Hispanic-owned businesses surge in US

Puerto Rican-owned businesses accounted for 6.9% all Hispanic-owned businesses in 2007, and the number increased by 42% over the previous survey five years prior.

Hispanic-owned businesses generated $345.2 billion in sales in 2007, up 55.5% compared with 2002. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more increased 51.6%—from 29,168 to 44,206 businesses between 2002 and 2007.

The data is included in the “2007 Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic-Owned Businesses,” which provides detailed information every five years on Hispanic-owned businesses, such as the number of firms, sales and receipts, number of paid employees and annual payroll.

In 2007, businesses owned by people of Mexican origin accounted for 45.8% of Hispanic-owned businesses; of Cuban origin accounted for 11.1%, Puerto Rican-owned businesses accounted for 6.9% and businesses owned by other people of Hispanic origin accounted for 34.5%.

The number of businesses owned by people of Mexican origin increased by 47.7% between 2002 and 2007, the number of Puerto Rican-owned businesses increased by 43.0%, Cuban-owned businesses increased by 65.5% and other Hispanic-owned businesses increased by 30.6%.

Hispanic-owned businesses comprised 23.6% of all businesses in New Mexico, the highest among all states, followed by Florida (22.4%), Texas (20.7%), California (16.5%) and Arizona (10.7%).

Among counties with a 2007 population of more than 500,000 people, Hispanic-owned businesses comprised 68.7% of all businesses in Hidalgo, Texas, the highest in the nation, followed by El Paso, Texas (61.4%), Miami-Dade, Fla. (60.5%), Bronx, N.Y. (37.6%) and Bexar, Texas (37.3%).

Among cities with a 2007 population of more than 500,000 people, Hispanic-owned businesses comprised 59.8% of all businesses in El Paso, Texas, the highest in the nation, followed by San Antonio (39.4%), Houston (23.3%), Albuquerque, N.M. (23.1%) and Los Ángeles (21.0%).

Of the 2.3 million Hispanic-owned businesses, 249,168 had paid employees, an increase of 24.9% from 2002. These employer businesses employed 1.9 million people, an increase of 25.7% from 2002, and their payrolls totaled $54.6 billion, an increase of 48.7%. Receipts of Hispanic-owned employer businesses totaled $274.5 billion, an increase of 52.9%.

Of the 2.3 million Hispanic-owned businesses, 2.0 million had no paid employees, an increase of 46.4%. The receipts of these nonemployer businesses totaled $70.7 billion, an increase of 66.6%.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses with 100 or more employees increased by 26.4%, from 1,508 to 1,906. These businesses generated $74.2 billion in revenue, an increase of 76.6% from 2002.

Nearly one-third (30.0%) of Hispanic-owned businesses operated in the construction, repair & maintenance and personal & laundry services industries.

Wholesale trade, construction and retail trade accounted for 50.8% of Hispanic-owned business revenue.

The Survey of Business Owners defines Hispanic-owned businesses as firms in which Hispanics own 51% or more of the equity, interest or stock of the business.