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 2017, at 127,364. North Dakota had the lowest, at 1,825. The median was 10,889 and the figure for the United States was 914,718. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest127,364California
Lowest1,825North Dakota
Median10,88951 states
United States914,718History

Map of states, 2017

Alabama: 9,490 countAlaska: 1,954 countArizona: 18,185 countArkansas: 5,924 countCalifornia: 127,364 countColorado: 26,441 countConnecticut: 9,200 countDelaware: 2,963 countDistrict of Columbia: 5,830 countFlorida: 79,370 countGeorgia: 29,774 countHawaii: 3,391 countIdaho: 4,693 countIllinois: 38,797 countIndiana: 13,074 countIowa: 6,474 countKansas: 7,224 countKentucky: 8,136 countLouisiana: 12,101 countMaine: 3,553 countMaryland: 20,999 countMassachusetts: 21,900 countMichigan: 21,765 countMinnesota: 16,695 countMississippi: 4,746 countMissouri: 14,174 countMontana: 3,842 countNebraska: 4,699 countNevada: 9,018 countNew Hampshire: 3,676 countNew Jersey: 28,915 countNew Mexico: 4,736 countNew York: 61,808 countNorth Carolina: 24,782 countNorth Dakota: 1,825 countOhio: 23,891 countOklahoma: 9,754 countOregon: 12,649 countPennsylvania: 30,029 countRhode Island: 3,033 countSouth Carolina: 10,889 countSouth Dakota: 1,968 countTennessee: 11,450 countTexas: 70,160 countUtah: 10,894 countVermont: 2,097 countVirginia: 31,444 countWashington: 22,177 countWest Virginia: 2,824 countWisconsin: 11,553 countWyoming: 2,388 count
  • Under 3,000
  • 3,000 to 6,000
  • 6,000 to 11K
  • 11K to 17K
  • 17K to 28K
  • 28K and over
count, 2017. 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, 2017

California: 127,364 countCalifornia127,364Florida: 79,370 countFlorida79,370Texas: 70,160 countTexas70,160New York: 61,808 countNew York61,808Illinois: 38,797 countIllinois38,797Virginia: 31,444 countVirginia31,444Pennsylvania: 30,029 countPennsylvania30,029Georgia: 29,774 countGeorgia29,774New Jersey: 28,915 countNew Jersey28,915Colorado: 26,441 countColorado26,441North Carolina: 24,782 countNorth Carolina24,782Ohio: 23,891 countOhio23,891Washington: 22,177 countWashington22,177Massachusetts: 21,900 countMassachusetts21,900Michigan: 21,765 countMichigan21,765Maryland: 20,999 countMaryland20,999Arizona: 18,185 countArizona18,185Minnesota: 16,695 countMinnesota16,695Missouri: 14,174 countMissouri14,174Indiana: 13,074 countIndiana13,074Oregon: 12,649 countOregon12,649Louisiana: 12,101 countLouisiana12,101Wisconsin: 11,553 countWisconsin11,553Tennessee: 11,450 countTennessee11,450Utah: 10,894 countUtah10,894South Carolina: 10,889 countSouth Carolina10,889Oklahoma: 9,754 countOklahoma9,754Alabama: 9,490 countAlabama9,490Connecticut: 9,200 countConnecticut9,200Nevada: 9,018 countNevada9,018Kentucky: 8,136 countKentucky8,136Kansas: 7,224 countKansas7,224Iowa: 6,474 countIowa6,474Arkansas: 5,924 countArkansas5,924District of Columbia: 5,830 countDistrict of Columbia5,830Mississippi: 4,746 countMississippi4,746New Mexico: 4,736 countNew Mexico4,736Nebraska: 4,699 countNebraska4,699Idaho: 4,693 countIdaho4,693Montana: 3,842 countMontana3,842New Hampshire: 3,676 countNew Hampshire3,676Maine: 3,553 countMaine3,553Hawaii: 3,391 countHawaii3,391Rhode Island: 3,033 countRhode Island3,033Delaware: 2,963 countDelaware2,963West Virginia: 2,824 countWest Virginia2,824Wyoming: 2,388 countWyoming2,388Vermont: 2,097 countVermont2,097South Dakota: 1,968 countSouth Dakota1,968Alaska: 1,954 countAlaska1,954North Dakota: 1,825 countNorth Dakota1,825California: 127,364 countCalifornia127,364Florida: 79,370 countFlorida79,370Texas: 70,160 countTexas70,160New York: 61,808 countNew York61,808Illinois: 38,797 countIllinois38,797Virginia: 31,444 countVirginia31,444Pennsylvania: 30,029 countPennsylvania30,029Georgia: 29,774 countGeorgia29,774New Jersey: 28,915 countNew Jersey28,915Colorado: 26,441 countColorado26,441North Carolina: 24,782 countNorth Carolina24,782Ohio: 23,891 countOhio23,891Washington: 22,177 countWashington22,177Massachusetts: 21,900 countMassachusetts21,900Michigan: 21,765 countMichigan21,765Maryland: 20,999 countMaryland20,999Arizona: 18,185 countArizona18,185Minnesota: 16,695 countMinnesota16,695Missouri: 14,174 countMissouri14,174Indiana: 13,074 countIndiana13,074Oregon: 12,649 countOregon12,649Louisiana: 12,101 countLouisiana12,101Wisconsin: 11,553 countWisconsin11,553Tennessee: 11,450 countTennessee11,450Utah: 10,894 countUtah10,894South Carolina: 10,889 countSouth Carolina10,889Oklahoma: 9,754 countOklahoma9,754Alabama: 9,490 countAlabama9,490Connecticut: 9,200 countConnecticut9,200Nevada: 9,018 countNevada9,018Kentucky: 8,136 countKentucky8,136Kansas: 7,224 countKansas7,224Iowa: 6,474 countIowa6,474Arkansas: 5,924 countArkansas5,924District of Columbia: 5,830 countDistrict of Columbia5,830Mississippi: 4,746 countMississippi4,746New Mexico: 4,736 countNew Mexico4,736Nebraska: 4,699 countNebraska4,699Idaho: 4,693 countIdaho4,693Montana: 3,842 countMontana3,842New Hampshire: 3,676 countNew Hampshire3,676Maine: 3,553 countMaine3,553Hawaii: 3,391 countHawaii3,391Rhode Island: 3,033 countRhode Island3,033Delaware: 2,963 countDelaware2,963West Virginia: 2,824 countWest Virginia2,824Wyoming: 2,388 countWyoming2,388Vermont: 2,097 countVermont2,097South Dakota: 1,968 countSouth Dakota1,968Alaska: 1,954 countAlaska1,954North Dakota: 1,825 countNorth Dakota1,825
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

RankStates2017
count		Change on 2016
1California127,364+2%
2Florida79,370+1.4%
3Texas70,160+2%
4New York61,808+0.3%
5Illinois38,797-0.3%
6Virginia31,444+0.6%
7Pennsylvania30,029+0.8%
8Georgia29,774+1.3%
9New Jersey28,915-1.1%
10Colorado26,441+2.4%
11North Carolina24,782+2.1%
12Ohio23,891-0.2%
13Washington22,177+1.9%
14Massachusetts21,900+1.2%
15Michigan21,765+0.9%
16Maryland20,999+1.1%
17Arizona18,185+3.2%
18Minnesota16,695-0.5%
19Missouri14,174+1.5%
20Indiana13,074+1%
21Oregon12,649+2.2%
22Louisiana12,101+1.3%
23Wisconsin11,5530%
24Tennessee11,450+1.7%
25Utah10,894+3.6%
26South Carolina10,889+3.9%
27Oklahoma9,754+1.4%
28Alabama9,490+0.9%
29Connecticut9,200+0.2%
30Nevada9,018+1.1%
31Kentucky8,136-0.8%
32Kansas7,224+1.1%
33Iowa6,474+1.7%
34Arkansas5,924+1.3%
35District of Columbia5,830+2.6%
36Mississippi4,746+2%
37New Mexico4,736+1.9%
38Nebraska4,699+0.3%
39Idaho4,693+2.3%
40Montana3,842+2.5%
41New Hampshire3,676-1.5%
42Maine3,553+1.1%
43Hawaii3,391+1.5%
44Rhode Island3,033-0.5%
45Delaware2,963+0.4%
46West Virginia2,824-1%
47Wyoming2,388+4.5%
48Vermont2,097-2.2%
49South Dakota1,968+1.3%
50Alaska1,954-0.3%
51North Dakota1,825-1.2%

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/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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 26 Nov. 2019, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 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-professional-services/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2017/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: professional, scientific and technical services, 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-professional-services/us-states?period=2017. 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/2017/. 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, 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-professional-services/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-professional-services/us-states?period=2017.
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/2017/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

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

California, with 127,364 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

North Dakota, with 1,825 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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings