Data / Rankings / Business establishments (QCEW) / US states

US states by business establishments (QCEW)

California had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 51 states in 2014, at 1.37 million. Alaska had the lowest, at 22,088. The median was 117,766 and the figure for the United States was 9.36 million. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,372,950California
Lowest22,088Alaska
Median117,76651 states
United States9,361,354History

Map of states, 2014

Alabama: 117,452 countAlaska: 22,088 countArizona: 146,954 countArkansas: 86,833 countCalifornia: 1,372,950 countColorado: 179,397 countConnecticut: 113,925 countDelaware: 29,975 countDistrict of Columbia: 36,246 countFlorida: 637,262 countGeorgia: 280,833 countHawaii: 38,412 countIdaho: 54,669 countIllinois: 413,479 countIndiana: 158,333 countIowa: 99,418 countKansas: 85,306 countKentucky: 121,114 countLouisiana: 124,300 countMaine: 49,253 countMaryland: 167,210 countMassachusetts: 231,749 countMichigan: 236,461 countMinnesota: 164,799 countMississippi: 71,280 countMissouri: 184,766 countMontana: 43,902 countNebraska: 70,336 countNevada: 76,209 countNew Hampshire: 49,877 countNew Jersey: 260,037 countNew Mexico: 56,201 countNew York: 619,870 countNorth Carolina: 259,966 countNorth Dakota: 31,587 countOhio: 288,995 countOklahoma: 107,012 countOregon: 134,891 countPennsylvania: 346,303 countRhode Island: 35,770 countSouth Carolina: 117,766 countSouth Dakota: 31,976 countTennessee: 145,729 countTexas: 623,544 countUtah: 90,150 countVermont: 24,400 countVirginia: 240,112 countWashington: 242,942 countWest Virginia: 49,866 countWisconsin: 163,938 countWyoming: 25,518 count
  • Under 40K
  • 40K to 70K
  • 70K to 120K
  • 120K to 170K
  • 170K to 260K
  • 260K and over
count, 2014. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2014

California: 1,372,950 countCalifornia1,372,950Florida: 637,262 countFlorida637,262Texas: 623,544 countTexas623,544New York: 619,870 countNew York619,870Illinois: 413,479 countIllinois413,479Pennsylvania: 346,303 countPennsylvania346,303Ohio: 288,995 countOhio288,995Georgia: 280,833 countGeorgia280,833New Jersey: 260,037 countNew Jersey260,037North Carolina: 259,966 countNorth Carolina259,966Washington: 242,942 countWashington242,942Virginia: 240,112 countVirginia240,112Michigan: 236,461 countMichigan236,461Massachusetts: 231,749 countMassachusetts231,749Missouri: 184,766 countMissouri184,766Colorado: 179,397 countColorado179,397Maryland: 167,210 countMaryland167,210Minnesota: 164,799 countMinnesota164,799Wisconsin: 163,938 countWisconsin163,938Indiana: 158,333 countIndiana158,333Arizona: 146,954 countArizona146,954Tennessee: 145,729 countTennessee145,729Oregon: 134,891 countOregon134,891Louisiana: 124,300 countLouisiana124,300Kentucky: 121,114 countKentucky121,114South Carolina: 117,766 countSouth Carolina117,766Alabama: 117,452 countAlabama117,452Connecticut: 113,925 countConnecticut113,925Oklahoma: 107,012 countOklahoma107,012Iowa: 99,418 countIowa99,418Utah: 90,150 countUtah90,150Arkansas: 86,833 countArkansas86,833Kansas: 85,306 countKansas85,306Nevada: 76,209 countNevada76,209Mississippi: 71,280 countMississippi71,280Nebraska: 70,336 countNebraska70,336New Mexico: 56,201 countNew Mexico56,201Idaho: 54,669 countIdaho54,669New Hampshire: 49,877 countNew Hampshire49,877West Virginia: 49,866 countWest Virginia49,866Maine: 49,253 countMaine49,253Montana: 43,902 countMontana43,902Hawaii: 38,412 countHawaii38,412District of Columbia: 36,246 countDistrict of Columbia36,246Rhode Island: 35,770 countRhode Island35,770South Dakota: 31,976 countSouth Dakota31,976North Dakota: 31,587 countNorth Dakota31,587Delaware: 29,975 countDelaware29,975Wyoming: 25,518 countWyoming25,518Vermont: 24,400 countVermont24,400Alaska: 22,088 countAlaska22,088California: 1,372,950 countCalifornia1,372,950Florida: 637,262 countFlorida637,262Texas: 623,544 countTexas623,544New York: 619,870 countNew York619,870Illinois: 413,479 countIllinois413,479Pennsylvania: 346,303 countPennsylvania346,303Ohio: 288,995 countOhio288,995Georgia: 280,833 countGeorgia280,833New Jersey: 260,037 countNew Jersey260,037North Carolina: 259,966 countNorth Carolina259,966Washington: 242,942 countWashington242,942Virginia: 240,112 countVirginia240,112Michigan: 236,461 countMichigan236,461Massachusetts: 231,749 countMassachusetts231,749Missouri: 184,766 countMissouri184,766Colorado: 179,397 countColorado179,397Maryland: 167,210 countMaryland167,210Minnesota: 164,799 countMinnesota164,799Wisconsin: 163,938 countWisconsin163,938Indiana: 158,333 countIndiana158,333Arizona: 146,954 countArizona146,954Tennessee: 145,729 countTennessee145,729Oregon: 134,891 countOregon134,891Louisiana: 124,300 countLouisiana124,300Kentucky: 121,114 countKentucky121,114South Carolina: 117,766 countSouth Carolina117,766Alabama: 117,452 countAlabama117,452Connecticut: 113,925 countConnecticut113,925Oklahoma: 107,012 countOklahoma107,012Iowa: 99,418 countIowa99,418Utah: 90,150 countUtah90,150Arkansas: 86,833 countArkansas86,833Kansas: 85,306 countKansas85,306Nevada: 76,209 countNevada76,209Mississippi: 71,280 countMississippi71,280Nebraska: 70,336 countNebraska70,336New Mexico: 56,201 countNew Mexico56,201Idaho: 54,669 countIdaho54,669New Hampshire: 49,877 countNew Hampshire49,877West Virginia: 49,866 countWest Virginia49,866Maine: 49,253 countMaine49,253Montana: 43,902 countMontana43,902Hawaii: 38,412 countHawaii38,412District of Columbia: 36,246 countDistrict of Columbia36,246Rhode Island: 35,770 countRhode Island35,770South Dakota: 31,976 countSouth Dakota31,976North Dakota: 31,587 countNorth Dakota31,587Delaware: 29,975 countDelaware29,975Wyoming: 25,518 countWyoming25,518Vermont: 24,400 countVermont24,400Alaska: 22,088 countAlaska22,088
count. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2014
count		Change on 2013
1California1,372,950+3.2%
2Florida637,262+2%
3Texas623,544+2.2%
4New York619,870+1.7%
5Illinois413,479+3.1%
6Pennsylvania346,303+1.7%
7Ohio288,995+0.2%
8Georgia280,833+2.6%
9New Jersey260,037+1.4%
10North Carolina259,966+1.5%
11Washington242,942-1.7%
12Virginia240,112+1%
13Michigan236,461-0.7%
14Massachusetts231,749+2.4%
15Missouri184,766+2.3%
16Colorado179,397+2.8%
17Maryland167,210-1.1%
18Minnesota164,799+0.7%
19Wisconsin163,938+1.1%
20Indiana158,333-0.6%
21Arizona146,954+2.4%
22Tennessee145,729+1.6%
23Oregon134,891+2.8%
24Louisiana124,300-2%
25Kentucky121,114+2.8%
26South Carolina117,766+0.7%
27Alabama117,452+1.2%
28Connecticut113,925+1%
29Oklahoma107,012+1.2%
30Iowa99,418+1.8%
31Utah90,150+3%
32Arkansas86,833-0%
33Kansas85,306+1.3%
34Nevada76,209+2.5%
35Mississippi71,280+1.3%
36Nebraska70,336+1.8%
37New Mexico56,201+1.6%
38Idaho54,669+2.6%
39New Hampshire49,877+1.1%
40West Virginia49,866+0.5%
41Maine49,253+0.1%
42Montana43,902+1.8%
43Hawaii38,412+0.7%
44District of Columbia36,246+2.5%
45Rhode Island35,770+0.9%
46South Dakota31,976+0.9%
47North Dakota31,587+2.7%
48Delaware29,975+5.7%
49Wyoming25,518+0.1%
50Vermont24,400-0.1%
51Alaska22,088+0.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Average number of establishments with jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. An establishment is a single place of business, such as a factory, store or office; a company with several locations has several.

Counts places of business, not firms: for firms use employer_firms. Changes in how large employers report their locations can move the count without any change in activity.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (US states by business establishments (QCEW), 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, US states by business establishments (QCEW), 2014. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/us-states?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. US states by business establishments (QCEW), 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/us-states?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, US states by business establishments (QCEW), 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/us-states?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_business_2014,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: US states by business establishments (QCEW), 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/us-states?period=2014. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: US states by business establishments (QCEW), 2014
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/us-states?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/us-states?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?

California, with 1.37 million in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which state has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

Alaska, with 22,088 in 2014.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Business establishments (QCEW): other rankings

US states: more rankings