Nearly 15% of America’s Nonemployer Businesses Are Black-Owned

The United States Census Bureau has unveiled fresh insights regarding the demographics of nonemployer business proprietors for the year 2022. Drawing from the Annual Business Survey’s accompanying dataset, Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics, this report sheds light on self-operated businesses that generate at least $1,000 in annual revenue and file federal income taxes. In 2022, the U.S. boasted 29.8 million such businesses, accumulating total receipts of $1.7 trillion. Notably, over 4.4 million of these enterprises were owned by Black Americans, representing 14.9 percent of nonemployer businesses. These Black-owned firms garnered $130.9 billion, or 7.7 percent of total receipts. In contrast, White Americans controlled 21.9 million nonemployer firms, accounting for 73.3 percent of this category, with receipts reaching $1.3 trillion, or 76.5 percent overall.