Census Bureau Reports Increase of Nearly 1 Million Nonemployer Businesses

Census Bureau Reports Increase of Nearly 1 Million
Nonemployer Businesses

The United States added nearly 1 million nonemployer businesses between
2006 and 2007, bringing the total to 21.7 million, the U.S. Census Bureau
announced today. This 4.5 percent growth rate is detailed in Nonemployer
Statistics: 2007, an annual data series on businesses without paid
employees.

"These statistics allow users to track annual trends in nonemployer
businesses down to the local level," said C. Harvey Monk Jr., Associate
Director for Economic Programs at the U.S. Census Bureau. "Businesses can
use this data to help analyze market potential, to measure the
effectiveness of sales and advertising programs and to develop their
budgets."

Total receipts for nonemployer businesses were $992 billion in 2007, up
from $970 billion in 2006, a 2.2 percent increase. Of the total nonemployer
businesses, 19.1 million were sole proprietorships, 1.4 million were
corporations and 1.2 million were partnerships.

Most nonemployers are self-employed individuals operating very small
unincorporated businesses, which may or may not be the owner's principal
source of income. Classified in nearly 300 industries, data is available
for the nation, states, counties and metropolitan areas.

By Geography


California (2.8 million), Texas (1.8 million) and Florida (1.6 million)
had the most nonemployer businesses in the country, making up nearly 29
percent of all nonemployer businesses. Receipts of nonemployer firms in
these same states totaled nearly $308 billion -- 31 percent of all receipts
from nonemployer businesses nationwide.

Among all states, Georgia led the nation in the growth rate of
nonemployer businesses with a 6.9 percent increase between 2006 and 2007,
followed by Alabama at 6.8 percent and North Carolina with a 6.7 percent
increase.

Among larger counties, Bronx, N.Y., and Philadelphia led the growth rate
of nonemployer business establishments, each showing a 10.2 percent
increase in 2007. Mecklenburg, N.C., had the third largest growth rate in
the number of such establishments at 9.3 percent, followed by Miami-Dade,
Fla., at 8.7 percent and Kings, N.Y., at 8.6 percent.

By Sector and Industry


Three economic sectors made up more than 40 percent of the total
receipts -- real estate services ($177 billion); professional, technical
and scientific services ($130 billion); and specialty trade contractors
($97 billion). These three sectors were comprised of 7.2 million businesses
and represented more than 33 percent of all nonemployer businesses.

The plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors industry reported
a 9 percent increase in nonemployer businesses in 2007, representing 11,000
additional businesses nationwide. The 137,990 businesses that made up this
industry reported more than $8.1 billion in receipts, an average of nearly
$59,000 per location. Among counties, Los Angeles, Calif. (4,596), Harris,
Texas (2,898) and Miami-Dade, Fla. (2,480), had the most nonemployer
plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor locations.

The florists industry reported an increase of nearly 1,400 nonemployer
businesses in 2007, to 25,609, with national receipts totaling $992
million. California led all other states in revenue in the industry with
nearly $175 million in receipts. Among larger counties, Palm Beach, Fla.
($65,993), Honolulu ($63,735) and Multnomah, Ore. ($63,100), generated the
highest average receipts.

The child day care services industry reported 691,289 nonemployer
businesses in 2007, with receipts totaling $8.9 billion. Los Angeles
County, Calif. (33,716), Cook County, Ill. (23,760) and Bronx County, N.Y.
(18,449), had the most nonemployer child day care businesses, accounting
for 11 percent of the businesses and 10 percent of the receipts in this
industry. Among larger counties, Washington, Minn. ($24,371), King, Wash.
($21,798) and Anne Arundel, Md. ($20,185), generated the highest receipts
per establishment.

Nonemployer Statistics excludes businesses with paid employees; these
data are covered in the County Business Patterns report.

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Nonemployer statistics originate from tax return information of the
Internal Revenue Service. The data are subject to nonsampling error such as
errors of self-classification by industry on tax forms, as well as errors
of response, nonreporting and coverage. Values provided by each firm are
slightly modified to protect the respondent's confidentiality. Further
information about methodology and data limitations is available at <
http://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/view/covmeth.htm>.