Data / Rankings / Employer establishments: retail trade / US states

US states by employer establishments: retail trade

California had the highest employer establishments: retail trade of 51 states in 2016, at 108,331. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 1,801. The median was 15,061 and the figure for the United States was 1.07 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest108,331California
Lowest1,801District of Columbia
Median15,06151 states
United States1,069,096History

Map of states, 2016

Alabama: 18,097 countAlaska: 2,478 countArizona: 18,027 countArkansas: 10,851 countCalifornia: 108,331 countColorado: 18,790 countConnecticut: 12,590 countDelaware: 3,716 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,801 countFlorida: 75,181 countGeorgia: 34,109 countHawaii: 4,615 countIdaho: 6,043 countIllinois: 38,732 countIndiana: 21,232 countIowa: 11,613 countKansas: 10,197 countKentucky: 15,061 countLouisiana: 16,554 countMaine: 6,262 countMaryland: 18,201 countMassachusetts: 24,345 countMichigan: 34,493 countMinnesota: 19,008 countMississippi: 11,608 countMissouri: 21,028 countMontana: 4,769 countNebraska: 7,253 countNevada: 8,708 countNew Hampshire: 5,997 countNew Jersey: 31,446 countNew Mexico: 6,478 countNew York: 78,851 countNorth Carolina: 34,752 countNorth Dakota: 3,248 countOhio: 36,020 countOklahoma: 13,168 countOregon: 14,102 countPennsylvania: 43,216 countRhode Island: 3,776 countSouth Carolina: 17,638 countSouth Dakota: 3,920 countTennessee: 22,733 countTexas: 80,652 countUtah: 9,842 countVermont: 3,280 countVirginia: 26,895 countWashington: 21,701 countWest Virginia: 6,041 countWisconsin: 19,002 countWyoming: 2,645 count
  • Under 5,000
  • 5,000 to 9,000
  • 9,000 to 15K
  • 15K to 20K
  • 20K to 34K
  • 34K and over
count, 2016. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

California: 108,331 countCalifornia108,331Texas: 80,652 countTexas80,652New York: 78,851 countNew York78,851Florida: 75,181 countFlorida75,181Pennsylvania: 43,216 countPennsylvania43,216Illinois: 38,732 countIllinois38,732Ohio: 36,020 countOhio36,020North Carolina: 34,752 countNorth Carolina34,752Michigan: 34,493 countMichigan34,493Georgia: 34,109 countGeorgia34,109New Jersey: 31,446 countNew Jersey31,446Virginia: 26,895 countVirginia26,895Massachusetts: 24,345 countMassachusetts24,345Tennessee: 22,733 countTennessee22,733Washington: 21,701 countWashington21,701Indiana: 21,232 countIndiana21,232Missouri: 21,028 countMissouri21,028Minnesota: 19,008 countMinnesota19,008Wisconsin: 19,002 countWisconsin19,002Colorado: 18,790 countColorado18,790Maryland: 18,201 countMaryland18,201Alabama: 18,097 countAlabama18,097Arizona: 18,027 countArizona18,027South Carolina: 17,638 countSouth Carolina17,638Louisiana: 16,554 countLouisiana16,554Kentucky: 15,061 countKentucky15,061Oregon: 14,102 countOregon14,102Oklahoma: 13,168 countOklahoma13,168Connecticut: 12,590 countConnecticut12,590Iowa: 11,613 countIowa11,613Mississippi: 11,608 countMississippi11,608Arkansas: 10,851 countArkansas10,851Kansas: 10,197 countKansas10,197Utah: 9,842 countUtah9,842Nevada: 8,708 countNevada8,708Nebraska: 7,253 countNebraska7,253New Mexico: 6,478 countNew Mexico6,478Maine: 6,262 countMaine6,262Idaho: 6,043 countIdaho6,043West Virginia: 6,041 countWest Virginia6,041New Hampshire: 5,997 countNew Hampshire5,997Montana: 4,769 countMontana4,769Hawaii: 4,615 countHawaii4,615South Dakota: 3,920 countSouth Dakota3,920Rhode Island: 3,776 countRhode Island3,776Delaware: 3,716 countDelaware3,716Vermont: 3,280 countVermont3,280North Dakota: 3,248 countNorth Dakota3,248Wyoming: 2,645 countWyoming2,645Alaska: 2,478 countAlaska2,478District of Columbia: 1,801 countDistrict of Columbia1,801California: 108,331 countCalifornia108,331Texas: 80,652 countTexas80,652New York: 78,851 countNew York78,851Florida: 75,181 countFlorida75,181Pennsylvania: 43,216 countPennsylvania43,216Illinois: 38,732 countIllinois38,732Ohio: 36,020 countOhio36,020North Carolina: 34,752 countNorth Carolina34,752Michigan: 34,493 countMichigan34,493Georgia: 34,109 countGeorgia34,109New Jersey: 31,446 countNew Jersey31,446Virginia: 26,895 countVirginia26,895Massachusetts: 24,345 countMassachusetts24,345Tennessee: 22,733 countTennessee22,733Washington: 21,701 countWashington21,701Indiana: 21,232 countIndiana21,232Missouri: 21,028 countMissouri21,028Minnesota: 19,008 countMinnesota19,008Wisconsin: 19,002 countWisconsin19,002Colorado: 18,790 countColorado18,790Maryland: 18,201 countMaryland18,201Alabama: 18,097 countAlabama18,097Arizona: 18,027 countArizona18,027South Carolina: 17,638 countSouth Carolina17,638Louisiana: 16,554 countLouisiana16,554Kentucky: 15,061 countKentucky15,061Oregon: 14,102 countOregon14,102Oklahoma: 13,168 countOklahoma13,168Connecticut: 12,590 countConnecticut12,590Iowa: 11,613 countIowa11,613Mississippi: 11,608 countMississippi11,608Arkansas: 10,851 countArkansas10,851Kansas: 10,197 countKansas10,197Utah: 9,842 countUtah9,842Nevada: 8,708 countNevada8,708Nebraska: 7,253 countNebraska7,253New Mexico: 6,478 countNew Mexico6,478Maine: 6,262 countMaine6,262Idaho: 6,043 countIdaho6,043West Virginia: 6,041 countWest Virginia6,041New Hampshire: 5,997 countNew Hampshire5,997Montana: 4,769 countMontana4,769Hawaii: 4,615 countHawaii4,615South Dakota: 3,920 countSouth Dakota3,920Rhode Island: 3,776 countRhode Island3,776Delaware: 3,716 countDelaware3,716Vermont: 3,280 countVermont3,280North Dakota: 3,248 countNorth Dakota3,248Wyoming: 2,645 countWyoming2,645Alaska: 2,478 countAlaska2,478District of Columbia: 1,801 countDistrict of Columbia1,801
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2016
count		Change on 2015
1California108,331-0.2%
2Texas80,652+0.4%
3New York78,8510%
4Florida75,181+0.9%
5Pennsylvania43,216-0.4%
6Illinois38,732-1.1%
7Ohio36,020-0.9%
8North Carolina34,752+0.7%
9Michigan34,493-0.6%
10Georgia34,109+0.2%
11New Jersey31,446-0.4%
12Virginia26,895-1.1%
13Massachusetts24,345+1%
14Tennessee22,733+0.4%
15Washington21,701-0.4%
16Indiana21,232-0.9%
17Missouri21,028-0.7%
18Minnesota19,008+0.2%
19Wisconsin19,002-0.6%
20Colorado18,790+0.3%
21Maryland18,201-0.4%
22Alabama18,097+0.3%
23Arizona18,027-0.4%
24South Carolina17,638+0.2%
25Louisiana16,554+0.2%
26Kentucky15,061-0.8%
27Oregon14,102-0.4%
28Oklahoma13,168-1%
29Connecticut12,590+0.5%
30Iowa11,613-1%
31Mississippi11,608+0.2%
32Arkansas10,851-0.5%
33Kansas10,197-1.3%
34Utah9,842+3.1%
35Nevada8,708+0.3%
36Nebraska7,253-1.3%
37New Mexico6,478-0.9%
38Maine6,262-0.3%
39Idaho6,043+0.6%
40West Virginia6,041-1.8%
41New Hampshire5,997-0.9%
42Montana4,769-0.5%
43Hawaii4,615+0.3%
44South Dakota3,920-0.5%
45Rhode Island3,776+0.7%
46Delaware3,716+1.6%
47Vermont3,280-2.1%
48North Dakota3,248-0.3%
49Wyoming2,645+0.2%
50Alaska2,478-1.4%
51District of Columbia1,801+2.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of establishments with paid employees in retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 19 Apr. 2018, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2016/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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: retail trade?

California, with 108,331 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: retail trade?

District of Columbia, with 1,801 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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