Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services / US states

US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services

California had the highest employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services of 51 states in 2015, at 122,589. North Dakota had the lowest, at 1,899. The median was 10,146 and the figure for the United States was 896,026. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest122,589California
Lowest1,899North Dakota
Median10,14651 states
United States896,026History

Map of states, 2015

Alabama: 9,404 countAlaska: 1,920 countArizona: 17,221 countArkansas: 5,944 countCalifornia: 122,589 countColorado: 25,558 countConnecticut: 9,286 countDelaware: 2,852 countDistrict of Columbia: 5,532 countFlorida: 76,416 countGeorgia: 29,216 countHawaii: 3,350 countIdaho: 4,551 countIllinois: 39,132 countIndiana: 12,928 countIowa: 6,324 countKansas: 7,184 countKentucky: 8,290 countLouisiana: 12,263 countMaine: 3,504 countMaryland: 20,503 countMassachusetts: 21,512 countMichigan: 21,480 countMinnesota: 16,767 countMississippi: 4,741 countMissouri: 13,858 countMontana: 3,711 countNebraska: 4,629 countNevada: 8,758 countNew Hampshire: 3,783 countNew Jersey: 29,351 countNew Mexico: 4,724 countNew York: 61,371 countNorth Carolina: 23,859 countNorth Dakota: 1,899 countOhio: 24,087 countOklahoma: 9,794 countOregon: 12,068 countPennsylvania: 29,792 countRhode Island: 3,054 countSouth Carolina: 10,271 countSouth Dakota: 1,928 countTennessee: 11,243 countTexas: 68,165 countUtah: 10,146 countVermont: 2,125 countVirginia: 30,859 countWashington: 21,267 countWest Virginia: 2,921 countWisconsin: 11,581 countWyoming: 2,315 count
  • Under 3,000
  • 3,000 to 6,000
  • 6,000 to 10K
  • 10K to 17K
  • 17K to 28K
  • 28K and over
count, 2015. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2015

California: 122,589 countCalifornia122,589Florida: 76,416 countFlorida76,416Texas: 68,165 countTexas68,165New York: 61,371 countNew York61,371Illinois: 39,132 countIllinois39,132Virginia: 30,859 countVirginia30,859Pennsylvania: 29,792 countPennsylvania29,792New Jersey: 29,351 countNew Jersey29,351Georgia: 29,216 countGeorgia29,216Colorado: 25,558 countColorado25,558Ohio: 24,087 countOhio24,087North Carolina: 23,859 countNorth Carolina23,859Massachusetts: 21,512 countMassachusetts21,512Michigan: 21,480 countMichigan21,480Washington: 21,267 countWashington21,267Maryland: 20,503 countMaryland20,503Arizona: 17,221 countArizona17,221Minnesota: 16,767 countMinnesota16,767Missouri: 13,858 countMissouri13,858Indiana: 12,928 countIndiana12,928Louisiana: 12,263 countLouisiana12,263Oregon: 12,068 countOregon12,068Wisconsin: 11,581 countWisconsin11,581Tennessee: 11,243 countTennessee11,243South Carolina: 10,271 countSouth Carolina10,271Utah: 10,146 countUtah10,146Oklahoma: 9,794 countOklahoma9,794Alabama: 9,404 countAlabama9,404Connecticut: 9,286 countConnecticut9,286Nevada: 8,758 countNevada8,758Kentucky: 8,290 countKentucky8,290Kansas: 7,184 countKansas7,184Iowa: 6,324 countIowa6,324Arkansas: 5,944 countArkansas5,944District of Columbia: 5,532 countDistrict of Columbia5,532Mississippi: 4,741 countMississippi4,741New Mexico: 4,724 countNew Mexico4,724Nebraska: 4,629 countNebraska4,629Idaho: 4,551 countIdaho4,551New Hampshire: 3,783 countNew Hampshire3,783Montana: 3,711 countMontana3,711Maine: 3,504 countMaine3,504Hawaii: 3,350 countHawaii3,350Rhode Island: 3,054 countRhode Island3,054West Virginia: 2,921 countWest Virginia2,921Delaware: 2,852 countDelaware2,852Wyoming: 2,315 countWyoming2,315Vermont: 2,125 countVermont2,125South Dakota: 1,928 countSouth Dakota1,928Alaska: 1,920 countAlaska1,920North Dakota: 1,899 countNorth Dakota1,899California: 122,589 countCalifornia122,589Florida: 76,416 countFlorida76,416Texas: 68,165 countTexas68,165New York: 61,371 countNew York61,371Illinois: 39,132 countIllinois39,132Virginia: 30,859 countVirginia30,859Pennsylvania: 29,792 countPennsylvania29,792New Jersey: 29,351 countNew Jersey29,351Georgia: 29,216 countGeorgia29,216Colorado: 25,558 countColorado25,558Ohio: 24,087 countOhio24,087North Carolina: 23,859 countNorth Carolina23,859Massachusetts: 21,512 countMassachusetts21,512Michigan: 21,480 countMichigan21,480Washington: 21,267 countWashington21,267Maryland: 20,503 countMaryland20,503Arizona: 17,221 countArizona17,221Minnesota: 16,767 countMinnesota16,767Missouri: 13,858 countMissouri13,858Indiana: 12,928 countIndiana12,928Louisiana: 12,263 countLouisiana12,263Oregon: 12,068 countOregon12,068Wisconsin: 11,581 countWisconsin11,581Tennessee: 11,243 countTennessee11,243South Carolina: 10,271 countSouth Carolina10,271Utah: 10,146 countUtah10,146Oklahoma: 9,794 countOklahoma9,794Alabama: 9,404 countAlabama9,404Connecticut: 9,286 countConnecticut9,286Nevada: 8,758 countNevada8,758Kentucky: 8,290 countKentucky8,290Kansas: 7,184 countKansas7,184Iowa: 6,324 countIowa6,324Arkansas: 5,944 countArkansas5,944District of Columbia: 5,532 countDistrict of Columbia5,532Mississippi: 4,741 countMississippi4,741New Mexico: 4,724 countNew Mexico4,724Nebraska: 4,629 countNebraska4,629Idaho: 4,551 countIdaho4,551New Hampshire: 3,783 countNew Hampshire3,783Montana: 3,711 countMontana3,711Maine: 3,504 countMaine3,504Hawaii: 3,350 countHawaii3,350Rhode Island: 3,054 countRhode Island3,054West Virginia: 2,921 countWest Virginia2,921Delaware: 2,852 countDelaware2,852Wyoming: 2,315 countWyoming2,315Vermont: 2,125 countVermont2,125South Dakota: 1,928 countSouth Dakota1,928Alaska: 1,920 countAlaska1,920North Dakota: 1,899 countNorth Dakota1,899
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2015
count		Change on 2014
1California122,589+1.8%
2Florida76,416+3%
3Texas68,165+2.5%
4New York61,371+0.4%
5Illinois39,132+0.4%
6Virginia30,859+1.3%
7Pennsylvania29,792+0.7%
8New Jersey29,351-0.7%
9Georgia29,216+2%
10Colorado25,558+2.7%
11Ohio24,087+0.2%
12North Carolina23,859+1.9%
13Massachusetts21,512+0.2%
14Michigan21,480+0.1%
15Washington21,267+2.5%
16Maryland20,503+0.7%
17Arizona17,221+2.2%
18Minnesota16,767+0.9%
19Missouri13,858+2%
20Indiana12,928+0.7%
21Louisiana12,263+0.5%
22Oregon12,068+1.4%
23Wisconsin11,581+1.3%
24Tennessee11,243+1.6%
25South Carolina10,271+3.4%
26Utah10,146+4.1%
27Oklahoma9,794+0.9%
28Alabama9,404+1.6%
29Connecticut9,286+0.6%
30Nevada8,758+3.3%
31Kentucky8,290+0.7%
32Kansas7,184-0.3%
33Iowa6,324+0.6%
34Arkansas5,944+2.2%
35District of Columbia5,532+2.7%
36Mississippi4,741-0.4%
37New Mexico4,724+0.4%
38Nebraska4,629+2.6%
39Idaho4,551+3.7%
40New Hampshire3,783-0.2%
41Montana3,711+1.8%
42Maine3,504+0.5%
43Hawaii3,350+1.9%
44Rhode Island3,054+1.9%
45West Virginia2,921-0.5%
46Delaware2,852+4.6%
47Wyoming2,315+3.1%
48Vermont2,125+1%
49South Dakota1,928+1.5%
50Alaska1,920-0.3%
51North Dakota1,899+3.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of establishments with paid employees in professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), 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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/. 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. (2017). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 9 May 2017, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/us-states?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/us-states?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 2015}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/us-states?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 2015
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/05/09
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/us-states?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2015/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services?

California, with 122,589 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services?

North Dakota, with 1,899 in 2015.

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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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