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Revenues for American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned
Businesses Near $27 Billion, Census Bureau Reports

     There were 201,387 American Indian- and Alaska native-owned businesses in 2002 -- with receipts of $26.9 billion -- according to a new report, Survey of Business Owners: American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms: 2002 [PDF] released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

     The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif., combined statistical area had the highest number of American Indian- and Alaska native-owned firms (20,380) and receipts (nearly $1.6 billion). Among counties, Los Angeles had the highest number of firms (13,061).

     The information in the tabulations today excludes businesses owned by an American Indian tribal entity, which are considered to be government-owned entities and are therefore excluded from the estimates. Since this distinction was not made in the 1997 survey, prior data are not directly comparable.

     Other highlights:

• States accounting for the highest number of American Indian- and Alaska native-owned firms included California, Oklahoma, Texas, New York and Florida.

• Nearly 3-in-10 American Indian- and Alaska native-owned firms operated in construction and other services (such as personal services, and repair and maintenance).

• Almost 1-in-8 American Indian- and Alaska native-owned firms had paid employees. These 24,498 businesses employed more than 191,270 people and generated revenues of nearly $22 billion, or about $897,489 per firm.

• There were 3,631 American Indian- and Alaska native-owned firms with receipts of $1 million or more. These firms accounted for 1.8 percent of the total number of American Indian- and Alaska native-owned firms and more than 64 percent of their total receipts.

• There were 178 American Indian- and Alaska native-owned firms with 100 employees or more, generating nearly $5.3 billion in gross receipts (24 percent of the total revenue for American Indian- and Alaska native-owned employer firms).

• American Indian- and Alaska native-owned businesses with no paid employees numbered 176,889 with receipts of $4.9 billion. Average receipts of these businesses were $27,623 per firm.

*States With the Largest Number of American Indian- and Alaska Native- (AIAN) Owned
  Firms Compared to All Firms: 2002

State	AIAN- owned firms (number)	Percent of total AIAN- owned firms	All firms (number)	AIAN as a percent of all firms	AIAN-owned firms’ receipts (million dollars)	Percent of total AIAN-owned firms receipts	All firms ‘receipts (million dollars)	AIAN as a percent of all firms’ receipts
U.S. total	201,387	(X)	22,974,685	0.9	26,873	(X)	22,627,167	0.1
California	38,125	18.9	2,908,761	1.3	3,876	14.4	2,796,609	0.1
Oklahoma	17,097	8.5	291,611	5.9	2,518	9.4	197,347	1.3
Texas	16,204	8.0	1,734,517	0.9	3,138	11.7	1,812,465	0.2
New York	11,158	5.5	1,707,172	0.7	710	2.6	1,737,979	0.0
Florida	9,923	4.9	1,539,208	0.6	641	2.4	1,075,806	0.1
* Excludes tribal-owned entities

*Combined Statistical Areas With the Largest Number of American Indian- and
  Alaska Native-Owned Firms: 2002

Combined statistical area	AIAN-owned firms
	Firms (number)	Receipts (million dollars)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.	20,380	1,563
New York-Newark-Bridgeport, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.	12,311	765
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.	6,549	965
* Excludes tribal-owned entities

*County With the Largest Number of American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms
  Compared to American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms in the State: 2002

County	AIAN-owned firms		State	AIAN-owned firms		Percent county to state
	Firms (number)	Receipts (million dollars)		Firms (number)	Receipts (million dollars)	Firms	Receipts
Los Angeles	13,061	838	Calif.	38,125	3,876	34	22
* Excludes tribal-owned entities

*Cities With the Largest Number of American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms
  Compared to American Indian- and Alaska Native-Owned Firms in the State: 2002

City	AIAN-owned firms		State	AIAN-owned firms		Percent city to state
	Firms (number)	Receipts (million dollars)		Firms (number)	Receipts (million dollars)	Firms	Receipts
New York	7,134	274	N.Y.	11,158	710	64	39
Los Angeles	5,767	284	Calif.	38,125	3,876	15	7
Gallup	2,642	51	N.M.	6,826	455	39	11
* Excludes tribal-owned entities

     The 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO) defines American Indian- and Alaska native-owned businesses as firms in which American Indians and Alaska natives own 51 percent or more of the stock or equity of the business. Data by gender of ownership by all race groups and people of Hispanic or Latino origin will be issued in August.

     Later this year, information will be released for the first time in more than a decade on the characteristics of businesses and their owners. Information will be provided on home-based, family-owned and franchised businesses as well as information about sources of capital. For business owners, the Census Bureau will provide information about their age, hours worked, educational attainment and veteran status.

     The SBO is part of the 2002 Economic Census and combines survey data from a sample of more than 2.4 million businesses with administrative data.

     Data for 2002 are not directly comparable to previous survey years because of several significant changes to the survey methodology. See “Comparability of 2002 and 1997 SBO Data” at <http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/text/sbo/sbomethodology.htm#comparability>.

     The data collected in a sample survey are subject to sampling variability as well as nonsampling errors. Sources of nonsampling errors include errors of response, nonreporting and coverage.

 

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