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Searching and Accessing Survey of Business Owners data on American FactFinder

1. Go to the Census homepage (www.census.gov). On left side of web page click on the

“American FactFinder” link. 

2. The Census Bureau is currently running two versions of the American FactFinder in 

parallel to get users adjusted to the new version launched in January 2011. Click on the 

version shown to the right below – factfinder.census.gov
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3. In the center of the American FactFinder homepage under “Getting Detailed Data” go to 

“Economic Census” and click on the “get data” link.

4. The application brings you to the 2007 Economic Census tab. Scroll down and select the 

“2007 Survey of Business Owner” from the “Economic data sets by related survey” list.

Note: 2002 and 1997 Economic Census tabs are to the right and can be viewed as well.
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5. Select the appropriate table below if you know which data file contains the statistics you 

are interested in. For example, the first link shows all U.S. firms by Geographic Area, 

Industry, Gender, Ethnicity and Race. The second link shows all firms by Geographic 

Area, Industry and Veteran Status.

Filtering SBO Table(s) 

Before selecting a table, you can narrow your search by selecting a specific geography, industry 

or data item. This is called “filtering.” To filter data by geography (or geographies):

1. Move your cursor over the “filter by geography/industry/data item” tab and select.

2. Next, select “Geographic Area.”
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3. Select the appropriate “geography” (i.e. Nation, State, etc.) and then click “OK.”

4. Once your geographic area is selected click on the appropriate link to view the data for 

that geography. 

Note: Filtering can be done for Industry/Race/Ethnicity/Gender. Filters can also be reset by using 

the filter menu at the top. 

Examples of searching types of SBO data

Case 1: Number of Hispanic-owned businesses in Texas.

1. Follow steps from pages 1 and 2.

2. Select the first link. 

3. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Other Dimensions.”
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4. Select “Ethnicity code” and click “Next.”

5. Select the “Hispanic” value box and click “Show Result.”

Note: At this moment, the data shown are all Hispanic firms within the U.S. 
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6. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Geography.”

7. Select “State” as a geographic type, and then select “Texas” and click “Add.”

8. Highlight “United States” and click on the “Remove” tab (remember we only want to see 

the number of Hispanic-owned firms in the state of Texas). Then click “Show Result.”
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Case 2: Number of African-American/Black owned businesses in Georgia.

1. Follow steps from pages 1 and 2.

2. Select the first link. (See image in Case 1, number 2)

3. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Other Dimensions.” (See 

image in Case 1, number 4)

4. Select the “Race code” and click “Next.”

5. Select the “Black or African American” value box and click “Show Result.”
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6. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Geography.” (See image in 

Case 1, number 6)

7. Select “State” as a geographic type. (See image in Case 1, number 7)

8. Select “Texas” and click “Add” (optional to remove United States).

9. Click “Show Result.”
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Case 3: Number of Women-owned businesses in Oregon. 

1. Follow steps from pages 1 and 2.

2. Select the first link. (See image in Case 1, number 2)

3. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Other Dimensions.” (See 

image in Case 1, number 4) 

4. Select the “Gender code” and click “Next.”

5. Select “Female-owned” vale box and click “Show Result.”

6. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Geography.” (See image in 

Case 1, number 6)

7. Select “State” as a geographic type. (See image in Case 1, number 7)

8. Select “Oregon” and click “Add” (optional to remove United States). 

9. Click “Show Result.”
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March 2011

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Case 4: Number of Minority-owned retail firms. (See Example 1 for visual)

1. Follow steps from pages 1 and 2.

2. Select the first link. (See image in Case 1, number 2)

3. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Other Dimensions.”(See 

image in Case 1, number 4) 

4. Select the “Race code” and click “Next.”

5. Select “Minority” value box and click “Show Result.” (See image in Case 2)

6. Move your cursor over the “Filter Rows” tab and select “by Industry, 2007 NAICS.” (See 

image in Case 1, number 4)

7. Enter the word “retail” into search box, click the “Use synonyms” checkbox, and click 

search.

8. The application will then present the industry related to the keyword “retail”, “44-45: 

Retail trade.

9. Select the industry, then click “Add”, and then click “Show Result.”

Note: If you know the sector classification of the industry you are interested in, choose the 

sector and then follow step 9. For more help with NAICS please go click on the following 

link: www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/.