Nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing

Number of businesses without paid employees in real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), from the U.S. Census Bureau Nonemployer Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.

Nonemployer Statistics: businesses with no paid employees that are subject to federal income tax, mostly the self-employed, counted from tax records, with receipts above small minimum amounts. Census says some years are not comparable with earlier ones, and they are marked as series breaks: 2018 in every sector (businesses were reclassified from their descriptions, which moved many out of other services), 2022 in every sector (new receipts cutoffs) and 2017 in utilities (the same reclassification). Most nonemployers are sole proprietors whose business may be a side activity. Published about 18 months after the reference year.

Key facts

Figures last updated on 2026-10-12.

Rankings

US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing, 2024

Top 15. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

California: 362,705 countCalifornia362,705Florida: 360,409 countFlorida360,409Texas: 272,923 countTexas272,923New York: 241,853 countNew York241,853New Jersey: 118,442 countNew Jersey118,442Pennsylvania: 106,287 countPennsylvania106,287Illinois: 104,688 countIllinois104,688North Carolina: 100,822 countNorth Carolina100,822Georgia: 99,714 countGeorgia99,714Ohio: 93,107 countOhio93,107Michigan: 87,840 countMichigan87,840Virginia: 76,341 countVirginia76,341Colorado: 73,551 countColorado73,551Arizona: 68,404 countArizona68,404Massachusetts: 66,692 countMassachusetts66,692California: 362,705 countCalifornia362,705Florida: 360,409 countFlorida360,409Texas: 272,923 countTexas272,923New York: 241,853 countNew York241,853New Jersey: 118,442 countNew Jersey118,442Pennsylvania: 106,287 countPennsylvania106,287Illinois: 104,688 countIllinois104,688North Carolina: 100,822 countNorth Carolina100,822Georgia: 99,714 countGeorgia99,714Ohio: 93,107 countOhio93,107Michigan: 87,840 countMichigan87,840Virginia: 76,341 countVirginia76,341Colorado: 73,551 countColorado73,551Arizona: 68,404 countArizona68,404Massachusetts: 66,692 countMassachusetts66,692
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking of states

Places with data

Published for countries, regions and states.

Countries

Regions and states

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Which places have the highest nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing? Use official data and cite it.
rank_places {"indicator":"nonemployer_establishments_real_estate","level":"region","within":"United States"}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=nonemployer_establishments_real_estate&level=region&within=United%20States

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.