The number of small employer firms (i.e., firms with less than 500 employees) reached 5.5 million in 2002. These firms generated $8.3 trillion in revenue, employed 54.2 million people, and paid out $1.7 trillion in annual payroll.

The Survey of Business Owners provides statistics on the number of small employer firms, sales, payroll, and number of employees by gender, race, and ethnicity of ownership.

There were 915,998 women-owned small employer firms in the United States, generating $642.8 billion in revenue, with 6.2 million employees and $152.7 billion in annual payroll.

California had the largest number of women-owned small employer firms with 115,535, generating $97.0 billion in revenue.

There were 199,361 Hispanic- or Latino-owned small employer firms in the United States, generating $164.7 billion in revenue, and employing 1.4 million people with an annual payroll of $33.5 billion.

California had the largest number of Hispanic- or Latino-owned small employer firms (47,482), generating $42.4 billion in revenue. Florida had the second largest number of Hispanic-owned small employer firms (39,935) with $31.9 billion in revenue.

There were 94,429 black-owned small employer firms in the United States, generating $61.0 billion in revenue. American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned small employer firms totaled 24,476, with $19.6 billion in revenue. The 319,341 Asian-owned small employer firms and 3,693 Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned small employer firms earned $272.2 billion and $3.5 billion in revenue, respectively.

California had the largest number of black-owned small employer firms (9,982), generating $5.9 billion in revenue; Asian-owned small employer firms (102,568) with $107.1 billion in revenue; and American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned small employer firms (3,658) with $2.9 billion in revenue.

California and Hawaii each had a large number of Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned small employer firms. In California, there were 1,022 Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned small employer firms, which generated $900 million in revenue. In Hawaii, there were 1,002 Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned small employer firms, generating $1.3 billion in revenue.

Results for all states by gender, ethnicity, and race are available