Minority-Owned U.S. Businesses Account for 20% of Domestic Microbusiness R&D Performance Costs
Distribution of R&D costs performed by companies with 1–9 employees, by racial and ethnic status of primary owner: 2020
| Race or ethnicity of owners | Percent |
|---|---|
| Minority | 20 |
| Equally minority and nonminority | 2 |
| Nonminority | 72 |
| Unclassifiable | 6 |
Note(s):
Minority owners are those classified as any race and ethnicity combination other than White, not Hispanic. Statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed or funded R&D. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed or funded R&D.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and Census Bureau, 2021 Annual Business Survey: Data Year 2020.
In 2020, microbusinesses (businesses with one to nine employees) performed $5.6 billion of research and development (R&D) (see NSF 23-305). Of the $5.6 billion in R&D domestic performance costs, 72% ($4.0 billion) was spent by microbusinesses that were primarily nonminority owned. Minority-owned microbusinesses accounted for 20% ($1.1 billion) of microbusiness R&D performance in 2020. Another 2% ($112 million) of domestic microbusiness R&D was performed by businesses with equal minority and nonminority ownership.
Suggested citation: Kindlon A; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2023. Minority-Owned U.S. Businesses Account for 20% of Domestic Microbusiness R&D Performance Costs. NSF 23-333. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf23333/.
NSF 23-333
|May 24, 2023