U.S. Census Bureau

Survey of Business Owners

Black-Owned Businesses: 2007

Census Bureau Economic Data

Released on Feb. 8, 2011
2 Feb. 8, 2011

Presenters

Host Stan Rolark

Survey uses Marc H. Morial

President and Chief Executive 

Officer

National Urban League

Survey findings Thomas L. Mesenbourg, Jr.

Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer

U.S. Census Bureau

Survey uses Ivonne Cunarro

Chief, Knowledge Management Unit

Minority Business Development Agency
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 3 Feb. 8, 2011

Resources for Today’s News 

Conference

Come to www.census.gov and click on the icon 

at the top left corner to obtain –

• Today’s PowerPoint Presentation

• News Release

• Link to Survey of Business Owners Home Page

• Link to Guidance on Accessing SBO Data in the 

American FactFinder
Separate News Releases for the

Ten Metropolitan Areas With

the Largest Black Population

• Atlanta

• Chicago

• Dallas

• Detroit

• Houston

• Los Angeles

• Miami 

• New York

• Philadelphia

• Washington, DC 

www.census.gov/econ/sbo 4 Feb. 8, 2011
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 5 Feb. 8, 2011

• Part of the Economic Census taken every 5 

years for years ending in “2” and “7”

• The only comprehensive, regularly collected 

data for businesses and business owners by 

- Minority status

 Race 

 Ethnicity (Hispanic origin of any race)

- Gender

- Veteran status

About the Survey
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 6 Feb. 8, 2011

Business Ownership by Race

• Categories of ownership are based on the 

race of the person or persons who owned 51% 

or more of the stock or equity in the business 

in 2007.

• “Black-owned” is defined as any firm with 

Black or African American owners holding a 

51% or larger stake in the business.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 7 Feb. 8, 2011

NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE

“Over a Century of Service”

• Founded in 1910, headed since 2003 by Marc Morial, former 

mayor of New Orleans and president of the U.S. Conference 

of Mayors.

• Mission: economic empowerment for historically 

underserved urban communities.

• Long partnership with the Census Bureau and the Minority 

Business Development Agency.

• Business data used to identify opportunities and design 

efficient services to assist Black entrepreneurship.

• More than 100 affiliates in 36 states and DC serving more 

than 2 million people.

• 12-Point Jobs Plan to boost employment through business 

growth.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 8 Feb. 8, 2011

A Look at the 2007 Statistics

for Black-Owned Businesses

in the United States
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 9 Feb. 8, 2011

Black-Owned Businesses

Compared to All U.S. Businesses

by Employer Status: 2007

Black-owned 

businesses

All U.S. 

businesses

Firms

(number)

Sales and 

receipts

($ billions)

Firms 

(number)

Sales and 

receipts

($ billions)

All firms1 1,921,881 137 27,110,019 30,176

Employer firms 106,824 99 5,752,668 29,203

Nonemployer 

firms 1,815,057 39 21,357,351 973

1 Includes firms with paid employees and firms with no paid employees.

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 10 Feb. 8, 2011

Black Business Ownership

Increased at Triple the National Rate:

2002 to 2007

Black-owned

firms in 2007

(number)

% change for 

Black-owned 

firms,

2002 – 2007

% change for 

all

U.S. firms,

2002 - 2007

All firms1 1,921,881 60 18

Employer firms 106,824 13 4

Nonemployer

firms 1,815,057 65 22

1 Includes firms with paid employees and firms with no paid employees.

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 11 Feb. 8, 2011

Black Business Revenues

Increased Faster than National Rates:

2002 to 2007

Black-owned 

firms’ sales 

and receipts

in 2007

($ billions)

% change for 

Black-owned 

firms’ sales and 

receipts,

2002 –2007

% change for 

all U.S. firms’ 

sales and 

receipts,

2002 –2007

All firms1 137 55 34

Employer firms 99 50 34

Nonemployer

firms 39 69 27

1 Includes firms with paid employees and firms with no paid employees.

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 12 Feb. 8, 2011

Black-Owned Businesses and Their

Proportion of All U.S. Firms by

Employer Status: 2002 to 2007

% of U.S. businesses that are 

Black-owned 

Year

2007

Year

2002

All firms1 7.1 5.2

Employer firms 1.9 1.7

Nonemployer 

firms 8.5 6.3

1 Includes firms with paid employees and firms with no paid employees.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 13 Feb. 8, 2011

Distribution of Firms by

Receipts Size of Firm: 2007

Receipts size

% of Blackowned firms% of all 

U.S. firms

Less than $50,000 87 65

$50,000 to $99,999 6 10

$100,000 to $249,999 4 10

$250,000 to $499,999 1 5

$500,000 to $999,999 1 4

$1,000,000 or more 1 5

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 14 Feb. 8, 2011

Distribution of Employer Firms

by Employment Size of Firm: 2007

Employment size % of Blackowned firms

% of all

U.S. firms

0 to 4 employees1 69 61

5 to 9 employees 16 18

10 to 19 employees 8 11

20 to 49 employees 5 7

50 employees or more 2 4

1 Includes firms with payroll at any time during 2007. Employment reflects

the number of paid employees during the March 12 pay period.

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 15 Feb. 8, 2011

Industries With the Highest Number

of Black-Owned Firms: 2007

Business sectors Firms 

(number)

% of all 

Black-owned 

firms

Total for all sectors 1,921,881 100

Health care and social assistance 365,140 19

Repair and maintenance and

personal and laundry services 358,332 19

Administrative and support and 

waste management and

remediation services 216,742 11
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 16 Feb. 8, 2011 

Industries With the Largest Receipts

For Black-Owned Firms: 2007

Business sectors Sales and 

receipts 

($ billions)

% of all Black

sales and 

receipts

Total for all sectors 137 100

Retail trade 21 15

Health care and social assistance 17 12

Wholesale trade 15 11

Construction 13 10

Professional, scientific, and technical 

services 13 10
Black-Owned Firms by State: 2007

www.census.gov/econ/sbo 17 Feb. 8, 2011
Percent Change in the Number of BlackOwned Firms by State: 2002 to 2007

www.census.gov/econ/sbo 18 Feb. 8, 2011
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 19 Feb. 8, 2011

States With the Largest Percentage

of Black-Owned Firms: 2007 

States and 

equivalent area

Blackowned 

firms in 

2007

(number)

% of

firms in 

state that 

are Blackowned

% change 

for Blackowned firms 

in state,

2002 – 2007

District of Columbia 15,774 28 29

Georgia 183,874 20 103 

Maryland 102,135 19 47

Mississippi 40,613 18 62

Louisiana 59,906 16 49
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 20 Feb. 8, 2011

Large Counties With the Highest

Percentage of Black-Owned Firms: 2007 

Counties and 

equivalent areas 

with a population of 

at least 500,000 

Blackowned 

firms in 

2007

(number)

% of firms in 

county that 

are Blackowned

% change 

for Blackowned firms 

in county,

2002 – 2007

Prince George’s, MD 39,685 55 40

DeKalb, GA 28,959 40 49

Baltimore city, MD 14,644 35 50

Bronx, NY 38,726 35 64
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 21 Feb. 8, 2011

Large Cities With the Highest Percentage

of Black-Owned Firms: 2007 

Cities with a 

population of at

least 500,000 

Blackowned 

firms in 

2007

(number)

% of firms in 

city that are 

Black-owned

% change 

for Blackowned 

firms in city,

2002 – 2007

Detroit, MI 32,490 64 66

Memphis, TN 19,895 38 70

Baltimore, MD 14,644 35 50

Atlanta, GA 15,738 31 87

Washington, DC 15,774 28 29
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 22 Feb. 8, 2011

Accessing SBO Results

• SBO Web site: www.census.gov/econ/sbo

• For access to prepackaged data products 

and the ability to build custom tables, visit

American FactFinder (AFF), the Census

Bureau’s online, self-service data access

tool at www.factfinder.census.gov
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 23 Feb. 8, 2011

Data Release date

Preliminary Company Summary - Estimates of 

Business Ownership by Gender, Ethnicity, Race, and 

Veteran Status 

July 13, 2010

- Hispanic-Owned Businesses September 21, 2010

- Women-Owned Businesses December 7, 2010

- Black-Owned Businesses February 8, 2011

- American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned 

Businesses March 11, 2011

Series of five releases with additional

information by geographic sublevels, detailed 

industry, size of firm, detailed Asian and Native 

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander groups, veteran 

status, plus business and owner characteristics data 

April

through

June 2011 

SBO Release Schedule
African-American-Owned 

Firms Outpace Growth of 

Non-Minority-Owned 

Firms

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Minority Business Development Agency

Ivonne Cunarro, Chief Knowledge 

Management Officer
25

The Big Picture

The African-American business community continues to grow in number at a 

fast rate, yet their true economic potential is still unrealized. 

The fast growing trend of African-American-owned firms continued into the 

most recent five year period outpacing once again the growth of non-minority- owned firms in gross receipts (55% African-American growth), employment (22%) and number of firms (61%), between 2002 and 2007.

African-American-owned firms are also an engine of job creation, with paid 

employment growing by 22% from 754,000 workers to 921,000 workers, 

compared to less than 1% growth for non-minority-owned firms.

Average employment per firm with employees also went up from 8 employees 

per African American firm with employees in 2002 to 9 employees per firm with 

employees in 2007.
26

African-American-Owned Firms Outpace 

Growth of Non-Minority-Owned Firms

55%

21% 22%

0.03%

61%

9%

7%

1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Gross Receipts Employees Number of Firms Population 

African American Non-Minority
27

Upside of $1 Million Plus Firms 

While smaller in number, African American firms with receipts of $1 million or 

more generate a much larger percentage of all African American revenues and 

paid employment than firms with receipts under $1 million. 

African American firms with receipts of $1 million or more represented 1 percent 

of all the African American firms but generated 57 percent of all African 

American firms’ gross receipts and 61 percent of all their paid employment. 

There were 14,500 African American firms which generated gross receipts of $1 

million or more in 2007. These firms generated combined gross receipts of $79 

billion and employed 565,000 workers.

Average gross receipts of African American firms generating sales of $1 million 

or more grew by 19 percent from $4.6 million per firm in 2002 to $5.4 

million in 2007.
28

African-American-Owned Firms 

With $1 Million and Above in Sales

1%

99%

57%

43%

61%

39%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Number of Firms Gross Receipts Paid Employees

African American Firms ($1 million and above) African American Firms (Under $1 million)
29

Entrepreneurial Parity

At MBDA, we measure entrepreneurial parity of minority-owned firms. 

Unfortunately, there is still an entrepreneurial parity gap between African 

American firms and the share of the African American adult population, which is 

12 percent. 

If African-American-owned firms would have reached parity with their share of 

the adult African American population in 2007, there would have been 3.3 

million firms (instead of 1.9 million) generating $1.4 trillion in gross receipts 

(instead of $138 billion), and creating 7.1 million jobs (instead of 921,000).

The faster growing African-American population increased by 7% during this 

period, compared to only 1% growth for non-minorities. We have to encourage 

further the growth of African American firms to keep up with the growth of the 

population.

In addition, the African American population had an estimated purchasing power 

of about $910 billion, larger than the 2009 estimated purchasing power of all 

but 16 countries worldwide, including Australia ($824 billion), Taiwan ($717 

billion) and the Netherlands ($654 billion).
30

Entrepreneurial Parity Remains Elusive 

for African American Businesses

$0.137

$1.4

$0.910

0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2007 Actual 2007 Parity 2009 African

American

Buying Power

0.921

7.1

0

2

4

6

8

2007 Actual 2007 Parity

1.9

3.3

0

1

2

3

4

2007 Actual 2007 Parity

Gross Receipts (in $ trillions) Paid Employment (in millions) Number of Firms (in millions)
31

The Downside

While African-American-owned firms outpaced the growth of non-minority-owned 

firms in gross receipts (55% African-American growth), employment (22%) and number of firms (61%), only 6 percent of these firms (107,000) had paid 

employees and just 14,500 had revenues greater than $1 million.

In addition, the average gross receipts for African-American-owned firms 

decreased by 3 percent from $74,000 in 2002 to $72,000 in 2007, well below 

that of non-minority-owned firms ($490,000). 

There are approximately 1.9 million sole proprietorships in the African-American 

business community. MBDAs goal is to help grow those in emerging industries 

and with the potential for size and scale, as well as encourage job creation 

among these firms.

As the African-American population increases in the U.S., the success of the 

African-American business community becomes critical for job creation.
32

Minority-Owned Firms Gross Receipts 

Average Gross Receipts

African-Americanowned businessesMinority-owned 

businesses

Non-minority-owned 

businesses

$72,000 $179,000 $490,000
33

The Future

MBDA is committed to making sure the growth and 

competitiveness of the minority business community continues 

to be a national priority.

MBDA is creating the foundation for the next generation of $100 

million minority-owned firms capable of employing the growing 

minority and U.S. population, expanding our tax base, and 

securing our position as a global leader.

In fiscal year 2010, MBDA assisted minority owned firms in 

accessing more than $3.8 billion in contracts and financings, 

and creating more than 6,200 jobs. 

To grow more minority-owned firms to size and capacity, MBDA 

encourages minority businesses to consider growth by mergers 

and acquisition, joint ventures and strategic partnerships.
34

Contacting MBDA Public Affairs

For more information, please contact:

Email: public_affairs@mbda.gov

Phone: 202.482.6272
Questions?

www.census.gov/econ/sbo 35 Feb. 8, 2011
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 36 Feb. 8, 2011

Key Upcoming Releases from the 

U.S. Census Bureau

• 2007 SBO for American Indian- and Alaska 

Native-Owned Businesses (March)

• 2010 Census Redistricting Files (February –

March)
www.census.gov/econ/sbo 37 Feb. 8, 2011

Contact Information

• U.S. Census Bureau

Public Information Office

Phone: 301.763.3030

• National Urban League

Media Relations

Phone: 212.558.5433 

• Minority Business Development Agency

Public Affairs Office

Phone: 202.482.6272