According to the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 136,602,000 workers over the age of 16 in the United States in 2004, a whopping 15.1% of them, or 20,673,000, people worked at home.

Of the 20,673,000 people that worked at home, about 49% of them did so without it being part of their actual job description or work agreement. We'll call that working at home "on the side". Our report is going to focus on the remaining 49.9%, or 10,315.827 people who were actually PAID a wage or salary to do a specific job in which they did work at home or who operated their own home business.

The types of people that work at home or have their own home based business include people from virtually all walks of life and ethnicity, but there were some interesting statistics with regard to ethnicity. Among the 21,473,000 people who were paid a salary or wage to work from home: 16.3% were White, 7.9% were Black or African American, 12.7% were Asian, and 7.1% were Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity. There was quite a huge difference between ethnic groups. But among those who are pursuing the American dream of owning their own home based business there was far less disparity between the ethnic groups with all groups being very similiar, with: 33.8% White, 31% Black or African American, 33.7% Asian, and 34.4% Hispanic or Latino.

There were also some fascinating revelations and inspirations found when analyzing the various educational groups. Again, among the hourly wage and salaried work at home positions there was significant disparity between each educational category: Less than a high school diploma, 4.9%, High School Graduates with no college, 7.6%, Some college or associate degree, 13.7%, and Bachelor’s degree and higher, 31.6%. But again, when analyzing the numbers of people who own their own home based business, there was much more uniformity and the less educated Americans jumped into their rightful ranks of the self-employed from home: Less than high school diploma, 58.9.0%, High school but no college, 54.0, Some college or associate degree, 46.7%, and Bachelor’s degree or higher, 24.1%. Interestingly, higher education seemed almost a handicap for people starting their own home based business. “The less education the better” seemed to be the rule when considering the educational levels of people who have their own home based business.

In most categories, for every 1 to 2 people that were paid a salary or hourly wage to work from home, there were about 3.5 people who had their own home based businesses.

About 5.1%, or 6,966,801, of the entire working population in the U.S. owns their own home-based business. Of those, 37.6% are men and 29.4% are women.  But moms catch up quick when they've got young children at home.

Moms with kids under the age of 6 represent the smallest demographic group of the total number of employed people in the U.S., but they also command the largest percentage of PAID home-based workers. Of the total 9,331,000 of working moms with kids under the age of 6, 377,676 get paid to work at home and 526,164 have their own home based business. Almost 1 out of 10 moms, 903,840 stay at home moms total, with kids below the age of 6 get paid to work at home or have their own home business.

And what about dads? Well, Mr. Mom isn’t far behind his wife. Of the 12,042,000 working dads in our workforce with kids under the age of 6, 313,788 of them get paid to work at home and another 655,380 have their own home based business, for a total of 969,168 stay at home dads, or 8% of the total working population of dads with kids below the age of 6.

Approximately one of out every ten working dads in the U.S. with kids 0-18 years of age work at home or have their own home business.  The number is similiar for moms.  It is not clear how many American households have both a work at home or self-employed at home mom and dad.

Wondering what type of electronic equipment you might need to start that work at home career or seize that home based business opportunity? Of those who were paid a salary or hourly wage to work at home: 84.8% used computer, 78.3% used the internet, $55.3% used a fax machine, 84.6% used a telephone. Home based business owner were somewhat less electronically connected with the outside world. Of those who operated a home business and worked at home: 74% used their computer, only 63.2% used the internet, 58.9% used a fax machine, and 86.9% used their telephone.

The following industry groups posted these respective percentages.  Percentages shown demonstrate the total percentage of people who work at home or have their own home based business of the total work at home labor force for that particular industry. The percentage of people who work at home on a non-paid basis are not included in the table.

The results of the 2004 Survey were similar to the previous survey that was taken in 2001.

More info is available at the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004 Work at Home Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/homey.toc.htm