Survey of Business Owners (SBO)

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Survey of Business Owners - Asian Indian-Owned Firms: 2002

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

In 2002, there were over 223,000 Asian Indian-owned firms in the U.S., employing more than 610,000 workers, and generating more than $88 billion in revenue. These Asian Indian-owned firms accounted for 1.0 percent of all nonfarm businesses in the U.S., 0.6 percent of their employment, and 0.4 percent of their receipts.

The number of Asian Indian-owned businesses grew nearly 34 percent between 1997 and 2002, and the revenues grew 30.6 percent.

The 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO) defines Asian Indian-owned businesses as firms in which Asian Indians own 51 percent or more of the stock or equity of the business. The data in this report were collected as part of the 2002 Economic Census from a large sample of all nonfarm businesses filing 2002 tax forms as individual proprietorships, partnerships, or any type of corporation, and with receipts of $1,000 or more.

KIND-OF-BUSINESS CHARACTERISTICS

In 2002, 49.8 percent of Asian Indian-owned firms operated in retail trade; professional, scientific, and technical services; and health care and social assistance, where they owned 1.4 percent of all such businesses in the U.S

Retail trade accounted for 25.4 percent of all Asian Indian-owned business revenue. Table A [xls, 19K] shows the six industries accounting for the largest receipts for Asian Indian-owned firms.

GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

California and New York accounted for 36.7 percent of all Asian Indian-owned firms. New York had 41,077 firms or 18.4 percent, with receipts of $11.1 billion or 12.6 percent. California had 40,758 firms or 18.3 percent, with receipts of $16.5 billion or 18.7 percent. Next were New Jersey and Texas with the most Asian Indian-owned firms. New Jersey had 19,083 firms or 8.5 percent, and receipts of almost $7.1 billion or 8.0 percent. Texas accounted for 18,089 firms or 8.1 percent, and receipts of $7.9 billion or 9.0 percent. Table B [xls, 20K] shows the eleven states with the largest number of Asian Indian-owned firms and corresponding business revenues.

Table C [xls, 20K] shows the eleven combined statistical areas with the largest number of Asian Indian-owned firms and their corresponding business revenues.

DATA COMPARABILITY TO PRIOR SURVEYS

Table D [xls, 21K] provides a comparison of the 2002 and 1997 published data for Asian Indian-owned firms and all U.S. firms. The table shows that when compared to all U.S. businesses, excluding publicly held corporations and firms for which race ownership is indeterminate, Asian Indian-owned firms accounted for 1.0 percent of firms, 1.1 percent of employees and 1.0 percent of receipts.

The kind-of-business data for 2002 for Asian Indian-owned firms are not comparable to 1997 due to the transition from the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Additional changes affecting data comparability are discussed in detail in Methodology, in the section titled "Comparability of the 2002 and 1997 SBO Data."