U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued October 2001

CENBR/01-6

Women-Owned Businesses: 1997

Census Brief:

Survey of Women-Owned Business Enterprises

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

The number of women-owned

firms grew almost three times

as fast as all firms between

1992 and 1997.

In 1997, there were 5.4 million womenowned businesses in the United States, employing 7.1 million people and generating

$818.7 billion in revenues. (The 1997 Economic Census defines women-owned businesses as privately held firms in which

women own 51 percent or more of the firm.)

These firms made up 26 percent of the

nation’s 20.8 million nonfarm businesses

(Figure 1), employed 7 percent of the 103

million workers and generated 4 percent of

the $18.6 trillion in receipts.

The number of women-owned firms increased 16 percent from 1992 to 1997, compared to a 6 percent increase for U.S. firms

in general (excluding publicly held corporations); their receipts, meanwhile, increased

33 percent over the period, compared with a

24 percent increase for all firms.

In addition to the majority women-owned

firms, there were 3.6 million equally owned

(male-female) firms, comprising 17 percent

of all nonfarm businesses.

One-third of women-owned

businesses were in four states.

Women-owned businesses in four states —

California (700,500), New York (394,000),

Texas (381,500) and Florida (337,800) —

accounted for 33 percent of all the nation’s

women-owned firms.

While California had the largest number of

women-owned businesses, the District of

Columbia had the highest proportion, with

31 percent of its firms being womenowned. However, six of the 10 states with

the highest proportion of firms owned by

women were located in the West: New

Mexico (where women-owned firms comprised 29 percent of all firms), Colorado,

Oregon, Washington, Hawaii (28 percent

each) and California (27 percent). Rounding

out the top 10 were Maryland (29 percent),

Virginia (28 percent) and Michigan (27 percent).

The West was home to five of

the 10 counties with most

women-owned businesses.

A short drive on Interstate 5 in southern

California will take you through three of

the 10 counties with the largest number

of firms owned by women — Los Angeles,

Orange and San Diego. Two more counties

in the West — Maricopa (Phoenix), Ariz.;

and King (Seattle), Wash. — also made the

Figure 1.

Women Own More Than 1 in 4 Businesses

(Percentage distribution of all U.S. firms by sex of owner: 1997)

Publicly held, 

foreign-owned 

and nonprofit 2%

Women-owned 26%

Equally owned, 

male-female 17%

Male-owned 55%
2 U.S. Census Bureau

top 10. Rounding out the list were

Cook (Chicago), Ill.; New York (Manhattan), N.Y.; Harris (Houston),

Texas; Miami-Dade, Fla.; and Dallas,

Texas.

Receipts for women-owned

firms averaged more than

$150,000 per year.

Receipts for women-owned firms

averaged $151,100; for male-owned

firms, average receipts were

$582,500 and for those owned

equally by women and men, they

were $259,200. As shown in

Figure 2, the revenues of womenowned firms varied widely:

• Forty-eight percent of firms had

receipts of under $10,000.

• For 21 percent, receipts ranged

between $10,000 and $24,999.

• Eighteen percent had receipts of

between $25,000 and $99,999.

• For more than 13 percent of

women-owned businesses, receipts totaled $100,000 or more.

A small subset of these firms —

98,870 or 2 percent of the total —

had receipts of $1 million or more

and accounted for 68 percent of the

total receipts of women-owned

firms.

The highest numbers of

women-owned firms were in

services and retail trade

industries.

As shown in Figure 3, more than seven

of every 10 women-owned firms operated in services or retail trade industries. Within retail, women were concentrated in miscellaneous retail stores,

such as books, jewelry and sporting

goods, where they owned 69 percent

of all such firms and accounted for 25

percent of gross receipts.

More information

The information in this Census Brief is

based on findings from the report titled

1997 Survey of Women-Owned Business

Enterprises. The full report may be

found on the Internet at <http://www.

census.gov/csd/mwb>.

Contacts

Women-Owned Businesses:

Geoffrey Hill

301-457-3320

Valerie Strang

301-457-3316

Census Briefs:

Robert Bernstein

301-457-8242

The data were collected in a sample

survey and are subject to sampling

variability, as well as nonsampling

error. Sources of nonsampling error

include errors of response, nonreporting and coverage. Further details

concerning survey design, methodology

and data limitations are contained in

the full report. Comparisons with 1992

should be carried out with extreme

caution because of changes in tax

laws causing inconsistencies between

1992 and 1997 data. Changes in survey methodology also may contribute

to inconsistencies.

Figure 2. 

About Half of Women-Owned Firms Have Receipts of Less 

Than $10,000

(Percentage distribution of women-owned firms by amount of receipts: 1997)

$1,000,000 

or more 2%

Less than 

$5,000 30%

$5,000 to 

$9,999 18%

$10,000 to 

$24,999 21%

$25,000 to 

$49,999 11%

$50,000 to 

$99,999 7%

$100,000 to 

$249,999 7%

$500,000 to 

$999,999 2%

$250,000 to

$499,999 3%

Figure 3. 

Women-Owned Firms Concentrated in Services and Retail Trade

(Percentage distribution of women-owned firms by industry division: 1997)

Industries not 

classified 8%

Services 55%

Finance, insurance,

and real estate 9%

Retail trade 17%

Wholesale trade 2%

Transportation,

communications, and

utilities 2%

Agricultural 

services, 

forestry, fishing, 

and mining 2%

Manufacturing 2% Construction 3%