American Indian- and Alaska

Native-owned firms grew in

number between 1992 and

1997.

In 1997, there were 197,300 American

Indian- and Alaska Native-owned businesses in the United States, employing

298,700 people and generating $34.3

billion in revenues. These businesses

made up 0.9 percent of the 20.8 million

nonfarm businesses in the nation and

generated 0.2 percent of their receipts.

The number of American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned firms increased 

84 percent from 1992 to 1997, compared with a 7 percent increase for all

U.S. firms.1 Receipts of

American Indian- and Alaska

Native-owned firms rose 179

percent over the same period,

considerably higher than the 

40 percent increase for all 

U.S. firms.

About one-third of

American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned

businesses were in four

states.

Four states — California, Texas,

Oklahoma and Florida —

accounted for 34 percent of all

the nation’s American Indianand Alaska Native-owned firms.

This reflected the fact that

about 3-in-10 American Indians and

Alaska Natives resided in those four

states.

While California had the largest number

of American Indian- and Alaska Nativeowned businesses, Alaska had the highest proportion, with 11 percent of its

firms being American Indian- and Alaska

Native-owned. Oklahoma and New

Mexico also exceeded the 5 percent

mark. As shown in Figure 1, a majority of

states with a higher-than-average proportion (1 percent or more) of their firms

owned by American Indians and Alaska

Natives were located west of the

Mississippi River.

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

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

CENBR/01-8

Census Brief: 

Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises

American Indian- and Alaska NativeOwned Businesses: 1997 Issued October 2001

Figure 1.

American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms 

as a Percent of Total Firms in State: 1997

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percent of total

TX

OK AZ NM

CA

NV

UT CO

OR

KS

NE

WY

WA

ID

MT ND

SD

AK

HI

MN

IA

MO

LA

AR

WI

IL

MS AL GA

FL

SC

TN

IN

MI

NC

VA

KY

OH

WV

PA

NY

DC

VT

NH ME

MA

RI

CT

NJ

DE

MD

10.0 or greater

5.0 to 9.9

1.0 to 4.9

0.0 to 0.9

1 Excludes C corporations — legally incorporated businesses except for subchapter S 

corporations, whose shareholders elect to be

taxed as individuals rather than as corporations — for which prior comparable data are

not available.
American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned firms

were widely dispersed

among counties.

In contrast to other minority-owned

firms, businesses owned by

American Indians and Alaska

Natives were not heavily concentrated in a handful of metropolitan

areas. Only 12 percent could be

found in the metropolitan areas of

Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.;

Tulsa, Okla.; Oklahoma City, Okla.;

Houston, Texas; New York, N.Y.; and

Dallas, Texas — the only metropolitan areas in the country with more

than 2,500 American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned firms.

Average receipts for

American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned firms

exceeded $170,000.

Receipts for American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned firms averaged $174,100. As shown in

Figure 2, the amount of receipts of

American Indian- and Alaska Nativeowned firms ranged widely:

• About 4-in-10

had receipts of

under $10,000. 

• For about 2-in-10,

receipts were

between $10,000

and $24,999.

• Another 2-in-10

had receipts of

between $25,000

and $99,999.

• The remaining

almost 2-in-10 had

receipts totaling

$100,000 or more.

A small subset of

these firms — 

4,900 in all — 

had receipts of 

$1 million or more

and accounted 

for almost twothirds of the 

total receipts for

American Indian- and Alaska

Native-owned firms.

Highest number of

American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned 

firms were in service

industries.

As shown in Figure 3, American

Indian- and Alaska Native-owned

firms could be

found in a wide

variety of businesses. The largest concentration (17 percent) operated in

the service industries. They

accounted for 15

percent of the

receipts of all businesses owned by

people of this race;

of these firms, 40

percent were concentrated in business and personal

services.

Construction industries, with 14

percent of all American Indian- and

Alaska Native-owned firms and 16

percent of receipts, accounted for

the next highest concentration.

More information

The information in this census brief

is based on findings from the report

titled 1997 Survey of MinorityOwned Business Enterprises:

American Indians and Alaska

Natives. The report may be 

found on the Internet at 

<http://www.census.gov/csd/mwb/>.

Contacts

American Indian- and Alaska

Native-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 errors. 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 as the result of changes in tax laws

causing inconsistencies between the 1992

and the 1997 data. Changes in survey

methodology also may contribute to 

differences.

2 U.S. Census Bureau

$25,000 to $49,999

12%

Figure 2.

Percent Distribution of American Indianand Alaska Native-Owned Firms by 

Amount of Receipts: 1997

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

$1,000,000 or more

2%

Less than $5,000

26%

$5,000 to $9,999

15%

$10,000 to $24,999

21%

$50,000 to $99,999

9%

$100,000 to $249,999

8%

$250,000 to $499,999

4%

$500,000 to $999,999

2%

Figure 3.

Percent Distribution of American 

Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms 

by Industry Division: 1997

Construction 14%

Industries 

not classified 45%

Services 17%

Finance, insurance and

real estate 2%

Retail trade 7%

Wholesale trade 2%

Agricultural services,

forestry, fishing and 

mining 5%

Transportation, communications 

and utilities 3%

Manufacturing 3%