The Annual Business Survey (ABS) provides information on selected economic and demographic characteristics for businesses and business owners by sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status. The ABS replaces the five-year Survey of Business Owners (SBO) for employer businesses, the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE), the Business R&D and Innovation for Microbusinesses survey (BRDI-M), and the innovation section of the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDI-S).

2019-2022 ABS estimates are available on select economic and demographic characteristics of employer businesses and their owners by sector, sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status for the nation, states, and metro areas. For the 2018 ABS, estimates are also available for counties, and economic places.

Datasets include:

• Company Summary. Provides data for employer businesses by sector, sex, ethnicity, race, veteran status, years in business, receipts size of firm, and employment size of firm for the U.S., states, and metro areas. Data for counties and economic places are available for 2018, and urban and rural classification of firms are available for 2021 and 2022.
• Characteristics of Businesses. Provides data for respondent employer firms by sector, sex, ethnicity, race, veteran status, years in business, receipts size of firm, and employment size of firm for the U.S., states, and metro areas, including detailed business characteristics. Data for counties and economic places are available for 2018, and urban and rural classification of firms are available for 2021 and 2022.
• Characteristics of Business Owners. Provides data for owners of respondent employer firms by sector, sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status for the U.S., states, and metro areas, including detailed owner characteristics. Data for counties and economic places are available for 2018.
• Module Business Characteristics. Newly introduced in 2021, provides data for respondent employer firms by sector, sex, ethnicity, race, veteran status, years in business, receipts size of firm, and employment size of firm for the U.S., states, and metro areas, including unique business characteristics such as types of technology used by the business, and the effect of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the business. Urban and rural classification of firms are available for 2021 and 2022.

Read more information about the ABS at www.census.gov/programs-surveys/abs/about.html.

For a complete description of the ABS methodology, please visit www.census.gov/programs-surveys/abs/technical-documentation/methodology.html