Nonemployer Business Owners by Nativity (Census NES-D)

Georgia's self-employed business owners (no paid employees): share born outside the U.S. and share not citizens, by county.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D): Owner Characteristics of Nonemployer Firms (absnesdo), questions O11 (born in the U.S.) and O12 (U.S. citizen)
Year coverage: 2022–2023
Updated: annual
Version: 1.0.0
Schema hash: 4adcdda5848f

Detail levels available

StateCounty · default

Overview

Owners of nonemployer businesses - firms with no paid employees, such as sole proprietors, gig workers, and independent contractors - in Georgia and each of its 159 counties, by whether the owner was born in the United States and whether the owner is a U.S. citizen, from the U.S. Census Bureau's Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D), reference years 2022-2023. Each row carries the number of owners the Census can identify, which excludes C-corporation owners ('total reporting'), the U.S.-born / not-U.S.-born split, the citizen / not-a-citizen split, and the published shares not U.S.-born (the headline metric) and not citizens. State rows are also broken out by 18 two-digit NAICS industry sectors; county rows cover all sectors combined.

Row grain: One row per year, county_fips, district_code, tract_geoid, sector.

Key metric

pct_not_us_born — Share of Owners Not Born in the U.S. (proportion)

The single headline value most answers want.

JSON schema →Data contract (YAML) →

Variables

Every column in the fact table. The code is the exact field name the API returns.

Column	Type	Unit	Range	Null?	Description
`year`Year	integer	—	—	no	Reference year: the calendar year of the administrative records the statistics are tabulated from (2023 = calendar 2023). Each year is an independent annual release. Full description▾ Reference year: the calendar year of the administrative records the statistics are tabulated from (2023 = calendar 2023). Each year is an independent annual release.
`county_fips`County FIPS	string	—	—	yes	5-digit county FIPS code (state 13 + county). Populated only on county rows; NULL on state rows. Full description▾ 5-digit county FIPS code (state 13 + county). Populated only on county rows; NULL on state rows. Joins counties; adds its label columns.
`district_code`District Code	string	—	—	yes	Always NULL: NES-D publishes no school-district geography. Kept for the census domain's standard key shape. Full description▾ Always NULL: NES-D publishes no school-district geography. Kept for the census domain's standard key shape. Joins districts; adds its label columns.
`tract_geoid`Tract GEOID	string	—	—	yes	Always NULL: NES-D publishes no census-tract geography. Kept for the census domain's standard key shape. Full description▾ Always NULL: NES-D publishes no census-tract geography. Kept for the census domain's standard key shape. Joins tracts; adds its label columns.
`sector`Sector	string	—	—	no	Industry of the owners' businesses; 'all' is the all-sectors total and the only value for counties. Full description▾ Industry sector of the owners' nonemployer businesses (2022 NAICS sector; each business is classified in one sector). 'all' (NAICS 00) is the all-sectors total and the ONLY value on county rows - the Census publishes the 18 sectors at STATE level only, so pin sector = 'all' for any county or cross-geography comparison. The other values are the NAICS 2022 sector code prefixed naics_, with the range dash as an underscore: naics_11 = Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; naics_21 = Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; naics_22 = Utilities; naics_23 = Construction; naics_31_33 = Manufacturing; naics_42 = Wholesale trade; naics_44_45 = Retail trade; naics_48_49 = Transportation and warehousing; naics_51 = Information; naics_52 = Finance and insurance; naics_53 = Real estate and rental and leasing; naics_54 = Professional, scientific, and technical services; naics_56 = Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services; naics_61 = Educational services; naics_62 = Health care and social assistance; naics_71 = Arts, entertainment, and recreation; naics_72 = Accommodation and food services; naics_81 = Other services (except public administration). Sectors 55 (management of companies) and 92 (public administration) are not published for nonemployers, and crop and animal production (NAICS 111-112) is excluded from every value: naics_11 is forestry, fishing, hunting and agricultural support only, and 'all' leaves out farms. The 18 sector rows sum to the 'all' row only within rounding. 19 allowed values▾ `all — total / aggregate` `naics_11` `naics_21` `naics_22` `naics_23` `naics_31_33` `naics_42` `naics_44_45` `naics_48_49` `naics_51` `naics_52` `naics_53` `naics_54` `naics_56` `naics_61` `naics_62` `naics_71` `naics_72` `naics_81`
`num_owners_reporting`Owners Reporting	integer	count	—	yes	'Total reporting': the number of owners of nonemployer businesses other than C-corporations (whose owners the Census cannot identify; about 2% of nonemployers), with place of birth and citizenship from administrative records or imputed by the Census - the denominator of both shares. The two questions' totals (O11 'born in the U.S.' and O12 'U.S. citizen') are identical in every cell (2022-2023; asserted by the transform), so one column serves both. Counts owners of businesses, not distinct people or jobs. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding. Full description▾ 'Total reporting': the number of owners of nonemployer businesses other than C-corporations (whose owners the Census cannot identify; about 2% of nonemployers), with place of birth and citizenship from administrative records or imputed by the Census - the denominator of both shares. The two questions' totals (O11 'born in the U.S.' and O12 'U.S. citizen') are identical in every cell (2022-2023; asserted by the transform), so one column serves both. Counts owners of businesses, not distinct people or jobs. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding.
`num_owners_us_born`Owners Born in the U.S.	integer	count	—	yes	Owners reporting who were born in the United States (question O11, answer 'Owner was born in the U.S.'). Can equal num_owners_reporting in a small county whose not-U.S.-born count is withheld. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding. Full description▾ Owners reporting who were born in the United States (question O11, answer 'Owner was born in the U.S.'). Can equal num_owners_reporting in a small county whose not-U.S.-born count is withheld. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding.
`num_owners_not_us_born`Owners Not Born in the U.S.	integer	count	—	yes	Owners reporting who were NOT born in the United States (question O11, answer 'Owner was not born in the U.S.') - the numerator of pct_not_us_born. Includes naturalized citizens, so it overlaps num_owners_citizen and must never be added to num_owners_not_citizen. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding. Full description▾ Owners reporting who were NOT born in the United States (question O11, answer 'Owner was not born in the U.S.') - the numerator of pct_not_us_born. Includes naturalized citizens, so it overlaps num_owners_citizen and must never be added to num_owners_not_citizen. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding.
`pct_not_us_born`Share of Owners Not Born in the U.S.	number	proportion	—	yes	Share of nonemployer business owners who were born outside the U.S. Full description▾ Share of owners reporting who were NOT born in the United States, as published by the Census (the one-decimal percent for the 'Owner was not born in the U.S.' row, divided by 100). The Census computes it from UNROUNDED counts, so it is the canonical figure and can differ slightly from num_owners_not_us_born / num_owners_reporting (Gwinnett 2023: 0.533 published vs 82,000 / 154,000 = 0.532). Place of birth is assigned from administrative records (primarily the Census Numident), so there is no margin of error. Never smaller than pct_not_citizen (naturalized owners are not U.S.-born but are citizens); the two shares must never be added. Where the Census omits the 'not born in the U.S.' row, this share is 100 minus the published 'born in the U.S.' percent divided by 100 - exact at the published precision, because the two percents sum to exactly 100.0 wherever both are published.
`num_owners_citizen`Owners Who Are U.S. Citizens	integer	count	—	yes	Owners reporting who are U.S. citizens (question O12, answer 'Owner is a citizen of the U.S.'), whether by birth or naturalization - so it overlaps num_owners_not_us_born. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding. Full description▾ Owners reporting who are U.S. citizens (question O12, answer 'Owner is a citizen of the U.S.'), whether by birth or naturalization - so it overlaps num_owners_not_us_born. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding.
`num_owners_not_citizen`Owners Who Are Not U.S. Citizens	integer	count	—	yes	Owners reporting who are NOT U.S. citizens (question O12, answer 'Owner is not a citizen of the U.S.') - a subset of num_owners_not_us_born, never to be added to it. Citizenship comes from administrative records and does not distinguish legal status. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding. Full description▾ Owners reporting who are NOT U.S. citizens (question O12, answer 'Owner is not a citizen of the U.S.') - a subset of num_owners_not_us_born, never to be added to it. Citizenship comes from administrative records and does not distinguish legal status. Rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (see limitations), so it matches sums of other counts only within rounding.
`pct_not_citizen`Share of Owners Not U.S. Citizens	number	proportion	—	yes	Share of owners reporting who are NOT U.S. citizens, as published by the Census (one-decimal percent divided by 100, computed from unrounded counts). Same-family companion of pct_not_us_born over the same total: never larger than it, and never to be added to it. Where the Census omits the 'not a citizen' row, this share is 100 minus the published 'citizen' percent divided by 100. Full description▾ Share of owners reporting who are NOT U.S. citizens, as published by the Census (one-decimal percent divided by 100, computed from unrounded counts). Same-family companion of pct_not_us_born over the same total: never larger than it, and never to be added to it. Where the Census omits the 'not a citizen' row, this share is 100 minus the published 'citizen' percent divided by 100.

Filters

Query parameters the fact endpoint accepts. Comma-separated values are OR within a parameter; multiple parameters AND together.

Parameter	Kind	Allowed values	Notes
`year`	year_exact	any value	—
`year_min`	year_range	any value	—
`year_max`	year_range	any value	—
`detail`	detail	`countiesstates`	enum-enforced, default: counties
`district_code`	foreign_key	any value	multi-value
`county_fips`	foreign_key	any value	multi-value
`tract_geoid`	foreign_key	any value	multi-value
`sector`	categorical	19 allowed values▾ `all` `naics_11` `naics_21` `naics_22` `naics_23` `naics_31_33` `naics_42` `naics_44_45` `naics_48_49` `naics_51` `naics_52` `naics_53` `naics_54` `naics_56` `naics_61` `naics_62` `naics_71` `naics_72` `naics_81`	multi-value, enum-enforced
`district_type`	dimension_attribute	7 allowed values▾ `commission_charter` `resa` `standard` `state_agency` `state_charter` `state_school` `state_special`	multi-value, enum-enforced

Example requests

Run these against the base URL — they return live data.

All rows (first page), counties level

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/census/nonemployer_owners_by_nativity"

counties data for 2023

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/census/nonemployer_owners_by_nativity?year=2023"

Filtered to sector = naics_11 for 2023

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/census/nonemployer_owners_by_nativity?year=2023&sector=naics_11"

One county (FIPS 13135), 2023

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/census/nonemployer_owners_by_nativity?county_fips=13135&year=2023&detail=counties"

Download 2023 as CSV

curl "https://georgiacivicdata.org/api/v1/census/nonemployer_owners_by_nativity?year=2023&format=csv"

Notes & limitations

NULL handling

Suppressed cells (too few students to report) are NULL, never zero.
Zero is a real, reported value.

Limitations

Counts are owners of BUSINESSES, not people or jobs: nonemployer firms have no paid employees - sole proprietors, gig workers, independent contractors, and other self-employed owners, many of them part-time or supplementing a wage job - and one person can own several such businesses. The two questions OVERLAP and must never be added or combined: a naturalized owner is in num_owners_not_us_born AND num_owners_citizen, and non-citizens are a subset of the not-U.S.-born, so pct_not_citizen is at most pct_not_us_born. Small answer counts are not published: the Census omits the answer row, so num_owners_not_us_born is NULL for 22 counties in 2022 and 15 in 2023, and num_owners_not_citizen for 39 counties in 2022 and 35 in 2023, all with at most 1,800 owners reporting; never fill those counts from the total minus the complement (the counts are rounded). The shares are still served for those rows: each is 100 minus the published percent of the opposite answer, exact at the published one-decimal precision because the two percents sum to exactly 100.0 wherever both are published. num_owners_reporting is 'Total reporting': the owners of nonemployer businesses other than C-corporations (about 2% of nonemployers, whose owners the Census cannot identify), so it is not every nonemployer owner. Place of birth and citizenship come from administrative records (primarily the Census Numident, with decennial census and ACS responses as secondary sources) for at least 95% of those owners, and the Census imputes the rest. Both questions share this total in every cell. Counts are rounded by the Census on a magnitude-banded scale (observed: under 100 to the nearest 10, 100-999 to 50, 1,000-9,999 to 100, 10,000-99,999 to 500, 100,000 and over to 1,000), so answers, sectors, and counties sum to their totals only within rounding; the shares are published by the Census from unrounded counts and are the canonical figures - prefer them to dividing the rounded counts. year is the calendar reference year of the administrative records (2022-2023), each an independent annual release; the statistics are tabulated from administrative records, not a survey, so there are no margins of error. Industry sectors (sector values other than 'all') are published at STATE level only; county rows carry the all-sectors total ('all') only. Nonemployer Statistics exclude crop and animal production (NAICS 111-112), so farms are in neither 'all' nor naics_11. Geography is Georgia and its 159 counties; district_code and tract_geoid are always NULL. For the foreign-born share of all residents rather than business owners, see the ACS foreign_born_population topic.