Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: information / US states

US states by employer establishments: information

California had the highest employer establishments: information of 51 states in 2017, at 25,162. North Dakota had the lowest, at 348. The median was 1,746 and the figure for the United States was 153,934. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest25,162California
Lowest348North Dakota
Median1,74651 states
United States153,934History

Map of states, 2017

Alabama: 1,735 countAlaska: 414 countArizona: 2,520 countArkansas: 1,150 countCalifornia: 25,162 countColorado: 3,615 countConnecticut: 1,804 countDelaware: 584 countDistrict of Columbia: 774 countFlorida: 9,350 countGeorgia: 4,697 countHawaii: 533 countIdaho: 799 countIllinois: 5,986 countIndiana: 2,437 countIowa: 1,608 countKansas: 1,439 countKentucky: 1,794 countLouisiana: 1,528 countMaine: 813 countMaryland: 2,546 countMassachusetts: 3,853 countMichigan: 4,084 countMinnesota: 2,787 countMississippi: 1,020 countMissouri: 2,689 countMontana: 696 countNebraska: 977 countNevada: 1,429 countNew Hampshire: 771 countNew Jersey: 3,888 countNew Mexico: 822 countNew York: 11,741 countNorth Carolina: 3,918 countNorth Dakota: 348 countOhio: 4,298 countOklahoma: 1,576 countOregon: 2,396 countPennsylvania: 5,574 countRhode Island: 453 countSouth Carolina: 1,639 countSouth Dakota: 474 countTennessee: 2,789 countTexas: 10,484 countUtah: 1,746 countVermont: 511 countVirginia: 4,103 countWashington: 3,873 countWest Virginia: 675 countWisconsin: 2,632 countWyoming: 400 count
  • Under 700
  • 700 to 1,100
  • 1,100 to 1,700
  • 1,700 to 2,700
  • 2,700 to 4,100
  • 4,100 and over
count, 2017. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2017

California: 25,162 countCalifornia25,162New York: 11,741 countNew York11,741Texas: 10,484 countTexas10,484Florida: 9,350 countFlorida9,350Illinois: 5,986 countIllinois5,986Pennsylvania: 5,574 countPennsylvania5,574Georgia: 4,697 countGeorgia4,697Ohio: 4,298 countOhio4,298Virginia: 4,103 countVirginia4,103Michigan: 4,084 countMichigan4,084North Carolina: 3,918 countNorth Carolina3,918New Jersey: 3,888 countNew Jersey3,888Washington: 3,873 countWashington3,873Massachusetts: 3,853 countMassachusetts3,853Colorado: 3,615 countColorado3,615Tennessee: 2,789 countTennessee2,789Minnesota: 2,787 countMinnesota2,787Missouri: 2,689 countMissouri2,689Wisconsin: 2,632 countWisconsin2,632Maryland: 2,546 countMaryland2,546Arizona: 2,520 countArizona2,520Indiana: 2,437 countIndiana2,437Oregon: 2,396 countOregon2,396Connecticut: 1,804 countConnecticut1,804Kentucky: 1,794 countKentucky1,794Utah: 1,746 countUtah1,746Alabama: 1,735 countAlabama1,735South Carolina: 1,639 countSouth Carolina1,639Iowa: 1,608 countIowa1,608Oklahoma: 1,576 countOklahoma1,576Louisiana: 1,528 countLouisiana1,528Kansas: 1,439 countKansas1,439Nevada: 1,429 countNevada1,429Arkansas: 1,150 countArkansas1,150Mississippi: 1,020 countMississippi1,020Nebraska: 977 countNebraska977New Mexico: 822 countNew Mexico822Maine: 813 countMaine813Idaho: 799 countIdaho799District of Columbia: 774 countDistrict of Columbia774New Hampshire: 771 countNew Hampshire771Montana: 696 countMontana696West Virginia: 675 countWest Virginia675Delaware: 584 countDelaware584Hawaii: 533 countHawaii533Vermont: 511 countVermont511South Dakota: 474 countSouth Dakota474Rhode Island: 453 countRhode Island453Alaska: 414 countAlaska414Wyoming: 400 countWyoming400North Dakota: 348 countNorth Dakota348California: 25,162 countCalifornia25,162New York: 11,741 countNew York11,741Texas: 10,484 countTexas10,484Florida: 9,350 countFlorida9,350Illinois: 5,986 countIllinois5,986Pennsylvania: 5,574 countPennsylvania5,574Georgia: 4,697 countGeorgia4,697Ohio: 4,298 countOhio4,298Virginia: 4,103 countVirginia4,103Michigan: 4,084 countMichigan4,084North Carolina: 3,918 countNorth Carolina3,918New Jersey: 3,888 countNew Jersey3,888Washington: 3,873 countWashington3,873Massachusetts: 3,853 countMassachusetts3,853Colorado: 3,615 countColorado3,615Tennessee: 2,789 countTennessee2,789Minnesota: 2,787 countMinnesota2,787Missouri: 2,689 countMissouri2,689Wisconsin: 2,632 countWisconsin2,632Maryland: 2,546 countMaryland2,546Arizona: 2,520 countArizona2,520Indiana: 2,437 countIndiana2,437Oregon: 2,396 countOregon2,396Connecticut: 1,804 countConnecticut1,804Kentucky: 1,794 countKentucky1,794Utah: 1,746 countUtah1,746Alabama: 1,735 countAlabama1,735South Carolina: 1,639 countSouth Carolina1,639Iowa: 1,608 countIowa1,608Oklahoma: 1,576 countOklahoma1,576Louisiana: 1,528 countLouisiana1,528Kansas: 1,439 countKansas1,439Nevada: 1,429 countNevada1,429Arkansas: 1,150 countArkansas1,150Mississippi: 1,020 countMississippi1,020Nebraska: 977 countNebraska977New Mexico: 822 countNew Mexico822Maine: 813 countMaine813Idaho: 799 countIdaho799District of Columbia: 774 countDistrict of Columbia774New Hampshire: 771 countNew Hampshire771Montana: 696 countMontana696West Virginia: 675 countWest Virginia675Delaware: 584 countDelaware584Hawaii: 533 countHawaii533Vermont: 511 countVermont511South Dakota: 474 countSouth Dakota474Rhode Island: 453 countRhode Island453Alaska: 414 countAlaska414Wyoming: 400 countWyoming400North Dakota: 348 countNorth Dakota348
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2017
count		Change on 2016
1California25,162+5.6%
2New York11,741-0.8%
3Texas10,484+8.3%
4Florida9,350+5.8%
5Illinois5,986+6.1%
6Pennsylvania5,574+6.6%
7Georgia4,697+7.1%
8Ohio4,298+6.5%
9Virginia4,103+2.2%
10Michigan4,084+2.5%
11North Carolina3,918+4.7%
12New Jersey3,888+1.8%
13Washington3,873+9.8%
14Massachusetts3,853+3.5%
15Colorado3,615+8%
16Tennessee2,789+3.4%
17Minnesota2,787+4%
18Missouri2,689+5.1%
19Wisconsin2,632+5.9%
20Maryland2,546-1%
21Arizona2,520+10.9%
22Indiana2,437+10.4%
23Oregon2,396+10.6%
24Connecticut1,804+3.1%
25Kentucky1,794+12.2%
26Utah1,746+13.5%
27Alabama1,735+4.6%
28South Carolina1,639+9.7%
29Iowa1,608+5.1%
30Oklahoma1,576+5.6%
31Louisiana1,528+0.5%
32Kansas1,439+0.6%
33Nevada1,429+5.6%
34Arkansas1,150+6%
35Mississippi1,020+5.2%
36Nebraska977+6.8%
37New Mexico822+5.9%
38Maine813+0.6%
39Idaho799+13.7%
40District of Columbia774-0.1%
41New Hampshire771+5.9%
42Montana696+5%
43West Virginia675-2%
44Delaware584+2.3%
45Hawaii533+3.3%
46Vermont511+0.8%
47South Dakota474+4.6%
48Rhode Island453-4.8%
49Alaska414+1.5%
50Wyoming400+3.4%
51North Dakota348+0.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of establishments with paid employees in information (publishing, media, telecommunications and data processing) (NAICS 51), from the U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns.

County Business Patterns: establishments (single physical locations, not firms) with paid employees during the pay period including 12 March. Excludes the self-employed and businesses without employees (nonemployer_establishments_*), government employers, crop and animal production, rail transportation, the Postal Service and private households. Establishment counts are not perturbed; the noise Census adds since 2017 applies to employment and payroll, which are not served here. Published about 18 months after the reference year.

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. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. 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. Census Bureau. (2019). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: information, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: information, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 26 Nov. 2019, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-information/us-states?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: information, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-information/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: information, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-information/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: information, 2017}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-information/us-states?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: information, 2017
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/26
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-information/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-information/us-states?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: information?

California, with 25,162 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: information?

North Dakota, with 348 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, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings