Big corporations, those with 500 or more workers, employ 51.6% of U.S. workers according to the latest figures (pdf) from the U.S. Census Bureau. That number has gone up since 2004, when 49.1% of Americans worked for large companies.

The numbers for 2012 showed about 60 million Americans work for “large enterprises,” while 20.4 million count on mom-and-pop businesses, or what the Census Bureau calls “very small enterprises,” with 20 or fewer workers. These employees represent 17.6% of the workforce.

“Small enterprises” (20-99 workers) employ 19.4 million people (16.7%) and “medium enterprises” (100-499 workers) employ 16.3 million people (14%).

If you live in Nevada, you’re most likely to work for a big company with 59.2% of Silver State residents doing so. Montana residents are least likely to work for a large corporation; only 32.4% of people there work for a big company.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Statistics of U.S. Businesses Employment and Payroll Summary: 2012 (by Anthony Caruso, U.S. Census Bureau) (pdf)

Richest Corporations Received Millions of Dollars in Small Business Contracts (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)