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Valerie Strang

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Number Of Minority-Owned Businesses and Revenues Increase Substantially Between 1987 And 1992, Census Bureau Reports

The number of businesses owned by minorities in the United States increased 60 percent from 1,343,910 to 2,149,184 between 1987 and 1992, according to a report released by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. This compares to an increase of 26 percent for all U.S. firms, from 13.7 million in 1987 to 17.3 million in 1992. Receipts for these minority-owned businesses increased by 128 percent during this five-year span, from $92.1 to $210.0 billion. In comparison, receipts for all U.S. firms grew 67 percent, from $2.0 to $3.3 trillion. State-by-state data also were released by the Census Bureau.

Receipts for minority-owned firms averaged $98,000, compared to an average of $193,000 for all U.S. firms.

Minority businesses are those owned by African Americans, Hispanics,Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaska Natives.

Due to sampling methodology, detailed (geographic, size, and legal form of organization) estimates are not available for all the minority-owned firms in the survey. Therefore, the following highlights cover 1,965,565 of the total number of minority businesses (2,149,184) reported in the survey.

Other highlights from the report entitled, "1992 Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises--Summary" (MB92-4), include:

• African American women owned the largest share (39 percent or 277,246) of firms owned by minority women, while Hispanic men owned the largest share (42 percent or 525,330) of firms owned by minority men.
• Among minority firms, Hispanic businesses showed the largest numeric increase at 349,335 between 1987 and 1992, followed by Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native firms (229,715), and African American businesses (196,747).
• Forty-six percent (904,226) of minority-owned businesses had receipts under $10,000, while 24,380 (1.2 percent) of these firms had sales of $1.0 million or more.
• Firms owned by non-Hispanic White men had the highest average receipts with $250,000. Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native men and women firms had average receipts of $188,000 and $119,000, respectively. These groups were followed by non-Hispanic White women-owned firms with $115,000, Hispanic men with $106,000, Hispanic women with $70,000, African American men with $69,000, and African American women with $31,000.
• Three states--California, Texas, and Florida--accounted for 49 percent of the total number of minority-owned firms. Hawaii had the highest percentage of firms owned by minorities at 52 percent and the District of Columbia ranked second with 36 percent of all firms.

The data in this report were collected as part of the 1992 Economic Census from a large sample of all nonfarm businesses filing tax forms as sole proprietorships, partnerships, or subchapter S corporations (corporations other than subchapter S were excluded), and with receipts of $500 or more in 1992. The report does not include C corporations, which are legally incorporated businesses with no limits on their number of shareholders.

The information was collected from a sample survey and is therefore subject to sampling variability as well as reporting and coverage errors. Comparisons to 1987 should be done with extreme caution because changes in tax laws cause inconsistencies between the 1987 and 1992 data. Changes in survey methodology also may contribute to the differences.

Selected tables will be available on the embargo date on the Internet at: https://www.census.gov/csd/mwb/1992

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