Gender:
Women-owned businesses, as defined by the U.S. Census, are businesses in which women own 51 percent or more of the equity, interest, or stock of the business. Men-owned businesses are defined as men owning 51 percent or more of the equity, interest, or stock of the business. Equally men-/women-owned businesses those in which the equity, interest, or stock of the business is shared 50-50 among men and women owners. Publicly held, foreign-owned, and non-profit businesses are not included in NWBC analysis unless otherwise explicitly noted.
Please see Definitions of Common Terms of the Survey of Business Owners for more information.
Classification:
Calculations are based off of privately-held and classifiable firms or the SBO classification of “all firms classifiable by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran status.”
Firms that are publically held or firms that are not classifiable by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran status are not used in the current calculations. Publicly held and other firms not classifiable by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran status companies include: publicly held, foreign-owned, and not for profit.
The definition of “White” business ownership means non-Hispanic White individuals; this is also referred to as “nonminority.”
Please see Definitions of Common Terms of the Survey of Business Owners for more information.
North American Classification System (NAICS):
As an industry classification, Other Services (except Public Administration) (81) is defined as businesses that provide services not specifically provided for elsewhere in the NAICS classification system. Such as, but not limited to, repair and maintenance, electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance, personal and household goods repair and maintenance, death care services, dry-cleaning and laundry services, religious, grant making, civic, professional and similar organizations.
Industries not classified (99) are excluded from NWBC analysis as these industries are actually classified within every NAICS sector as “all other.”
Please see North American Industry Classification System for more information.
Comparability of the 2012 and 2007 SBO Data:
Per methodology published by the Census Bureau, “For the 2012 SBO, the use of administrative data for direct substitution may have affected the equally owned estimates.” In particular, the 2012 SBO reflects relatively fewer equally-owned firms than non-equally owned firms in comparison with 2007 estimates. Further analysis is required to understand the extent to which this technique has influenced non-equally owned estimates.
Please see Methodology – 2012 Survey of Business Owners for more information.
The 2012 SBO data, as well as data from 2007 and 2002, are available on the Census Bureau’s website at www.census.gov/econ/sbo and through American FactFinder (AFF), the Census Bureau’s online, self-service data access tool.