Number of Women-Owned Businesses in Pennsylvania Pass Quarter-Million Mark

                            February 20, 1997

Number of Women-Owned Businesses in Pennsylvania Pass Quarter-Million Mark

	MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- The number of women-owned businesses
in Pennsylvania hit an all-time high of 227,500 in 1992, the
Pennsylvania State Data Center at Penn State Harrisburg reports.

	The 1992 figure represents a 35.9 percent increase from
the 1987 total.  Some of this increase is due to women-owned "C"
corporations, covered in the survey for the first time in 1992.
Receipts for women-owned firms in 1992 totaled $29.4 billion.
Pennsylvania ranks sixth among the states in terms of number of
businesses and receipts.

	The majority of women business owners are self-employed.
Women-owned businesses with paid employees numbered 32,710 in
1992, a 27.7 percent increase from 1987. These firms employed
291,800 persons and had receipts totaling $25.7 billion in 1992. 

	Most women-owned businesses in 1992 were oriented to
services, 51.5 percent, or retail trade, 21.5 percent.  More
than 9 percent were involved in finance, insurance, and real
estate, while 3.1 percent were in construction. Less than 3
percent were involved in each of the following industries:
agriculture, forestry and mining; manufacturing, transportation,
or wholesale trade. This breakdown by industry for Pennsylvania
follows national trends.

	The majority of Pennsylvania's women-owned businesses
in 1992 were in metropolitan counties.  The highest percentage
was in Allegheny County, 10.3 percent, followed by Montgomery,
9 percent, Philadelphia, 7.9 percent, Bucks, 5.8 percent, and
Delaware, 5.1 percent.  Cameron, Forest and Sullivan counties
each had less than 0.1 percent of the state's women-owned
businesses.

	The largest increase in women-owned businesses from
1987 to 1992 was in Huntingdon County, which registered a 67.2
percent gain. Other counties showing considerable growth include:
Pike, 60.6 percent, Snyder, 56.3 percent, Perry, 51.9 percent,
and Lancaster, 51.2 percent.  Six Pennsylvania counties had less
than a 20 percent increase during this period, with Clinton County
showing the smallest, 11 percent. 





     The state-sponsored Pennsylvania State Data Center is the
Commonwealth's official source of population and economic statistics
and services.  It is based at Penn State Harrisburg's Institute of
State and Regional Affairs.


_________________________________________________
Editors: For additional information, contact Jennifer Shultz at
the Data Center's State Capital Office, (717) 772-2710, or Penn
State Harrisburg's Public Information Office, (717) 948-6029.


Source of Information:	U.S. Census bureau "Economic
			Censuses: Women-Owned Businesses"
			1987 and 1992 editions
			
Accompany Table:        Women-Owned Businesses, 1987-1992