DOI: 10.3886/e223442
title: 2021 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics series (NES-D): Statistics for Employer and Nonemployer Firms by Industry, Sex, Ethnicity, Race, and Veteran Status for the U.S., States, Metro Areas, and Counties

description: This data set provides statistics about employer and nonemployer businesses from 2021 for the nation, states, counties, and metropolitan statistical areas (MSA). It includes the number of firms, revenue, number of employees, and annual payroll, broken down by industry and owner demographics including as sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status.<br><br>About NES-D<br>The Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics series (NES-D) provides information on the demographic characteristics of nonemployer businesses. The NES-D is the result of a research project by the Census Bureau to complete the picture of U.S. business ownership by demographics for the United States. Historically, the quinquennial Survey of Business Owners (SBO) provided the only comprehensive source of information on both employer and nonemployer businesses by demographic characteristics of the business owners. In 2017, the SBO was replaced by the Annual Business Survey (ABS). The ABS is an annual survey that collects demographic characteristics from employer businesses. However, the ABS excludes the collection of demographic data from nonemployer businesses. The NES-D was developed to produce similar estimates as ABS on owner demographics for nonemployer businesses. The NES-D is not a survey; rather, it leverages existing individual-level administrative records to assign demographic characteristics to the universe of nonemployer businesses. Demographic characteristics including sex, ethnicity, race, veteran status, owner age, place of birth, and U.S. citizenship are assigned to nonemployer business owners.Together, the NES-D and the ABS will continue to provide the only source of detailed and comprehensive statistics on the scope, nature and activities of all U.S. businesses by the demographic characteristics of the business owners. NES-D data will be available annually by detailed geography and industry levels, receipt-size class, and legal form of organization (LFO). Beginning with the 2019 NES-D, the data will include urban and rural classification.
description: <b>Purpose</b><br>The Census Bureau has reviewed this data product to ensure appropriate access, use, and disclosure avoidance protection of the confidential source data (Project No. 7504866, Disclosure Review Board (DRB) approval number: 2021 NES-D approval number: CBDRB-FY24-0307; 2022 ABS approval number: CBDRB-FY23-0479).<br><br><b>Key Table Information:</b><br>Data in this table combines estimates from the Annual Business Survey (employer firms) and the Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (nonemployer firms).Includes U.S. firms with no paid employment or payroll, annual receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more in the construction industries) and filing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms for sole proprietorships (Form 1040, Schedule C), partnerships (Form 1065), or corporations (the Form 1120 series).Includes U.S. employer firms estimates of business ownership by sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status from the 2022 Annual Business Survey (ABS) collection. Data are also obtained from administrative records, the 2017 Economic Census, and other economic surveys.<br>Note: For employer data only, the collection year is the year in which the data are collected. A reference year is the year that is referenced in the questions on the survey and in which the statistics are tabulated. For example, the 2022 ABS collection year produces statistics for the 2021 reference year. The Year column in the table is the reference year.<br><br><b>Data Items and Other Identifying Records:</b><br>Data include estimates on:Total number of employer and nonemployer firmsTotal sales and receipts of employer and nonemployer firms (reported in $1,000 of dollars)Number of nonemployer firms (firms without paid employees)Sales and receipts of nonemployer firms (reported in $1,000s of dollars)Number of employer firms (firms with paid employees)Sales and receipts of employer firms (reported in $1,000s of dollars)Number of employees (during the March 12 pay period)Annual payroll of employer firms (reported in $1,000s of dollars)These data are aggregated by the following demographic classifications of firm for:All firmsClassifiable (firms classifiable by sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status)SexFemaleMaleEqually male/female (50% / 50%)EthnicityHispanicEqually Hispanic/non-Hispanic (50% / 50%)Non-HispanicRaceWhiteBlack or African AmericanAmerican Indian and Alaska NativeAsianNative Hawaiian and Other Pacific IslanderMinority (Firms classified as any race and ethnicity combination other than non-Hispanic and White)Equally minority/nonminority (50% / 50%)Nonminority (Firms classified as non-Hispanic and White)Veteran Status (defined as having served in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces)VeteranEqually veteran/nonveteran (50% / 50%)NonveteranUnclassifiable (firms not classifiable by sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status)Data Notes:Business ownership is defined as having 51 percent or more of the stock or equity in the business. Data are provided for firms owned equally (50% / 50%) by men and women, by Hispanics and non-Hispanics, by minorities and nonminorities, and by veterans and nonveterans. Firms not classifiable by sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status are counted and tabulated separately.The detail may not add to the total or subtotal because a Hispanic firm may be of any race; because a firm could be tabulated in more than one racial group; or because the number of nonemployer firm's data are rounded.Nonemployer data do not have standard error or relative standard error columns as these data are from the universe of nonemployer firms, not from a data sample.<b>Industry and Geography Coverage:</b><br>The data are shown for the total for all sectors (00) and 2-digit NAICS code levels for:United StatesStates and the District of ColumbiaMetropolitan Statistical AreasCountyData are also shown for the 3- and 4-digit NAICS code for:United StatesNonemployer data are excluded for the following NAICS industries:Crop and Animal Production (NAICS 111 and 112)Rail Transportation (NAICS 482)Postal Service (NAICS 491)Monetary Authorities-Central Bank (NAICS 521)Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (NAICS 525)Management of Companies and Enterprises (NAICS 55)Private Households (NAICS 814)Public Administration (NAICS 92)Industries Not Classified (NAICS 99)For more information about NAICS, see NAICS Codes & Understanding Industry Classification Systems. For information about geographies used by economic programs at the Census Bureau, see Economic Census: Economic Geographies.<br><br><b>Employer Data Footnotes:</b><br>Footnote 660 - Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (Sector 11): Crop and Animal Production (NAICS 111 and 112) are out of scope.<br>Footnote 661 - Transportation and warehousing (Sector 48-49): Rail Transportation (NAICS 482) and the Postal Service (NAICS 491) are out of scope.<br>Footnote 662 - Finance and insurance (Sector 52): Monetary Authorities-Central Banks (NAICS 521) and Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (NAICS 525) are out of scope.<br>Footnote 663 - Other services, except public administration (Sector 81): Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (NAICS 813) and Private Households (NAICS 814) are out of scope.<br><br><b>All Firm Footnote:</b><br>Nonemployer data does not include statistics from NAICS sectors 55 and 99, as such, data from these sectors are also not included in the employer and all firm tabulations for this table.<br><br><b>FTP Download:</b><br>Download the entire table at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/abs/data/2021/AB2100NESD01.zip.<br><br><b>API Information:</b><br>Nonemployer Demographic Statistics data are housed in the Census Bureau API. For more information, see https://api.census.gov/data/2021/absnesd.html.<br><br><b>Methodology:</b><br>To maintain confidentiality, the Census Bureau suppresses data to protect the identity of any business or individual. The census results in this file contain sampling and/or nonsampling error. Data users who create their own estimates using data from this file should cite the Census Bureau as the source of the original data only. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see Survey Methodology.<br><br><b>Symbols:</b><br> D - Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual companies; data are included in higher level totals<br> S - Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability, poor response quality, or other concerns about the estimate quality. Unpublished estimates derived from this table by subtraction are subject to these same limitations and should not be attributed to the U.S. Census Bureau. For a description of publication standards and the total quantity response rate, see link to program methodology page.<br> N - Not available or not comparable<br> X - Not applicable<br><br>The following symbols are used to identify the level of noise applied to the data:<br> G - Low noise: The cell value was changed by less than 2 percent by the application of noise.<br> H - Moderate noise: The cell value was changed by 2 percent or more but less than 5 percent by the application of noise.<br> J - High noise: The cell value was changed by 5 percent or more by the application of noise.<br>For a complete list of all economic programs symbols, see the Symbols Glossary.<br><br><b>Source:</b><br>U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics and Annual Business Survey (ABS), Annual Business Survey Program<br>For more information about the survey, please visit https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/abs.html.Contact Information:<br>To contact the Annual Business Survey staff:Email general, nonsecure, and unencrypted messages to adep.annual.business.survey@census.gov.Call 301.763.3316 between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday.