Small Business Administration 

National Women’s Business Council 

Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 

Prepared by 

The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations found in this study are 

those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Women’s 

Business Council, the United States Small Business Administration, or the United States 

Government. 

1220 19th Street NW 

Suite 502 

Washington DC 20036 

202-223-8877
 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................... 2 

II. HIGHLIGHTS ............................................................................. 3 

III. METHODOLOGY........................................................................ 6 

IV. CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN-LED BUSINESSES.......................... 8 

A. State Level Contributions of Women-Led Firms ................................ 8 

B. Industry Level Contributions of Women-Led Firms............................ 18 

C. Contributions of Women-Led Firms by Race/Ethnicity....................... 21 

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.................................................... 27 

VI. APPENDIX OF SUPPLEMENTAL DATA TABLES.............................. 29 

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I. INTRODUCTION 

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) awarded Concentrance Consulting 

Group, Inc. (Concentrance) a contract to research developments in women’s business issues 

based on the data NWBC received from the U.S. Census Bureau. This report follows 

Concentrance Consulting Group’s initial report on the Special Tabulations of Census Bureau 

Data presented to NWBC and it explores in greater detail the contributions of Women-Led 

businesses. 

The Special Tabulations that the Census Bureau developed for NWBC were derived from 

the “2002 Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons” (SBO). In 2006, the 

Bureau finished its publication of this data, but it published only a portion of the 

voluminous data it collected. Data that were published included information about 

businesses that were at least 51% owned by women. Collected, but not published, were data 

on Women-Led businesses where a woman owned at least as much as any other owner and 

managed the day-to-day operations of the firms. NWBC believes that Women-Led firms 

make a substantial contribution to the American economy and that their omission from 

generally reported data understates the total economic impact of women’s businesses. 

In our initial report, we examined Women-Owned, Women-Led, and Women-Owned & 

Led firms by receipts, compensation, geography, industry, and demographics. In this report, 

we provide greater detail on the distribution and contributions of Women-Led businesses. 

We focused on two aspects of Women-Led businesses. First we examined the distribution 

and contributions of Women-Led businesses across states and across industries. Second we 

explored the racial/ethnic distribution of Women-Led businesses across states and 

industries. 

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Women-Led businesses were not evenly distributed across the United States. 

Women-Led businesses made substantial contributions to the US economy in 

2002. 

II. HIGHLIGHTS 

Concentrance Consulting Group prepared the following report on the distribution and 

contributions of Women-Led businesses, using data developed by the Census Bureau from 

the 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO) for the National Women’s Business Council. 

The Census Bureau data included number of firms, industries, revenues, compensation, 

demographics, and customer type for Women-Owned & Led (WOWL) firms. We 

incorporated additional SBO data to differentiate Women-Led firms from Women-Owned 

firms. The following represent highlights of our data analysis. 

	 There were 1,017,804 Women-Led firms, which constituted 14% of all Women-Owned 

& Led firms. 

	 Women-Led businesses generated $306 billion in revenues, or about 3% of U.S. Gross 

Domestic Product for 2002. 

	 Women-Led firms retained 2.5 million employees, and paid $56 billion in payroll in 

2002. 

	 Thirty four percent of Women-Led firms were located in just five states: California, 

Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois. Thirty six percent of receipts for Women-Led 

firms were earned in those states. 

	 California had the highest number of Women-Led firms and was the only state with over 

100,000 Women-Led firms. 

	 The District of Columbia had the lowest number of Women-Led firms and was the only 

region with fewer than 1,000. 

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Most Women-Led businesses were led by White women. 

Women-Led businesses had relatively larger numbers in states with smaller 

populations.

 The states with highest concentrations of Women-Led firms relative to all firms were 

Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wyoming. 

 California, New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia had low 

concentrations of Women-Led firms relative to all firms. 

 In this study we examined the varying capture rates of five racial/ethnic groups in 13 

urbanized states. By capture rate, we mean how well a race/ethnicity’s percent of 

Women-Led businesses matched that race/ethnicity’s percent of total population for the 

state. 1

 White women had higher capture rates of Women-Led businesses in states with lower 

White populations. For instance, of the states we examined, California had the lowest 

percentage of White population (54.5%), but White women had the highest capture rate 

of Women-Led firms. In contrast, the lowest capture rates for White women were in 

states with high percentages of White populations (Wisconsin, Ohio, and Oregon). 

 Asian women had their highest capture rates of Women-Led businesses in Texas, 

Florida, and Pennsylvania. 

 Hispanic or Latina women had their highest capture rate of Women-Led businesses in 

Florida, with low rates in Wisconsin and Oregon. 

 Black or African American women had low capture rates of Women-Led businesses in 

every state that we examined. The highest rates for Black or African American women 

were in Texas and California. 

 Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinas, and American Indians or Native 

Alaskans never captured the number of Women-Led firms that their shares of 

population would have indicated. 

1

 Capture rates are discussed in the body of the report in Section IV C. 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

A small number of industries accounted for most of the numbers of WomenLed firms and most of the receipts. 

 

 

	 Five industries accounted for more than 60% of the number of Women-Led firms. Five 

industries also accounted for more than 68% of receipts. (These groups were not 

identical.) 

	 Retail trade was the industry with the highest number of Women-Led firms (20% of the 

total) and the highest amount of receipts (25% of the total). 

	 Sixty percent of Women-Led firms were concentrated in industries whose receipts fell 

below the average revenue for all industries. 

	 Receipts per Women-Led firm were highest in wholesale trade; manufacturing; and 

management of companies. There were relatively low numbers of Women-Led firms in 

these industries. 

	 Real estate and rental and leasing; professional, scientific, and technical services; and 

other services (except public administration) ranked among the lowest industries for 

receipts per Women-Led firm, although they ranked among the highest industries in 

terms of number of firms. 

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III. METHODOLOGY 

Data Description 

Concentrance used two sources of data in this report. First, we relied on the NWBC Special 

Tabulations dataset to provide data on the entire population of women’s businesses: 

Women-Owned & Led firms. Second, we used the SBO database to acquire data on 

Women-Owned2

 firms for the fifty states and the District of Columbia. To calculate the 

values for Women-Led firms, Concentrance subtracted the values for Women-Owned firms 

from values of Women-Owned & Led firms. 

Selections 

This report reviews in greater detail the contributions of Women-Led businesses in relation 

to our economy. In addition, we analyze those contributions by race/ethnicity, by state, and 

by industry. 

Approach 

To select the information we believed best represented the contributions of Women-Led 

firms, we looked at the data in two ways. The first approach was to search for the highs and 

lows, answering the questions: which states and industries contained the highest and lowest 

number of Women-Led firms? And, which states and industries contributed the highest and 

lowest amounts of sales for these firms? Our second approach was to examine the 

contribution of Women-Led firms as a percent of all Women-Owned & Led firms: in which 

states and industries did Women-Led firms contribute the highest and lowest percentage 

shares of all women’s firms? 

Data Limitations 

Our report was limited by the availability of data from our two sources: the SBO dataset and 

the Women-Owned & Led dataset. These limitations were largely due to the reporting 

constraints imposed by the Census Bureau, which would not publish data when the sample 

of firms was so low that the published data might reveal proprietary information about 

specific firms. Data were also suppressed when publication standards were not met.3

 This 

was especially in the case of the Women-Owned & Led dataset. 

2

 The SBO database used the term Female-Owned. For consistency of reference with the NWBC Special 

Tabulations data, Concentrance employed the term Women-Owned instead. 

3

 “Estimates are suppressed when publication standards are not met, such as, the firm count is less than 3,
 

or the relative standard error of the sales and receipts is 50 percent or more.” Introductory Text, 2002
 

Survey of Business Owners, U.S. Census Bureau. 

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Concentrance found that revenues by racial/ethnic groups at the state or industry level were 

withheld to avoid disclosing data of individual companies, so our discussion of the 

contributions made are limited to the racial/ethnic groups’ representation by numbers of 

firms. Non-disclosure of Women-Owned & Led data prevented a broad review of revenues 

by the Census Bureau’s Combined Statistical Areas (CSA), since data for many CSAs were 

not published. Where Women-Owned & Led data were unavailable, we could not calculate 

the Women-Led data. 

Table 1, below, shows the share of the data available for numbers of firms, receipts, number 

of employees and payroll by percent. Table 2 shows the share of data available for these 

categories by actual number. For instance, at the most detailed level, ‘Sum of industry 

figures within a state’, data was published for only $17.3 billion out of a total annual payroll 

of $56.4 billion. Table 1 reflects this lack of data in percent, 31%. 

Table 1: Data Availability (Percent) 

Level Number of 

Firms 

Women-Led 

Receipts 

Number of 

Employees Annual Payroll 

Totals for all sectors (US) 

Sum of industry totals (US) 

Sum of given state totals 

Sum of industry figures within a state 

100% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

91% 

55% 

100% 

97% 

63% 

33% 

100% 

97% 

63% 

31% 

Table 2: Data Availability (Number) 

Level 

Number of 

Firms 

(Thousands) 

Women-Led 

Receipts 

($ Billions) 

Number of 

Employees 

(Thousands) 

Annual Payroll 

($ Billions) 

Totals for all sectors (US) 1,017 

Sum of industry totals (US) 1,019 

Sum of given state totals 1,019 

Sum of industry figures within a state 1,018 

306 

305 

277 

169 

2,496 

2,432 

1,582 

817 

56.4 

54.6 

35.3 

17.3 

Finally, data were only available for a single year, 2002. It was therefore impossible to 

evaluate how women’s businesses changed over time, or to compare that change to the 

fluctuation of the economy overall. 

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IV. CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN-LED BUSINESSES 

A. State Level Contributions of Women-Led Firms 

Contributions of Women-Led Firms in Numbers and Receipts 

There were a little over one million Women-Led firms in 2002. We display the receipts and 

numbers of firms by state in Charts 1a and 1b on the pages that follow. Chart 1a shows 

receipts and number of firms by state for all states that had 40,000 or more Women-Led firms. 

Chart 1b shows the data for states with less than 40,000 Women-Led firms. 

The firms were unevenly distributed across the states. For example, California, Texas, Florida, 

New York and Illinois accounted for 34% of the number of Women-Led firms. California, 

with 131,000 Women-Led firms, stood out even among the top five states as having almost 

twice the number of Women-Led firms as the next leading state (Texas). 

Some states had very few Women-Led businesses. For example, the eight smallest states 

(District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Delaware, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska and 

West Virginia) had less than 5,000 Women-Led firms. On average there were 20,000 WomenLed firms per state. Eighteen states had more than the average number of Women-Led firms, 

and 33 states had less. The great majority of states had less than 40,000 Women-Led firms; this 

can be seen in the clustering of observations in Chart 1a. 

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Chart 1a: Women-Led Firms Receipts vs. Number of Firms, by State4 

(All States) 

IL 

NY 

FL 

TX 

CA 

0 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 Receipts 

(Billions) 

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 

Number 

(Thousands) 

4

 See Table 4A.1 of the Appendix for the supporting data for Chart 1a. 

Only states with more than 40,000 Women-Led firms are labeled on the chart. 

There were no data published for: Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, North 

Dakota, New Jersey, and South Dakota. 

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12 Receipts
 

(Billions)
 OH 

PA 

10 

MI 

WI 

8 NC WA 

IN MS 

GA

VA AZ CO

6 

MA OR 

TN 

4 LA MD

IA AL KY OK SC 

NV CT HI UT 

NH ME NMNE ID MS
 

WY
 

2 

MT
 RI
 WV AK 

0 

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 

Number 

(Thousands) 

 

 

Chart 1b: Women-Led Firms Receipts vs. Number of Firms, by State 

(States with fewer than 40,000 Women-Led firms) 

Women-Led firms generated $306 billion in receipts (2.9% of U.S GDP) in 20025

. Again 

California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois generated more than $111 billion or 36% 

of all receipts by Women-Led businesses. The states with the lowest receipts were Rhode 

Island, Alaska, West Virginia, Wyoming and Montana. In each of those states, Women-Led 

firms generated less than $1.5 billion in receipts; average receipts per state were $6.6 billion. 

Fourteen states had higher than average receipts and 29 states had lower than average 

receipts. Receipts data were not available for 9 states, or 9% of the national receipts total. 

Overall, Chart 1 shows that states with large numbers of firms generated high volumes of 

receipts. 

5

 See Table 4A.1 of the Appendix for the supporting data for Chart 1b. 

According to the Economist, U.S GDP at current Market prices in 2002 was equal to $10.5 trillion.
 

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The average of receipts per firm was $292,000, with 24 states falling below the average and 

19 states rising above; no receipts data was available for the remaining 8 states. As we show 

in Table 2 below, receipts per firm were most likely to fall in the range between $250,000 

and $299,000.6 

Table 2: Distribution of States7 by Receipts per Firm 

Range of Frequency 

Receipts per Firm by State 

350-416 6 

300-349 8 

250-299 20 

189-250 8 

Not Available 9 

Table 3 below identifies the states with the highest and lowest receipts per firm. Among the 

states with high receipts per firm, only New York had greater than 40,000 firms. 

Table 3: States7 with Highest and Lowest Receipts per Firm 

States with Highest 

Receipts per Firm (Thousands) 

States with Lowest 

Receipts per Firm 

(Thousands) 

New Hampshire 416 Washington 241 

Hawaii 415 Colorado 235 

New York 374 Oklahoma 212 

Massachusetts 362 Idaho 203 

Wisconsin 357 Montana 189 

6 See Table 4A.1 of the Appendix for the state level receipts per firm. 7

 Includes the District of Columbia. 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

 

 

 

 

Contributions of Women-Led Firms by Number of Employees and 

Compensation Paid 

Women-Led firms provided employment for 2.5 million employees in 2002. The top 5 

employer states were California, Texas, Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania. This list is 

almost identical to the top 5 states by receipts with the exception of New York and Illinois, 

which had high receipts but lower numbers of employees. Together, the top 5 states 

employed 31% of all employees of Women-Led firms. On average, Women-Led firms 

employed 63,000 individuals per state. There were 10 states that exceeded the average, while 

15 states fell below the average. Data were not available for 26 states or 37% of the total 

number of employees. States where Women-Led firms provided the lowest levels of 

employment were Vermont, Maine, Mississippi, Rhode Island and New Mexico, which also 

ranked low in terms of numbers of Women-Led firms and receipts.8 

Women-Led employer firms paid $56.5 billion in payroll. Unsurprisingly, the top 5 states 

with highest annual payroll were identical to the states with highest numbers of employees. 

On average, Women-Led firms in each state provided $1.5 billion in payroll. In 9 states 

payroll levels exceeded the average, while 16 states fell below average. Data were not 

reported for 26 states, or 37% of the total payroll for all states. The 5 lowest states in terms 

of reported payroll were the same states with lowest numbers of employees. 

Average compensation per employee for all states was $22,600. In 7 states average 

compensation exceeded the average, while 18 states fell below average; data were not 

reported for 26 states. 

8

 See Table 4A.2 in the Appendix for state level data on number of employees, annual payroll and average 

compensation. 

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Contributions of Women-Led Firms by State 

Women-Led firms comprised varying percentages of the numbers of total businesses in each 

state – as little as 1.7% in the District of Columbia to as much as 8.9% in Idaho. In general, 

a higher percentage of numbers of firms was associated with a higher percentage of receipts.9 

Map 1a on the next page shows the distribution of Women-Led businesses as a percent of all 

SBO firms. The states with the highest concentrations of Women-Led firms (above 7%) 

were clustered in the upper Midwest and Northwest. States closest to that cluster had the 

next highest concentration of Women-Led firms (5-6.9%). Many states that had sizable 

economies, such as California, Illinois and Florida, had a low concentration of Women-Led 

firms and New York had the second lowest concentration of Women-Led firms (2.4%). 

Conversely, the states with the highest concentrations were not large economies. 

9 See Table 4A.3 in the Appendix for state level data of the relative contributions of Women-Led firms to 

the numbers of all businesses. 

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Map 1a: State level percent concentration of the number of Women-Led firms relative to all 

SBO firms10

DC Idaho 

1.7% 8.9% 

Alaska 

up to 3% 3-4.9% 5-6.9% 7% or more

Washington 

Montana North Dakota Vermont 

Maine 

Oregon Minnesota 

Idaho New Hampshire 

Wyoming 

South Dakota Wisconsin 

Michigan New York 

Connecticut 

Massachusetts 

Rhode Island 

California 

Nevada 

Utah 

Colorado 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Illinois Ohio 

Virginia 

Indiana 

Kentucky 

Pennsylvania 

West

Virginia 

New Jersey 

Maryland 

Delaware 

District 

of Columbia 

Tennessee 

North

Carolina 

Arizona New Mexico 

Oklahoma Arkansas South

Carolina 

Mississippi 

Alabama Georgia 

Hawaii Texas 

Louisiana 

Florida 

10 See Table 4A.3 in the Appendix for state level data of the relative contributions of Women-Led firms to 

numbers of all women’s businesses. 

 

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DC 

5.0% 

Idaho 

27.4% 

Alaska 

up to 10% 10-14.9% 15-19.9% 20% or more

Hawaii 

California 

Nevada 

Oregon 

Washington 

Utah 

Arizona 

Idaho 

Montana 

Colorado 

Wyoming 

New Mexico 

Texas 

Iowa 

Kansas Missouri 

Minnesota 

Nebraska 

Oklahoma 

South Dakota 

Arkansas 

North Dakota 

Louisiana 

Illinois Ohio 

Florida 

Alabama Georgia 

Wisconsin 

Virginia 

Indiana 

Michigan 

Mississippi 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Pennsylvania 

North 

Carolina 

South

Carolina 

West

Virginia 

New Jersey 

Maine 

New York 

Vermont 

Maryland 

New Hampshire 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Massachusetts 

Rhode Island 

District 

of Columbia 

The pattern was similar when we examined the percentages that Women-Led firms 

comprised of the number of Women-Owned & Led firms. We show this pattern in Map 1b 

below. 

Map 1b: State level percent concentration of the number of Women-Led firms relative to 

Women-Owned & Led firms11

11 See Table 4A.3 in the Appendix for state level data of the relative contributions of Women-Led firms to 

numbers of all women’s businesses. 
Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

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Connecticut Hawaii 

0.8% 3.9% 

Alaska 

up to 1% 1-1.4% 1.5-1.9% 2-2.4% 2.5% Data not 

or more available 

Washington 

Maine Montana North Dakota Vermont 

Oregon Minnesota 

Idaho New Hampshire 

South Dakota Wisconsin Massachusetts New York 

Wyoming Michigan Rhode Island 

Connecticut 

Iowa Pennsylvania Nevada Nebraska New Jersey 

Ohio Illinois Indiana	 Delaware Utah West Maryland California Colorado Virginia 

Kansas Virginia District 

Missouri Kentucky	 of Columbia 

North 

Carolina Tennessee 

Arizona Oklahoma 	 Arkansas South New Mexico	 Carolina 

Mississippi 

Alabama Georgia 

Hawaii Texas
 Louisiana
 

Florida 

The pattern of the receipts generated by Women-Led businesses as a percent of all SBO 

firms follows the pattern established above. We show this pattern in Map 2a below.

Map 2a: State level percent contribution of receipts of Women-Led firms relative to all SBO 

firms12

12 See Table 4A.1 in the Appendix for state level relative contributions of Women-Led firms to the receipts 

of all businesses. 
Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

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New York Wyoming 

17.5% 52.9% 

Alaska 

up to 20% 20-24.9% 25-29.9% 30-34.9% 35% Data not 

or more available

Washington 

Maine Montana North Dakota Vermont 

Oregon Minnesota 

Idaho New Hampshire 

South Dakota Wisconsin Massachusetts New York 

Wyoming Michigan Rhode Island 

Connecticut 

Iowa Pennsylvania Nevada Nebraska New Jersey 

Ohio Illinois Indiana	 Delaware Utah West Maryland California Colorado Virginia 

Kansas Virginia District 

Missouri Kentucky	 of Columbia 

North 

Carolina Tennessee 

Arizona Oklahoma 	 Arkansas South New Mexico	 Carolina 

Mississippi 

Alabama Georgia 

Hawaii Texas
 Louisiana
 

Florida 

The last map in the series is again similar to those shown earlier. Map 2b below shows the 

receipts generated by Women-Led businesses as a percent of all women’s businesses. 

Map 2b: State level percent contribution of receipts of Women-Led firms relative to 

Women-Owned & Led firms13

13 See Table 4A.3 in the Appendix for state level relative contributions of Women-Led firms to the receipts 

of all women’s businesses. 
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B. Industry Level Contributions of Women-Led Firms 

In this section, we examine the contribution of Women-Led firms in the 20 industries that 

constitute the highest roll-up of Census Bureau NAICS codes. 

Contributions of Women-Led Firms in Numbers and Receipts 

The numbers of Women-Led firms varied considerably across industries. There were over 

200,000 Women-Led firms in retail trade. The next largest industry was real estate, in which 

115,000 Women-Led firms operated. The top 5 industries accounted for more than half of 

the number of Women-Led firms. We show this in Chart 2 on the next page, which shows 

by industry the number of Women-Led firms and those firms’ receipts. The chart also shows 

industries that had very few Women-Led firms (shown in Table 4 on the next page). On 

average there were 50,000 firms in an industry. 

Receipts of Women-Led firms also varied considerably across industries. Again, retail trade 

was the largest industry in terms of receipts, generating $75 billion; second was wholesale 

trade. The wholesale industry was noteworthy as it accounted for 3% of all Women-Led 

firms, yet generated 16% of total receipts. Manufacturing was similar, as the number of 

Women-Led firms in that industry comprised 3% of all Women-Led firms, and accounted 

for 10% of the total receipts. The two smallest industries in terms of receipts were mining 

and management of companies and enterprises, which generated $997 million and $362 

million respectively, the only industries with less than $1 billion in receipts. On average 

industries generated $17 billion in receipts. There were 5 industries that had receipts above 

the average, while 13 industries had receipts that fell below average; data were not available 

for 2 industries (utilities, industries not classified). The missing receipts data for the 2 

industries represented only 1% of the total. 

The highest receipts per firm were in wholesale trade at $1,376,000. Receipts per firm were 

lowest in arts, entertainment, and recreation, at $89,000. Receipts per firm across all 

industries averaged $352,000. Five industries had higher receipts per firm than the average, 

for 13 industries receipts per firm were lower than the average, and data was lacking for 2 

industries: utilities and industries not classified. 

The measure of receipts per firm illustrates the strengths of the economic contributions 

made by Women-Led firms across industries. For instance, 4 out of the 5 industries with 

highest receipts per firm were also the industries with the highest total receipts (wholesale, 

manufacturing, retail trade, construction). Management of companies had few aggregate 

receipts but high receipts per firm. Conversely, the accommodation industry had high 

aggregate receipts but low receipts per firm. 

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80 

Receipts Retail 

(Billions) 70
 

60
 

50 

Wholesale 

40 

30 Manufacturing 

Construction 

20 Accommodation Prof. & Scientific 

Real estate Health care 

10 Finance Transp. Admin. & Support Other Services 

Art, entertainment 

0 

0 50 100 150 200 

Number 

(Thousands) 

 

Chart 2: Women-Led Firms: Receipts vs. Number of Firms, by Industry14 

Table 4: Industries with Lowest Numbers of Women-Led Firms 

Number 

Industry of Firms 

Information 12,108 

Mining 4,471 

Management of companies and enterprises 585 

Utilities 543 

Industries not classified 540 

14 The supporting data for Chart 2 is available in the Appendix Table 4B.1. 

Because of space considerations we did not label the following 5 industries that are clustered near the 

origin of the chart: Management of companies and enterprises, Mining, Information, Forestry, fishing &
 

hunting, and agriculture support services, Educational services. 

There were no data published for: Utilities, Industries not classified
 

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Contributions of Women-Led Firms to Employment and Compensation 

Women-Led firms employed 2.5 million people. The accommodation industry had the 

highest number of paid employees, with 503,000. Retail trade, manufacturing and 

construction also had high numbers of employees – 430,000, 213,000, and 210,000, 

respectively. Healthcare services complete the list of top employers with 235,000 employees. 

Finance, arts and information had the least number of employees, all below 50,000.15 On 

average an industry employed 174,000 people, with 6 industries higher than the average and 

8 industries lower than the average. Employment data were not available for 6 industries, 

which represented only 6% of the total number of employees. 

Turning from total number of employees to annual payroll we see the largest industries were 

retail trade ($7.8 billion), manufacturing ($6.8 billion), construction ($6.7 billion), 

accommodation ($5.5 billion) and healthcare ($5.1 billion). Industries with lowest annual 

payroll were information ($1.1 billion) and arts & entertainment ($738 million). On average 

an industry’s payroll was $3.9 billion, with 7 industries above the average, 7 below, and data 

not available for 6 industries. 

Industries varied considerably when it came to average compensation paid. Finance and 

insurance had the highest average compensation at $38,000. Average compensation for 

information was $37,100 with professional services at $36,700. The averages for wholesale 

trade and manufacturing were $35,400 and $32,100 respectively. Industries with lowest 

average compensation were retail trade ($18,200), arts & entertainment ($17,200), and 

accommodation and food services ($10,800). The overall average compensation was $22,600 

with 8 industries above and 6 industries below the average; data was not available for 6 

industries. 

15 See Table 4B.2 in the Appendix for industry level data on number of employees, annual payroll and 

average compensation. 

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C. Contributions of Women-Led Firms by Race/Ethnicity 

Geography 

In this section, we discuss the racial/ethnic distribution of Women-Led firms across 13 

urbanized states. Data at this level of detail were generally available for the numbers of firms 

but rarely for firms’ receipts. We made observations on the degree of success that the 

different races/ethnicities achieved and preface this discussion with a description of our 

approach to the data and its limitations. 

We present the data for Women-Led businesses by race/ethnicity by five different 

categories: White, Black or African American, Asian, Hispanic or Latina, and American 

Indian or Alaska Native.16 Within these categories, data were organized by the following 

states: California, Texas, Florida, New York Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, 

Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Washington. We chose these states 

because they contain the nation’s seventeen largest Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas 

(PMSAs)17. The PMSAs contain more than one city and often more than one state. We 

used only the first state listed in each PMSA and, as some were repeated, seventeen PMSAs 

became thirteen states (PMSA states). As these PMSAs had a strong representation of 

minorities, it follows that they would also have rich data on businesses owned and led by 

women of a racial/ethnic minority. 

In order to understand whether a particular racial/ethnic group is capturing its fair share of 

business in a state we developed a measure we call the ‘capture rate’. The intent of this 

measure is to identify a racial/ethnic group’s share of business in a state compared to that 

group’s share of population in the state. Two numbers determine the capture rate – first, the 

race/ethnicity’s percentage share of Women-Led business in a state (‘share of business’) and 

second, the race/ethnicity’s percentage share of a state’s total population (‘share of 

16 Geographic data was generally lacking for Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders and so they were excluded from 

the geographic analysis. 

17 PMSAs are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as one or more areas that have a population of at least one 

million people and a substantial commuting interchange. Taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American 

Fact Finder website, the seventeen PMSAs are Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT; ChicagoGary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI; Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN; Cleveland-Akron, OH; Dallas-Fort Worth, 

TX; Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO; Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI; Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX; Los 

Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA; Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL; Milwaukee-Racine, WI; New YorkNorthern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA; Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DEMD; Portland-Salem, OR-WA; Sacramento-Yolo, CA; San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA; SeattleTacoma-Bremerton, WA. 

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population’). The capture rate is calculated by dividing the share of business by the share of 

population, as shown in the following formula: 

share of business 

capture rate = 

share of population 

If the share of business is the same as the group’s share of population the capture rate is 1 or 

‘at parity’. If the share of business exceeds the group’s share of population then the capture 

rate is above 1 or ‘above parity’. Similarly, if the share of business is below the group’s share 

of population then the capture rate is below 1 or ‘below parity’. 

In Exhibit 1 below, we calculated the capture rates of Hispanic or Latina and White WomenLed firms in Ohio. The number .14 indicates that Hispanic or Latina firms captured 14% of 

their share of Women-Led firms based on population (below parity). White women fared 

much better, capturing over 100% of their share (above parity). 

Exhibit 1: Example Calculation of Capture Rate 

Ohio – Hispanic/Latina Share 

Hispanic/Latina share of business in Ohio: 0.3% 

Hispanic or Latina share of population in Ohio: 2.0% 

= Capture Rate of .14 

Ohio – White Share 

White Share of Women-Led Business in Ohio: 95.1% 

White Population in Ohio: 85.1% 

= Capture Rate of 1.12 

In the Appendix (Tables 4C.1-4C.5), we show the percentage of Women-Led firms by 

race/ethnicity by PMSA state. We also show the estimated population data of the 

racial/ethnic group from the U.S. Census Bureau. Finally, we show how well a racial/ethnic 

group captured its share of business with regard to its percent of a state’s population (its 

capture rate). 

Racial/Ethnic Capture Rates of Women-Led Firms 

We present the capture rates by race/ethnicity by state in Table 5 on the next page. White 

women were the only race/ethnicity that had above parity capture rates in all PMSA states. 

In California White Women-Led firms captured 77.4% of the state’s Women-Led firms: a 

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percentage that was lower than in any other PMSA state. At the same time the White 

population in California, 54.5%, was also lower than any other PMSA state. The result was 

the highest capture rate observed for White Women-Led business, 1.42. In contrast, the 

lowest rates of White Women-Led business capture were in the three states in which White 

women accounted for the highest percent of the population: Wisconsin, Ohio, and Oregon. 

Capture rates for Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinas and American Indians 

or Alaska Natives were below parity for all PMSA states. 

Table 5: Capture Rates by Race/Ethnicity for PMSA States18 

Capture Rate 

State 

American 

Indian 

and 

Alaska 

Native Asian 

Black or 

African 

American 

Hispanic 

or Latina White 

California 0.41 1.21 0.37 0.27 1.42 

Texas 0.71 1.98 0.31 0.25 1.41 

Florida 0.22 2.07 0.23 0.56 1.23 

New York 0.80 1.66 0.17 0.16 1.33 

Illinois NA 1.31 0.24 0.17 1.28 

Ohio NA 1.40 0.24 0.14 1.12 

Pennsylvania 0.00 2.05 0.16 0.17 1.11 

Michigan 0.16 1.26 0.24 0.20 1.16 

Wisconsin 0.11 0.46 0.16 0.07 1.11 

Colorado 0.14 1.04 0.13 0.11 1.24 

Oregon 0.05 0.91 0.12 0.07 1.13 

Massachusetts 0.41 1.06 0.20 0.24 1.12 

Washington 0.15 1.08 0.23 0.12 1.13 

13-State Average 0.29 1.35 0.22 0.19 1.22 

Highest in state for each group is in blue, lowest is in green. 

18 Table 4C.5 in the Appendix contains the component shares of business and population that constitute 

these capture rates. 

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Industry 

This section focuses on distribution by race/ethnicity of Women-Led business by industry. 

Although there was little available data on receipts, we have made some observations on the 

overall distribution of Women-Led firms by race/ethnicity. 

Over 50% of all Women-Led firms were in four industries: retail trade (19.6%); real estate 

and rental and leasing (11.3%); professional, scientific, and technical services (10.9%); and 

other services (except public administration) (10.8%). These industries were also important 

for the different races/ethnicities with considerable variation. Table 6a below shows the 

percent distribution of Women-Led businesses by race/ethnicity. 19 

Table 6a: Percent Distribution of Businesses by Race/Ethnicity 

Industry All Races 

American 

Indian 

and 

Alaska 

Native Asian 

Black or 

African 

American 

Hispanic 

or Latino 

Native 

Hawaiian 

and 

Other 

Pacific 

Islander White 

Accommodation & food 6.3 6.7 19.6 4.7 8.8 NA 5.6 

Administrative & support 5.7 2.5 3.3 11.4 11.3 14.7 5.7 

Arts & entertainment 3.9 2.8 1.0 3.4 1.0 13.2 4.1 

Construction 8.0 5.5 1.6 3.5 7.4 3.2 8.6 

Educational services 1.3 0.7 0.9 1.4 0.8 0.0 1.3 

Finance & insurance 2.8 1.7 1.6 2.8 2.8 NA 2.9 

Forestry & fishing 1.3 NA 0.2 0.5 0.4 NA 1.4 

Health care & social 6.2 11.6 8.1 15.8 8.1 2.6 5.7 

Industries not classified 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 

Information 1.2 1.0 0.6 1.4 0.8 0.2 1.2 

Management of 

companies 0.1 NA 0.0 0.0 0.0 NA 0.1 

Manufacturing 3.0 9.3 1.9 1.0 2.5 NA 3.2 

Mining 0.4 NA 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 

Other services 10.8 9.0 16.2 14.4 14.4 6.4 10.4 

Professional & scientific 11.0 6.8 7.8 8.6 6.5 10.3 11.1 

Real estate 11.3 4.8 7.5 8.0 7.1 1.7 11.6 

Retail trade 19.7 22.3 23.6 16.1 19.5 35.0 19.6 

Transportation & 

warehousing 3.6 6.3 1.3 5.3 5.3 NA 3.7 

Utilities 0.1 NA NA 0.0 0.0 NA 0.1 

Wholesale trade 3.4 6.3 4.9 1.6 3.0 1.9 3.4 

19 Table 4C.6 in the Appendix contains number of firms by industry by race/ethnicity. 

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The available data for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander Women-Led firms presented 

some interesting differences from the other races/ethnicities. Arts, entertainment and 

recreation represented a relatively more important industry to Native Hawaiians or Pacific 

Islanders ranking as third largest for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander firms (13.3%). 

They were the only race/ethnicity in which this industry accounted for more than 5% of 

firms. Professional, scientific and technical services accounted for 10.3% of Native 

Hawaiian or Pacific Islander Women-Led firms – the only race/ethnicity besides Whites that 

had 10% or more firms in this industry. 

As one might expect, most Women-Led firms were headed by White women. In fact, White 

Women-Led businesses never accounted for at less than 79% of an industry’s firms – this 

lowest percent was for accommodation and food services; in only two other industries, 

health care and social assistance and industries not classified, did the percentage of White 

Women-Led firms drop below 85%. 

For all races/ethnicities retail trade ranked highest in number of firms. The second ranking 

industry differed for all other races/ethnicities except that health care and social assistance 

ranked second for two groups: American Indians or Alaska Natives and Blacks or African 

Americans. All the rankings of numbers of businesses within races/ethnicities are shown in 

Table 6b on the next page. 

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Table 6b: Rankings of Numbers of Firms within Races/ethnicities 

Kind of Business 

All 

Races 

American 

Indian and 

Alaska 

Native Asian 

Black or 

African 

American 

Hispanic 

or Latino 

Native 

Hawaiian 

and Other 

Pacific 

Islander White 

Retail trade 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Real estate 2 10 6 6 7 9 2 

Professional & scientific 3 5 5 5 8 4 3 

Other services 4 4 3 3 2 5 4 

Construction 5 9 10 9 6 6 5 

Accommodation & food 6 6 2 8 4 NA 8 

Health care & social 7 2 4 2 5 7 6 

Administrative & support 8 12 8 4 3 2 7 

Arts & entertainment 9 11 13 10 13 3 9 

Transportation & 

warehousing 10 7 12 7 9 NA 10 

Wholesale trade 11 8 7 12 10 8 11 

Manufacturing 12 3 9 15 12 NA 12 

Finance & insurance 13 13 11 11 11 NA 13 

Educational services 14 15 14 14 15 11 15 

Forestry & fishing 15 NA 16 16 16 NA 14 

Information 16 14 15 13 14 10 16 

Mining 17 NA 19 20 18 11 17 

Management of 

companies 18 NA 18 17 19 NA 18 

Utilities 19 NA NA 17 20 NA 19 

Industries not classified 20 16 17 19 17 11 20 

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V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 

This report has provided a survey of the contributions of Women-Led businesses to the 

national economy and has analyzed those contributions along geographic and demographic 

lines. 

Women-Led businesses made strong contributions to the economy in 2002. Numbering 

over one million, Women-Led businesses generated a little more than $300 billion in 

revenues and produced about twice as much in receipts per firm as did Women-Owned 

businesses. Women-Led firms retained 2.5 million employees and paid $56 billion in payroll. 

Although most states had fewer than 25,000 Women-Led firms, high numbers of WomenLed firms were found in states with large economies and populations – California had the 

greatest number of firms by far with over 130,000 Women-Led firms, Texas and Florida 

followed with roughly half that number. 

States with the highest percentage of Women-Led firms relative to Women-Owned & Led 

firms were states with relatively low populations; many of these states were clustered in the 

northern Midwest around the Dakotas. The relative percentage of Women-Led firms 

decreased as we moved outward on the map. States with very large populations had low 

concentrations of Women-Led firms, for example, California, Texas, and Florida. However, 

Women-Led firms had higher percentages of firms in states with smaller economies. Also, 

Women-Led firms had higher revenues in states with lower percentages of Women-Led 

firms. These trends indicate that Women-Led firms thrived in numbers in states with 

smaller economies, but earned higher receipts in larger economies. 

The largest number of Women-Led firms was in the retail trade industry, with over 200,000 

firms. Retail trade was also the top industry for all races/ethnicities in terms of number of 

firms. There were also some industries in which the contribution of Women-Led firms was 

minimal (e.g. management of companies and enterprises). 

While Women-led firms were concentrated in some states, the financial performance of 

individual Women-Led firms as indicated by receipts per firm was much more even on a 

state level. This was not the case on an industry level. So, there was greater variability by 

industry than by state. 

White Women-Led firms, which comprised 89% of all Women-Led firms, had above parity 

capture rates across all thirteen urbanized states discussed in the report. However, there 

were some states in which there was a lesser relative advantage of White Women-Led firms. 

This was especially true of less populous states with very high percentages of White 

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populations. In other words, capture rates were typically lower where Whites constituted a 

greater percentage of the population. 

A similar pattern was observed among other groups. For example, Asian Women-Led firms 

had very high capture rates in Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania with relatively smaller Asian 

populations. These high capture rates may indicate a ‘pioneer’ effect, where the more 

entrepreneurial pioneers settle in a state first, establishing numbers of businesses well out of 

proportion to their population. The next wave of newcomers does not establish businesses 

at the same pace as the ‘pioneers’. (Naturally, this does not explain White women’s high 

capture rate in California.) American Indians or Alaska Natives, Blacks or African 

Americans, and Hispanics or Latinas experienced below parity capture rates in all of the 

states which we examined. 

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VI. APPENDIX – Supplemental Data Tables 

29 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 
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30 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 

 

Data Tables for Section IV. A 

Contributions of WL Businesses by State 

Table 4A.1: Women-Led Firms – Number of Firms, Receipts and Receipts per Firm, by 

State 

Number of Receipts 

Geographic Firms Receipts per Firm 

Area (Thousands) ($ Billions) ($ Thousands) 

All20 WL All WL All WL 

United States 22,975 1,018 22,604 306 983.9 301.8 

Alabama 310 11 267 3.4 861.4 300.6 

Alaska 62 4 46 1.1 744.3 263.5 

Arizona 381 23 326 6.7 856.3 292.4 

Arkansas 209 13 165 N/A 787.5 N/A 

California 2,909 132 2,797 44.9 961.4 341 

Colorado 465 27 385 6.3 828.8 234.9 

Connecticut 302 10 389 3.2 1,289.2 312.6 

Delaware 64 3 116 N/A 1,831.5 N/A 

District of 

Columbia 47 1 107 N/A 2,266.5 N/A 

Florida 1,539 63 1,076 17.3 698.9 274.6 

Georgia 675 24 739 6.6 1,095.5 277 

Hawaii 99 6 67 2.6 670.2 414.8 

Idaho 122 11 73 2.2 598.4 202.5 

Illinois 958 39 1,150 13.7 1,199.9 349.1 

Indiana 434 22 483 7 1,112.7 316 

Iowa 237 14 234 3.8 987.8 268.3 

Kansas 219 14 230 N/A 1,049.9 N/A 

Kentucky 301 15 284 4 943.8 270.9 

Louisiana 329 15 326 3.8 991.5 255.5 

Maine 135 8 75 2.2 551.2 295.9 

Maryland 444 16 373 4 841.7 244.9 

Massachusetts 564 15 648 5.6 1,149.5 362.2 

Michigan 736 33 794 9.4 1,079.0 289.4 

Minnesota 444 24 461 N/A 1,039.3 N/A 

Mississippi 188 8 140 2.1 748.5 270.1 

Missouri 439 26 449 7.5 1,021.3 292.5 

Montana 100 8 45 1.5 445.1 189.4 

Nebraska 145 10 139 2.4 953.1 243.6 

20 All firms reported in the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, 2002. 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

 

 

 

31 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 

Number of Receipts 

Geographic Firms Receipts per Firm 

Area (Thousands) ($ Billions) ($ Thousands) 

All20 WL All WL All WL 

Nevada 170 9 148 2.6 870.9 310.4 

New 

Hampshire 125 6 94 2.4 745.8 415.8 

New Jersey 709 22 850 N/A 1,198.5 N/A 

New Mexico 137 9 87 2.5 634.1 296.5 

New York 1,707 40 1,727 15.1 1,011.5 373.8 

North 

Carolina 643 26 604 7.6 939.7 286.6 

North Dakota 57 4 42 N/A 744.8 N/A 

Ohio 818 31 895 10.7 1,094.5 341.5 

Oklahoma 292 17 197 3.6 676.4 211.8 

Oregon 300 21 252 5.6 841.7 263.5 

Pennsylvania 874 30 953 10.2 1,089.9 340.7 

Rhode Island 87 3 66 1 759.4 350.5 

South 

Carolina 293 11 254 3 865.6 275.9 

South Dakota 70 5 60 N/A 861.3 N/A 

Tennessee 454 18 437 4.6 960.7 257.5 

Texas 1,735 74 1,812 20.1 1,044.5 270.7 

Utah 193 10 146 2.6 755.5 260.3 

Vermont 72 4 40 N/A 552.6 N/A 

Virginia 530 21 558 5.9 1,054.3 286.1 

Washington 467 32 448 7.6 959.1 241 

West Virginia 113 5 85 1.2 752.2 247 

Wisconsin 393 24 436 8.7 1,108.6 356.5 

Wyoming 53 4 33 1.3 630.7 299.2 

19All firms reported in the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, 2002. 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

 

 

Table 4A.2: Women-Led Firms – Number of Employees, Annual Payroll and Average 

Compensation, by State 

Geographic 

Area 

Number of Employees 

(Thousands) 

Annual Payroll 

($ Billions) 

Average 

Compensation 

($ Thousands) 

United States 2,496 56.4 22.6 

Alabama 30 0.6 19.7 

Arizona 69 1.4 21.0 

Arkansas 26 0.5 20.5 

California 320 8.2 25.8 

Colorado 59 1.2 21.1 

Connecticut 26 0.7 24.9 

Florida 132 3.0 22.7 

Kentucky 35 0.7 18.9 

Louisiana 39 0.8 19.4 

Maine 18 0.4 22.5 

Michigan 88 2.0 23.0 

Mississippi 18 0.3 17.3 

Nevada 25 0.6 22.8 

New Mexico 23 0.4 18.7 

North Carolina 66 1.4 20.5 

Ohio 86 1.9 21.7 

Oklahoma 30 0.6 20.0 

Pennsylvania 88 2.0 22.5 

Rhode Island 7 0.2 24.7 

South Carolina 32 0.6 18.2 

Tennessee 38 0.8 20.5 

Texas 177 3.7 21.1 

Vermont 12 0.2 19.9 

Washington 67 1.6 23.3 

Wisconsin 71 1.5 21.6 

Employment data are not available for the following states: 

Alaska Indiana Montana South Dakota 

Delaware Iowa Nebraska Utah 

District of Columbia Kansas New Hampshire Virginia 

Georgia Maryland New Jersey West Virginia 

Hawaii Massachusetts New York Wyoming 

Idaho Minnesota North Dakota 

Illinois Missouri Oregon 

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Table 4A.3: Contributions of Women-Led Firms to All Women’s Businesses, by State 

State 

WL 

Percentage 

of Number 

of All21 Firms 

WL 

Percentage 

of Number 

of WOWL 

Firms 

WL 

Percentage 

of Receipts 

of All Firms 

WL 

Percentage 

of Receipts 

of WOWL 

Firms 

Alabama 3.6 12.0 1.3 22.7 

Alaska 6.9 20.8 2.4 32.5 

Arizona 6.0 17.2 2.0 29.7 

Arkansas 6.0 20.2 0.0 N/A 

California 4.5 13.1 1.6 24.6 

Colorado 5.8 16.6 1.6 27.8 

Connecticut 3.3 10.9 0.8 20.5 

Delaware 4.5 15.8 0.0 N/A 

District of Columbia 1.7 5.0 0.0 N/A 

Florida 4.1 12.6 1.6 22.0 

Georgia 3.5 10.9 0.9 18.1 

Hawaii 6.2 17.1 3.9 35.9 

Idaho 8.9 27.4 3.0 40.6 

Illinois 4.1 12.1 1.2 22.7 

Indiana 5.1 15.8 1.5 29.9 

Iowa 6.0 18.3 1.6 34.1 

Kansas 6.2 18.5 0.0 N/A 

Kentucky 5.0 16.2 1.4 30.0 

Louisiana 4.6 14.7 1.2 23.8 

Maine 5.6 18.9 3.0 40.6 

Maryland 3.7 10.7 1.1 18.9 

Massachusetts 2.7 8.7 0.9 19.4 

Michigan 4.4 13.0 1.2 24.4 

Minnesota 5.4 16.3 0.0 N/A 

Mississippi 4.2 14.4 1.5 24.2 

Missouri 5.8 17.5 1.7 28.6 

Montana 7.7 24.0 3.3 40.7 

Nebraska 6.9 20.5 1.8 29.7 

Nevada 5.0 15.2 1.8 23.4 

New Hampshire 4.6 15.6 2.6 33.8 

New Jersey 3.2 10.8 0.0 N/A 

New Mexico 6.2 16.7 2.9 34.8 

21 All firms reported in the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, 2002. 

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State 

WL 

Percentage 

of Number 

of All21 Firms 

WL 

Percentage 

of Number 

of WOWL 

Firms 

WL 

Percentage 

of Receipts 

of All Firms 

WL 

Percentage 

of Receipts 

of WOWL 

Firms 

New York 2.4 7.4 0.9 17.5 

North Carolina 4.1 13.2 1.3 22.1 

North Dakota 6.9 22.9 0.0 N/A 

Ohio 3.8 12.0 1.2 24.8 

Oklahoma 5.9 18.5 1.8 28.1 

Oregon 7.1 19.3 2.2 34.4 

Pennsylvania 3.4 11.7 1.1 20.8 

Rhode Island 3.2 10.7 1.5 21.1 

South Carolina 3.7 12.5 1.2 21.8 

South Dakota 7.6 25.3 0.0 N/A 

Tennessee 3.9 13.1 1.0 20.6 

Texas 4.3 13.7 1.1 23.4 

Utah 5.2 17.1 1.8 30.6 

Vermont 5.7 17.7 0.0 N/A 

Virginia 3.9 11.6 1.1 21.0 

Washington 6.8 18.7 1.7 30.5 

West Virginia 4.3 13.3 1.4 26.7 

Wisconsin 6.2 18.9 2.0 33.1 

Wyoming 8.0 24.7 3.8 52.9 

20All firms reported in the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, 2002 

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Data tables for Section IV. B 

Contributions of WL Businesses by Industry 

Table 4B.1: Women-Led Firms – Number of Firms, Receipts and Receipts per Firm, by 

Industry 

Industry 

Number of 

Firms 

(Thousands) 

Receipts 

($ Billions) 

Receipts per 

Firm ($ 

Thousands) 

Totals for all sectors 1,018 306 301 

Retail trade 200 75.5 377 

Wholesale trade 35 48.0 1376 

Construction 82 34.2 419 

Manufacturing 31 31.0 998 

Accommodation and food services 64 20.6 323 

Professional, scientific, and technical 

services 111 16.8 151 

Real estate and rental and leasing 115 15.1 131 

Health care and social assistance 63 13.4 213 

Other services (except public 

administration) 110 11.3 103 

Administrative and support and waste 

management and remediation services 58 10.8 185 

Transportation and warehousing 37 8.8 241 

Finance and insurance 29 7.7 268 

Information 12 4.1 337 

Arts, entertainment, and recreation 40 3.5 89 

Educational services 14 2.2 161 

Forestry, fishing & hunting, and 

agriculture support services (NAICS 113-

115) 13 1.6 123 

Mining 4 1.0 223 

Management of companies and 

enterprises 1 0.4 619 

Industries not classified 1 N/A N/A 

Utilities 1 N/A N/A 

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Table 4B.2: Women-Led Firms – Number of Employees, Annual Payroll and Average 

Compensation, by Industry 

Industry 

Number of 

Employees 

(Thousands) 

Annual Payroll 

($ Billions) 

Average 

Compensation 

($ Thousands) 

Totals for all sectors 2,496 56.4 22.6 

Retail trade 431 7.8 18.2 

Manufacturing 213 6.8 32.1 

Construction 210 6.7 31.8 

Accommodation and food services 503 5.5 10.8 

Health care and social assistance 235 5.1 21.9 

Professional, scientific, and technical 

services 135 5.0 36.7 

Administrative and support and 

waste management and remediation 

services 195 4.2 21.4 

Wholesale trade 109 3.8 35.4 

Other services (except public 

administration) 144 2.7 18.8 

Transportation and warehousing 77 1.9 24.7 

Finance and insurance 44 1.7 38.0 

Real estate and rental and leasing 64 1.6 24.9 

Information 30 1.1 37.1 

Arts, entertainment, and recreation 43 0.7 17.2 

Industries not classified N/A N/A N/A 

Utilities N/A N/A N/A 

Management of companies and 

enterprises N/A N/A N/A 

Mining N/A N/A N/A 

Forestry, fishing & hunting, and 

agriculture support services (NAICS 

113-115) N/A N/A N/A 

Educational services N/A N/A N/A 

36 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 
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Data Tables for Section IV.C 

Contributions of Women-Led Firms by Race/Ethnicity by State and Industry22 

Table 4C.1: State Level Contributions of American Indian or Alaska Native Women-Led Firms 

American Indian or 

Alaska Native % of WL Firms % of Population23 WL Capture Rate 

California 0.26% 0.63% 0.41 

Texas 0.20% 0.28% 0.71 

Florida 0.07% 0.30% 0.22 

New York 0.25% 0.32% 0.80 

Illinois N/A 0.16% N/A 

Ohio N/A 0.23% N/A 

Pennsylvania 0.00% 0.13% 0.00 

Michigan 0.07% 0.42% 0.16 

Wisconsin 0.07% 0.68% 0.11 

Colorado 0.11% 0.80% 0.14 

Oregon 0.06% 1.25% 0.05 

Massachusetts 0.09% 0.23% 0.41 

Washington 0.15% 1.00% 0.15 

Table 4C.2: State Level Contributions of Asian Women-Led Firms 

Asian % of WL 

Firms % of Population23 WL Capture Rate 

California 12.3% 10.2% 1.21 

Texas 4.8% 2.4% 1.98 

Florida 3.3% 1.6% 2.07 

New York 9.8% 5.9% 1.66 

Illinois 4.7% 3.6% 1.31 

Ohio 1.9% 1.4% 1.40 

Pennsylvania 4.1% 2.0% 2.05 

Michigan 2.6% 2.1% 1.26 

Wisconsin 0.1% 1.9% 0.46 

Colorado 2.3% 2.2% 1.04 

Oregon 2.8% 3.0% 0.91 

Massachusetts 4.3% 4.0% 1.06 

Washington 6.3% 5.8% 1.08 

22 Due to data limitations we do not include a table for state level contribution of Native Hawaiian or Other 

Pacific Islander firms. 

23 Estimated from data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2002.
 

37 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

 

 

 

Table 4C.3: State Level Contributions of Black or African American Women-Led Firms 

Black or African 

American 

% of WL 

Firms % of Population23 WL Capture Rate 

California 10.2% 35.4% 0.37 

Texas 2.8% 9.0% 0.31 

Florida 3.0% 13.3% 0.23 

New York 2.5% 14.9% 0.17 

Illinois 3.2% 13.5% 0.24 

Ohio 2.7% 11.2% 0.24 

Pennsylvania 1.6% 9.8% 0.16 

Michigan 3.4% 13.9% 0.24 

Wisconsin 0.9% 5.3% 0.16 

Colorado 0.4% 3.4% 0.13 

Oregon 0.2% 1.5% 0.12 

Massachusetts 1.1% 5.7% 0.20 

Washington 0.7% 3.3% 0.23 

Table 4C.4: State Level Contributions of Hispanic or Latina Women-Led Firms 

Hispanic or Latina % of WL 

Firms % of Population23 WL Capture Rate 

California 8.0% 29.2% 0.27 

Texas 7.1% 28.0% 0.25 

Florida 9.0% 16.1% 0.56 

New York 2.4% 15.0% 0.16 

Illinois 2.2% 12.7% 0.17 

Ohio 0.3% 2.0% 0.14 

Pennsylvania 0.6% 3.2% 0.17 

Michigan 0.7% 3.4% 0.20 

Wisconsin 0.3% 3.9% 0.07 

Colorado 1.8% 16.8% 0.11 

Oregon 0.6% 8.7% 0.07 

Massachusetts 1.7% 7.1% 0.24 

Washington 1.0% 8.2% 0.12 

38 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

 

 

 

Table 4C.5: State Level Contributions of White Women-Led Firms 

White % of WL 

Firms 

% of Population 

(estimated24) WL Capture Rate 

California 77.4% 54.5% 1.42 

Texas 85.1% 60.3% 1.41 

Florida 84.6% 68.6% 1.23 

New York 85.0% 63.9% 1.33 

Illinois 89.9% 70.0% 1.28 

Ohio 95.1% 85.1% 1.12 

Pennsylvania 93.8% 84.9% 1.11 

Michigan 93.3% 80.2% 1.16 

Wisconsin 97.9% 88.1% 1.11 

Colorado 95.2% 76.7% 1.24 

Oregon 96.4% 85.2% 1.13 

Massachusetts 92.7% 82.8% 1.12 

Washington 91.8% 81.4% 1.13 

24 The Concentrance team used state level population data from U.S. Census Bureau’s American 

Community Survey to calculate the estimate. 

39 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408 
 Key Contributions of Women-Led Businesses 

 

 

 

 

Table 4C.6: Numbers of Women-Led Firms by Race/Ethnicity by Industry25 

Kind of Business All Races 

American 

Indian 

and 

Alaska 

Native Asian 

Black or 

African 

American 

Hispanic 

or Latino 

Native 

Hawaiian 

and 

Other 

Pacific 

Islander White 

Accommodation & food 63,920 171 9,651 1,175 2,804 NA 50,560 

Administrative & support 58,190 63 1,618 2,871 3,610 69 51,659 

Arts & entertainment 39,682 72 474 857 321 62 36,814 

Construction 81,525 142 788 871 2,345 15 78,073 

Educational services 13,599 19 432 353 251 0 12,190 

Finance & insurance 28,747 44 771 699 878 NA 25,879 

Forestry & fishing 13,401 NA 105 122 141 NA 12,627 

Health care & social 62,864 298 3,983 3,960 2,587 12 51,845 

Industries not classified 540 0 46 7 40 452 

Information 12,108 26 302 356 270 1 10,848 

Management of companies 585 NA 12 8 5 NA 536 

Manufacturing 31,013 238 928 255 780 NA 28,857 

Mining 4,471 NA 11 2 15 0 4,388 

Other services 109,810 231 7,980 3,602 4,578 30 94,568 

Professional & scientific 111,465 174 3,859 2,163 2,058 48 101,033 

Real estate 115,212 124 3,670 2,005 2,251 8 105,159 

Retail trade 200,140 572 11,616 4,041 6,220 164 178,052 

Transportation & 

warehousing 36,543 162 625 1,326 1,701 NA 33,478 

Utilities 543 NA NA 8 3 NA 510 

Wholesale trade 34,859 161 2,395 405 970 9 30,972 

Totals for all sectors 1,017,804 2,566 49,227 25,078 31,828 468 907,235 

25 NA: data was not available. 

Data in italics have been calculated by Concentrance. 

Note: for some races/ethnicities the total for all sectors reported by the Census is less than the sum of the
 

data they report by specific industries. Those races/ethnicities are: All Races/Ethnicities, Asians, Blacks or 

African Americans and Whites. 

40 Order Number: SBAHQ06F0408