Business ownership plays a significant role in wealth creation and accumulation, and can help address the racial wealth gap in the U.S. while also creating jobs and stimulating the economy more broadly.

In 2017, a significant majority of businesses in Worcester County were owned by White people (83%), followed by Asian owners (7%). African Americans owned less than 1% of businesses. Worcester County's shares of African American and Asian-owned businesses were lower than both the state and nation.

The City of Worcester had a slightly more diverse ownership base, with 9.6% of businesses owed by Asian residents and 1.4% of businesses owned by African Americans.

The lack of equal opportunities for wealth accumulation and systemic racism in the banking industry both contribute to these disparities. Would-be businesses owners of color have significantly less investment capital than their White peers due to historic discrimination in housing, a traditional method for accumulating personal wealth, and in the lending industry through both housing and corporate redlining.

Annual Business Survey (ABS) data are sourced from a combination of responses to the survey, data from the economic census, and administrative records data. The ABS only include tabulations for employer businesses, which are businesses with paid employees. The Annual Business Survey uses the collection year (the year the survey was collected) in the survey name rather than the reference year (the year the survey collects data on).