Employment in the nonprofit sector has significantly outpaced thefor-profit sector in the past several years, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies.
Nationally, the nonprofit work force grew by more than 5 percent between 2002 and 2004 — the most recent year available — while overall employment declined by 0.2 percent. Locally, the nonprofit sector has grown about 4 percent per year — about twice the rate of the for-profit sector — and the District of Columbia ranks No. 1 for percentage of workers employed by the nonprofit sector.
“The nonprofit work force, including volunteers, now represents 10.5 percent of the country’s total work force,” said Lester M. Salamon, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. “Put in perspective, this mean that American charities boast a larger work force than the utility, wholesale trade and construction industries combined.”
Nationwide, there were 9.4 million workers employed by the nonprofit sector in 2004 and an additional 4.7 million full-time volunteers.
In the Washington region, the nonprofit sector makes up a significant portion of the work force. In the District alone, nonprofit employees account for nearly 18 percent of all workers, according to the report. And between 1995 and 2003, the nonprofit sector added more than 54,000 jobs to the Washington region.
Washington’s robust nonprofit sector translates into large economic contributions to the region. In 2003, for example, the region’s 7,600 active nonprofits generated $9.6 billion in wages and spent about $29 billion.
The region’s heavy concentration of nonprofits is partly due to location, according to the report. In addition to local nonprofits, the Washington region is home to a number of national and international nonprofits.
