Nonemployer businesses: retail trade
Number of businesses without paid employees in retail trade (NAICS 44-45), from the U.S. Census Bureau Nonemployer Statistics.
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
- Nonemployer businesses: retail trade in the United States was 2.18 million in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- California had the highest nonemployer businesses: retail trade of 51 states in 2024, at 240,437, and District of Columbia the lowest, at 2,447. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Published for 52 places, with figures from 2012 to 2024.
Rankings
US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade, 2024
Places with data
Countries
Regions and states
- California
- Texas
- Florida
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Illinois
- Ohio
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- Michigan
- Alaska
- Alabama
- Hawaii
- Arizona
- Idaho
- Arkansas
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: retail trade? Use official data and cite it.
rank_places {"indicator":"nonemployer_establishments_retail_trade","level":"region","within":"United States"}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=nonemployer_establishments_retail_trade&level=region&within=United%20States