Black Business
Black-Owned Businesses: Counts, Receipts, and the Representation Gap
About 161,000 Black-owned employer firms and three million solo ventures: how the Census Bureau counts Black business ownership, where firms concentrate, and the gap between population share and business share.
Black Median Net Worth: The Wealth Gap in Federal Reserve Data
The Federal Reserve puts Black median family net worth at $44,900, against $285,000 for White families — about 16 cents on the dollar. The widest gap in economic data.
Black Buying Power: The $1.8 Trillion Consumer Economy
Black buying power is estimated at about $1.8 trillion — larger than the economy of most nations. What the figure measures, who produces it, and what it buys.
Black-Owned Businesses by Industry: Where the Firms Are
Health care and social assistance is the largest industry of Black business — nearly a third of employer firms. The Annual Business Survey industry profile.
Black Women-Owned Businesses: The Fastest-Growing Founders
Black women start businesses at the fastest pace of any major demographic — roughly two in five Black-owned firms — against the steepest capital odds in the data.
Financing a Black-Owned Business: What the Lending Data Show
Black business owners are approved for full financing at roughly half to two-thirds the rate of White owners in the Federal Reserve's credit surveys. The lending data.
Black Franchise Ownership: Buying Into Proven Systems
Black entrepreneurs own roughly 8 percent of America's franchised businesses — a growing ownership channel that trades independence for a proven model. The industry data.
Black Farmers: Land, Loss, and the Remaining 45,000
Black farmers are about 1.4 percent of America's farmers and farm a fraction of the land their grandparents held. The USDA Census of Agriculture data.
Black-Owned Media: Newspapers, Broadcast, and the Digital Shift
Black-owned media — from the historic Black press to a few percent of broadcast licenses — reaches audiences the general market measures separately. The ownership data.
Black-Owned Banks and Credit Unions: The Community Finance Infrastructure
About twenty Black-owned banks and several hundred Black-led credit unions hold the community-finance layer of the Black economy. The FDIC and NCUA data.
Black Entrepreneurship: High Startup Rates, Hard Conversion
Black adults start new businesses at rates above the national average — then face the steepest drop-offs in survival, revenue, and employer conversion. The Kauffman and Census data.
Black-Owned Construction Companies: Building in a Bonding-Gated Industry
Construction is one of the largest sectors of Black employer-firm ownership — and the one whose bonding and capital gates are the most explicitly measured. The ABS data.
Black Investors and the Stock Market: Participation in the Wealth Data
About four in ten Black families own stocks, directly or through retirement accounts, against about two-thirds of White families. The Federal Reserve wealth data.
Black-Owned Restaurants and Food Businesses: The Cornerstone Sector
Food service is among the largest Black business sectors — and the most exposed to the industry's thin margins. The Annual Business Survey and industry data.
The Black Beauty Industry: Salons, Barbershops, and a Century of Ownership
Beauty is the founding industry of Black business — from Madam C. J. Walker's empire to today's salon economy and the $2B-plus Black haircare market. The sector data.
Black Real Estate Professionals: Realtists, Brokers, and the Appraisal Gap
Black professionals form a small share of real estate brokerage and a sliver of appraisal — the gatekeeping professions of the housing market. The industry data.
Black Tech Founders: Startups, Venture Capital, and the One-Percent File
Black founders receive roughly one percent of U.S. venture capital — the startup economy's most quoted and most contested statistic. The funding data.
Black-Owned Professional Services Firms: Law, Accounting, and Consulting
Professional services are Black business's white-collar tier — from the largest Black law firms to the accounting profession's thin partnership ranks. The sector data.
Black Philanthropy: The Giving Data Behind the Institutions
Black households give a larger share of their income to charity than any other group in the giving studies — the quiet finances of Black America's institutions.
Black-Owned Auto Dealerships: The High-Revenue Frontier
Auto dealerships are among the highest-revenue Black businesses in America — and among the most endangered by industry consolidation. The NAMAD and industry data.
Black-Owned Hotels: Ownership at the Top of the Hospitality Pyramid
Black owners hold a small share of America's hotels — but the tier includes some of the industry's most prominent developers. The NABHOOD and industry data.
Black Women in Corporate Leadership: The C-Suite's Smallest Number
Black women hold about one percent of Fortune 500 C-suite roles and have led a handful of its companies. The McKinsey and Equilar data.
Black Business in Rural America and Small Towns: The Main Street File
Rural Black businesses — the funeral homes, cafés, and stores of the Black Belt's small towns — form a business geography of their own. The Census and ABS data.
Black Trucking and Logistics: Owner-Operators on the Freight Economy
Trucking moves most of America's freight, and Black drivers and owner-operators form a substantial slice of it. The FMCSA and industry data on Black-owned carriers.
The Black Art Market: Auction Records, Galleries, and the Collector Economy
Black artists' share of the auction market multiplied in the last decade, and a Black collector and gallery economy has built itself around the correction. The market data.
Black Funeral Homes: The Anchor Institution of the Business District
The Black funeral home is among the oldest continuously operating Black business forms in America — and among the most durable in the data. The industry profile.
Black-Owned Childcare: The Care Economy's First Business
Childcare is among the most Black- and women-owned sectors in the economy — and among its most financially fragile. The Census and industry data.