This research brief leverages multiple datasets from the U.S. Census Bureau to provide a summary of the state of Black-owned businesses in the United States. It is important to understand and measure these pre-pandemic trends in order to pinpoint ways to truly build back better and address gaps in entrepreneurship. This research brief explores the challenges and opportunities facing Black entrepreneurs.
Some key findings include:
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Black individuals in the U.S. own businesses at a significantly lower rate than the White population, but at a similar rate to Latinos.
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Black-owned firms tend to be significantly smaller than White-owned firms.
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Despite the large scale-up gap, the number of Black-owned employer businesses grew at a higher rate than the U.S. average between 2012 and 2017.
This research brief also explores several potential factors, including the lack of access to and the cost of financial capital, that likely contributes to the scale-up gap experienced by Black-owned businesses.