Among the 5.4 million U.S. firms with paid employees, 481,981, or 8.9 percent, had been in business for less than two years in 2014, according to findings from the U.S. Census Bureau's inaugural Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs.

In contrast to the employer firms that had been in business for less than two years, there were 167,917, or 3.1 percent, that had been in business for 16 years or more. More than 4 in 10 employer firms (2.4 million, or 44.1 percent) have been in business between 11 and 15 years.

Beginning with today's release of 2014 statistics and continuing through the release of 2016 data, the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs will supplement the Survey of Business Owners, conducted every five years. The Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs provides a timely, more frequent socio-economic portrait of the nation's employer businesses by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran status. It includes a relevant topic not found in the Survey of Business Owners: the number of years a firm has been in business.

The survey is a public-private partnership among the U.S. Census Bureau, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Minority Business Development Agency.

"As 'America's Data Agency,' the Department of Commerce puts open data resources and digital tools in the hands of families, communities, and federal and local leaders to help them make data-driven decisions," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said. "The Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs is a new and exciting resource that responds to data users' request for more timely statistics on the demographics of America's businesses owners."

The tables released today provide estimates of receipts, payroll and employment for the nation, states and the District of Columbia, and the 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas. Firm size data are available by sales size (the number of firms with sales/receipts of $1.0 million or more) and employment size (the number of firms with 500 employees or more).

"For the first time, we are making statistics available every year that show a portrait of America's business owners, providing information vital to understanding the state of our economy," Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson said. "We thank the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Minority Business Development Agency for their partnership in providing this more timely data for everyone from policymakers to small business owners."                                                                                

The 2014 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs statistics show that there were 949,318 minority-owned firms with paid employees, comprising 17.5 percent of all employer firms. These minority-owned employer firms generated $1.1 trillion in receipts (approximately 3.3 percent of the receipts for all employer firms). Among minority-owned employer firms, 12.9 percent had been in business for less than two years, while only 1.4 percent had been in business for 16 or more years.

Of the 949,318 minority-owned firms with paid employees, more than half (506,595, or 53.4 percent) were Asian-owned; 108,473 (11.4 percent) were black or African-American-owned; 26,757 (2.8 percent) were American Indian or Alaska Native-owned; 4,701 (0.5 percent) were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned; and close to a third (298,563, or 31.5 percent) were Hispanic-owned. The owner of a Hispanic-owned firm may be of any race.

Women owned approximately 1.1 million employer firms, or 19.4 percent, with receipts totaling $1.3 trillion, or 4.0 percent. Of these, 10.8 percent had been in business for less than two years, whereas 1.9 percent had been in business for 16 or more years.

Veterans owned 405,235 employer firms, or 7.5 percent, with receipts of $924.1 billion, or 2.8 percent. Of these, 6.8 percent had been in business for less than two years, while 3.6 percent had been in business for 16 or more years.

Each year's release of the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs will contain a module focusing on different topics. Later this month, the Census Bureau will release statistics from the 2014 module on the characteristics of businesses and their owners, including information on business innovation and research and development activities.

The newly released Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs statistics are not directly comparable to the Survey of Business Owners due to significant changes in methodologies.

Other highlights include:

• Hawaii and California led all states in the percentage of all employer businesses that were minority-owned, at 53.8 percent and 32.0 percent, respectively. The remaining states (or equivalents) in which approximately 20.0 percent or more of employer businesses were minority-owned were the District of Columbia (21.8 percent), Florida (24.3 percent), Georgia (20.2 percent), Maryland (22.5 percent), Nevada (18.3 percent), New Jersey (22.4 percent), New Mexico (23.6 percent), New York (21.4 percent), Texas (26.4 percent) and Virginia (20.1 percent).

• More than one third (36.0 percent) of the 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas had approximately 20.0 percent or more minority ownership of their employer businesses.

• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif. (36.6 percent); Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla. (37.6 percent); and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (39.4 percent) led all of the 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas in the percentage of employer businesses that were minority-owned. The remaining metropolitan statistical areas in which approximately 20.0 percent or more of employer businesses were minority-owned were: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. (23.3 percent); Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md. (19.0 percent); Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (23.4 percent); Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas (30.8 percent); Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev. (20.3 percent);  New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (25.7 percent); Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla. (23.4 percent); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. (33.6 percent); Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, Calif. (24.7 percent); San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas (28.7 percent); San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif. (21.8 percent); San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. (31.9 percent);  Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (19.2 percent); Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. (18.5 percent); and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (30.0 percent).

• The nation's firms employed 115.1 million people and generated $33.0 trillion in receipts. Annual payroll totaled $5.6 trillion, or approximately $48,997 per employee.

• About 1.4 million employer firms, or 25.8 percent, had receipts of $1.0 million or more. In contrast, 106,438, or 2.0 percent, had receipts of less than $10,000.

• Sectors with the highest number of employer firms were professional, scientific and technical services (771,341); retail trade (643,236); construction (638,839); and health care and social assistance (635,107).

• About one-third of employer firms (33.6 percent) in the accommodation and food services sector were minority-owned.

• Among all employer firms in the educational services and the health care and social assistance sectors, 28.0 percent were women-owned.

• About one-quarter (254,260, or 24.0 percent) of all women-owned employer firms were minority-owned. More than half (137,321, or 54.0 percent) of these minority women-owned employer firms were Asian-owned.

• There were 17,982 firms with 500 or more employees, comprising 0.3 percent of all firms with paid employees. Almost two-thirds of these firms (64.4 percent) were either publicly held or not classifiable by gender, ethnicity, race and veteran status.

• Most firms had fewer than 10 employees (4.3 million, or 78.5 percent).

• About 14.1 percent of black or African-American-owned employer businesses had been in business for less than two years, compared with 8.9 percent of all employer firms.