax: 202-205-6825; e-mail: nwbc@sba.gov, web site: 

http://www.nwbc.gov. 

7 The Survey of Women-Owned Business Enterprises (SWOBE) 

provides basic economic data on businesses owned by women. 

8 An establishment is a single, physical location where business is 

conducted or where services or industrial operations are 

performed.