Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing / US states

US states by employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing

California had the highest employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing of 51 states in 2016, at 54,311. Vermont had the lowest, at 759. The median was 4,842 and the figure for the United States was 390,500. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest54,311California
Lowest759Vermont
Median4,84251 states
United States390,500History

Map of states, 2016

Alabama: 4,216 countAlaska: 933 countArizona: 9,280 countArkansas: 3,003 countCalifornia: 54,311 countColorado: 11,166 countConnecticut: 3,238 countDelaware: 1,237 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,284 countFlorida: 35,753 countGeorgia: 11,722 countHawaii: 1,966 countIdaho: 2,406 countIllinois: 12,935 countIndiana: 6,336 countIowa: 2,957 countKansas: 3,293 countKentucky: 3,793 countLouisiana: 4,977 countMaine: 1,716 countMaryland: 6,507 countMassachusetts: 7,161 countMichigan: 7,948 countMinnesota: 6,818 countMississippi: 2,407 countMissouri: 6,308 countMontana: 1,982 countNebraska: 2,248 countNevada: 4,417 countNew Hampshire: 1,429 countNew Jersey: 9,108 countNew Mexico: 2,330 countNew York: 33,539 countNorth Carolina: 11,501 countNorth Dakota: 1,091 countOhio: 10,361 countOklahoma: 4,269 countOregon: 6,363 countPennsylvania: 10,089 countRhode Island: 1,094 countSouth Carolina: 5,463 countSouth Dakota: 1,095 countTennessee: 5,842 countTexas: 30,358 countUtah: 5,282 countVermont: 759 countVirginia: 9,767 countWashington: 11,037 countWest Virginia: 1,387 countWisconsin: 4,842 countWyoming: 1,176 count
  • Under 1,400
  • 1,400 to 2,800
  • 2,800 to 4,800
  • 4,800 to 6,600
  • 6,600 to 11K
  • 11K and over
count, 2016. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

California: 54,311 countCalifornia54,311Florida: 35,753 countFlorida35,753New York: 33,539 countNew York33,539Texas: 30,358 countTexas30,358Illinois: 12,935 countIllinois12,935Georgia: 11,722 countGeorgia11,722North Carolina: 11,501 countNorth Carolina11,501Colorado: 11,166 countColorado11,166Washington: 11,037 countWashington11,037Ohio: 10,361 countOhio10,361Pennsylvania: 10,089 countPennsylvania10,089Virginia: 9,767 countVirginia9,767Arizona: 9,280 countArizona9,280New Jersey: 9,108 countNew Jersey9,108Michigan: 7,948 countMichigan7,948Massachusetts: 7,161 countMassachusetts7,161Minnesota: 6,818 countMinnesota6,818Maryland: 6,507 countMaryland6,507Oregon: 6,363 countOregon6,363Indiana: 6,336 countIndiana6,336Missouri: 6,308 countMissouri6,308Tennessee: 5,842 countTennessee5,842South Carolina: 5,463 countSouth Carolina5,463Utah: 5,282 countUtah5,282Louisiana: 4,977 countLouisiana4,977Wisconsin: 4,842 countWisconsin4,842Nevada: 4,417 countNevada4,417Oklahoma: 4,269 countOklahoma4,269Alabama: 4,216 countAlabama4,216Kentucky: 3,793 countKentucky3,793Kansas: 3,293 countKansas3,293Connecticut: 3,238 countConnecticut3,238Arkansas: 3,003 countArkansas3,003Iowa: 2,957 countIowa2,957Mississippi: 2,407 countMississippi2,407Idaho: 2,406 countIdaho2,406New Mexico: 2,330 countNew Mexico2,330Nebraska: 2,248 countNebraska2,248Montana: 1,982 countMontana1,982Hawaii: 1,966 countHawaii1,966Maine: 1,716 countMaine1,716New Hampshire: 1,429 countNew Hampshire1,429West Virginia: 1,387 countWest Virginia1,387District of Columbia: 1,284 countDistrict of Columbia1,284Delaware: 1,237 countDelaware1,237Wyoming: 1,176 countWyoming1,176South Dakota: 1,095 countSouth Dakota1,095Rhode Island: 1,094 countRhode Island1,094North Dakota: 1,091 countNorth Dakota1,091Alaska: 933 countAlaska933Vermont: 759 countVermont759California: 54,311 countCalifornia54,311Florida: 35,753 countFlorida35,753New York: 33,539 countNew York33,539Texas: 30,358 countTexas30,358Illinois: 12,935 countIllinois12,935Georgia: 11,722 countGeorgia11,722North Carolina: 11,501 countNorth Carolina11,501Colorado: 11,166 countColorado11,166Washington: 11,037 countWashington11,037Ohio: 10,361 countOhio10,361Pennsylvania: 10,089 countPennsylvania10,089Virginia: 9,767 countVirginia9,767Arizona: 9,280 countArizona9,280New Jersey: 9,108 countNew Jersey9,108Michigan: 7,948 countMichigan7,948Massachusetts: 7,161 countMassachusetts7,161Minnesota: 6,818 countMinnesota6,818Maryland: 6,507 countMaryland6,507Oregon: 6,363 countOregon6,363Indiana: 6,336 countIndiana6,336Missouri: 6,308 countMissouri6,308Tennessee: 5,842 countTennessee5,842South Carolina: 5,463 countSouth Carolina5,463Utah: 5,282 countUtah5,282Louisiana: 4,977 countLouisiana4,977Wisconsin: 4,842 countWisconsin4,842Nevada: 4,417 countNevada4,417Oklahoma: 4,269 countOklahoma4,269Alabama: 4,216 countAlabama4,216Kentucky: 3,793 countKentucky3,793Kansas: 3,293 countKansas3,293Connecticut: 3,238 countConnecticut3,238Arkansas: 3,003 countArkansas3,003Iowa: 2,957 countIowa2,957Mississippi: 2,407 countMississippi2,407Idaho: 2,406 countIdaho2,406New Mexico: 2,330 countNew Mexico2,330Nebraska: 2,248 countNebraska2,248Montana: 1,982 countMontana1,982Hawaii: 1,966 countHawaii1,966Maine: 1,716 countMaine1,716New Hampshire: 1,429 countNew Hampshire1,429West Virginia: 1,387 countWest Virginia1,387District of Columbia: 1,284 countDistrict of Columbia1,284Delaware: 1,237 countDelaware1,237Wyoming: 1,176 countWyoming1,176South Dakota: 1,095 countSouth Dakota1,095Rhode Island: 1,094 countRhode Island1,094North Dakota: 1,091 countNorth Dakota1,091Alaska: 933 countAlaska933Vermont: 759 countVermont759
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2016
count		Change on 2015
1California54,311+3.7%
2Florida35,753+4.4%
3New York33,539+0.8%
4Texas30,358+5%
5Illinois12,935+2%
6Georgia11,722+4.1%
7North Carolina11,501+4.7%
8Colorado11,166+5.8%
9Washington11,037+5.8%
10Ohio10,361+2.8%
11Pennsylvania10,089+2.8%
12Virginia9,767+4%
13Arizona9,280+6.5%
14New Jersey9,108+2.8%
15Michigan7,948+2.2%
16Massachusetts7,161+3.1%
17Minnesota6,818+3.5%
18Maryland6,507+3.1%
19Oregon6,363+3.5%
20Indiana6,336+1.6%
21Missouri6,308+1.6%
22Tennessee5,842+2.1%
23South Carolina5,463+5.9%
24Utah5,282+5.4%
25Louisiana4,977+0.8%
26Wisconsin4,842+2.5%
27Nevada4,417+3.7%
28Oklahoma4,269+2.4%
29Alabama4,216+3.6%
30Kentucky3,793+3.1%
31Kansas3,293+3.6%
32Connecticut3,238+0.9%
33Arkansas3,003+2.6%
34Iowa2,957+3%
35Mississippi2,407-0.1%
36Idaho2,406+5.5%
37New Mexico2,330+0.4%
38Nebraska2,248+5.4%
39Montana1,982+3.8%
40Hawaii1,966+2.7%
41Maine1,716+5.3%
42New Hampshire1,429+2.1%
43West Virginia1,387-0.4%
44District of Columbia1,284+3.4%
45Delaware1,237+4%
46Wyoming1,176+0.8%
47South Dakota1,095+5%
48Rhode Island1,094+1.5%
49North Dakota1,091+1.1%
50Alaska933+2.2%
51Vermont759-1.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of establishments with paid employees in real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), 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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. 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. (2018). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 19 Apr. 2018, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-real-estate/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-real-estate/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-real-estate/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing, 2016}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-real-estate/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing, 2016
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/04/19
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-real-estate/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-real-estate/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing?

California, with 54,311 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: real estate, rental and leasing?

Vermont, with 759 in 2016.

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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings