The Data · Living Page
The State of
Black Business
Black-owned businesses in America, counted by the federal government. Not estimates, not vibes: data on Black-owned businesses with employees, straight from the U.S. Census Bureau, updated as new releases land.
The Gap, Honestly
3 in 100
Black Americans are roughly 14% of the population, but Black-owned businesses with employees are just 3.4%of America’s 5,934,950 employer businesses. That distance is the work: every verified business in our directory is a data point moving the other way.
Share of all U.S. businesses with employees, by race of owner. Groups overlap (equally-owned businesses are counted in each) and exclude those the Census cannot classify.
Where the Work Is
By Industry
Where They Are
By State
| # | State | Businesses | Employees | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 23,648 | 120,843 | $21.2B |
| 2 | Texas | 17,854 | 200,483 | $23.8B |
| 3 | California | 17,331 | 129,254 | $22.4B |
| 4 | Georgia | 16,441 | 106,436 | $13.0B |
| 5 | New York | 15,317 | 113,116 | $17.4B |
| 6 | Maryland | 10,470 | 101,896 | $14.0B |
| 7 | North Carolina | 9,438 | 82,664 | $9.1B |
| 8 | Virginia | 8,188 | 79,482 | $10.5B |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 6,064 | 83,753 | $7.7B |
| 10 | Illinois | 5,968 | 53,991 | $11.3B |
| 11 | New Jersey | 5,884 | 40,100 | $5.3B |
| 12 | Ohio | 5,605 | 64,012 | $7.1B |
| 13 | South Carolina | 4,032 | 30,812 | $4.8B |
| 14 | Louisiana | 3,984 | 42,404 | $4.0B |
| 15 | Missouri | 3,794 | 32,100 | $5.8B |
| 16 | Massachusetts | 3,687 | 95,480 | $5.6B |
| 17 | Michigan | 3,578 | 78,821 | $11.9B |
| 18 | Washington | 3,077 | 21,528 | $3.4B |
| 19 | Tennessee | 3,005 | 21,150 | $3.4B |
| 20 | Minnesota | 2,996 | 54,746 | $3.3B |
| 21 | Indiana | 2,690 | 41,325 | $4.5B |
| 22 | Arizona | 2,458 | 22,590 | $2.7B |
| 23 | Colorado | 2,396 | 28,276 | $3.7B |
| 24 | Mississippi | 2,177 | 22,087 | $1.9B |
| 25 | District of Columbia | 2,026 | 23,922 | $4.2B |
| 26 | Wisconsin | 1,854 | 19,700 | $1.9B |
| 27 | Connecticut | 1,853 | 13,879 | $1.7B |
| 28 | Nevada | 1,604 | 15,069 | $1.5B |
| 29 | Oregon | 1,460 | 8,786 | $1.7B |
| 30 | Delaware | 1,207 | 7,889 | $971.8M |
| 31 | Arkansas | 1,205 | 8,377 | $1.4B |
| 32 | Oklahoma | 1,162 | 9,975 | $1.2B |
| 33 | Kentucky | 1,039 | 10,577 | $1.5B |
| 34 | Kansas | 686 | 14,295 | $3.3B |
| 35 | Rhode Island | 546 | 2,931 | $482.7M |
| 36 | Nebraska | 517 | 3,360 | $423.8M |
| 37 | New Mexico | 505 | 5,112 | $648.5M |
| 38 | Maine | 338 | 7,066 | $560.7M |
| 39 | Utah | 338 | 2,435 | $312.3M |
| 40 | Idaho | 258 | 4,580 | $348.1M |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 227 | 1,821 | $227.8M |
| 42 | West Virginia | 218 | 2,607 | $424.5M |
| 43 | Hawaii | 187 | 1,274 | $182.3M |
| 44 | Alaska | 166 | 1,864 | $176.7M |
| 45 | North Dakota | 108 | 489 | $32.3M |
| 46 | South Dakota | 57 | 187 | $33.4M |
| 47 | Vermont | 37 | 107 | $25.6M |
States where business counts are withheld by the Census Bureau to protect confidentiality are omitted from this ranking.
Be a Data Point
Every business in our verified directory is one of these. Explore them, or add yours.
Methodology & Source
Data: U.S. Census Bureau & National Science Foundation, 2023 Annual Business Survey, Company Summary, reference year 2023. Figures cover businesses with employees(what the Census calls “employer firms”) classified as Black- or African American-owned (owner race group 40, majority or equal ownership). This series does not include the millions of Black-owned nonemployer businesses (sole proprietors with no payroll), which the Census tracks separately in its Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics. Payroll and revenue are annual. This page fetches directly from the Census API and refreshes weekly; when the Census releases the next Annual Business Survey, these numbers update automatically to the newest reference year.