Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census)
Mecklenburg County had the highest business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census) of 100 counties in 2017, at $18.37 billion. Hyde County had the lowest, at $29.38 million. The median was $604.6 million and the figure for North Carolina was $141.13 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Map of counties, 2017
- Under 100
- 100 to 300
- 300 to 600
- 600 to 1,000
- 1,000 to 2,300
- 2,300 and over
Top 40 counties, 2017
Full ranking
Other periods
- 2022
- 2017
About this ranking
Sales, value of shipments or revenue of employer establishments in retail trade (NAICS 44-45), in millions of current US dollars, from the U.S. Census Bureau Economic Census.
Economic Census, taken every five years: values exist for 2017 and 2022 only, and the 2027 census publishes about 2029. Revenue of employer establishments located in the place, in millions of current US dollars, not adjusted for inflation; nonemployers (nonemployer_receipts_usd_*) are not included, and government owned establishments are generally out of scope. Manufacturing is the value of shipments and wholesale and retail trade are sales, so an establishment selling to another counts in both and sectors do not add up to output or GDP. Cells that would disclose individual companies (flag D) or that Census does not publish are missing here, not zero; counties are published for 14 of the 18 sectors. Sectors follow NAICS 2017 for 2017 and NAICS 2022 for 2022.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments (Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census), 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip
MLA 9
Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments, Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census), 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-revenue-retail-trade/north-carolina-counties?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments. Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census), 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-revenue-retail-trade/north-carolina-counties?period=2017.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2021) Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments, Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census), 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-revenue-retail-trade/north-carolina-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_north_carolina_2017,
author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
title = {{Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments: Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census), 2017}},
year = {2021},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-revenue-retail-trade/north-carolina-counties?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Census Bureau
TI - Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments: Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census), 2017
PY - 2021
DA - 2021/05/27
PB - U.S. Census Bureau
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-revenue-retail-trade/north-carolina-counties?period=2017
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-revenue-retail-trade/north-carolina-counties?period=2017.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/data/2017/sector00/EC1700BASIC.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
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:
Rank Counties in North Carolina by business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"business_revenue_usd_retail_trade","level":"province","within":"North Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=business_revenue_usd_retail_trade&level=province&within=North%20Carolina&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census)?
Mecklenburg County, with $18.37 billion in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census)?
Hyde County, with $29.38 million in 2017.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census basic statistics by geography (EC1700BASIC, EC2200BASIC): sales, value of shipments, or revenue (RCPTOT) of retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all establishments. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
Business revenue: retail trade (Economic Census): other rankings
Counties in North Carolina: more rankings
- Business revenue: arts, entertainment and recreation (Economic Census)
- Business revenue: utilities (Economic Census)
- Business revenue: information (Economic Census)
- Job creation rate
- Households with a broadband internet subscription
- Covered employment (QCEW)
- Labor force participation rate (US five-year survey estimate)
- Unemployment rate