The nation added nearly a million businesses with no paid employees between 2003 and 2004 to reach 19.5 million, a growth rate of 4.7 percent over a one-year period. Businesses without a payroll make up more than 70 percent of the nation’s 27 million-plus firms, with annual receipts over $887 billion.
The report has data on 17 million individual proprietorships and on more than 1.3 million corporations and 1.2 million partnerships. Nonemployer firms may be run by one or more individuals, can range from home-based businesses to corner stores or construction contractors and are often part-time ventures with owners operating more than one business.
Among the fastest-growing: building finishing contractors (22.5 percent), Internet service providers (18.7 percent), nail salons (14.7 percent), electronic shopping and mail-order houses -- including Internet-based consumer trade (12.7 percent), lessors of real estate (9.7 percent), formal wear and costume rental stores (8 percent) and motorcycle dealers (7.4 percent).
Florida led the nation in the growth of these small businesses with a 7.6 percent increase between 2003 and 2004. Georgia climbed to second place with a 7.1 percent increase, while Nevada fell from first to third place with a 6.4 percent increase.
The Census Bureau cautioned that the numbers released today may be understated because the hurricane-impacted areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas were granted additional time by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to file 2004 tax returns.
Source: U.S. Census
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