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 2022, at 107,053. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 1,649. The median was 15,021 and the figure for the United States was 1.05 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest107,053California
Lowest1,649District of Columbia
Median15,02151 states
United States1,045,890History

Map of states, 2022

Alabama: 17,855 countAlaska: 2,426 countArizona: 17,832 countArkansas: 10,696 countCalifornia: 107,053 countColorado: 18,698 countConnecticut: 11,649 countDelaware: 3,735 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,649 countFlorida: 75,743 countGeorgia: 35,823 countHawaii: 4,426 countIdaho: 6,335 countIllinois: 35,947 countIndiana: 21,110 countIowa: 11,150 countKansas: 9,580 countKentucky: 15,021 countLouisiana: 15,929 countMaine: 6,096 countMaryland: 16,707 countMassachusetts: 22,637 countMichigan: 32,936 countMinnesota: 17,816 countMississippi: 11,334 countMissouri: 20,006 countMontana: 4,696 countNebraska: 6,931 countNevada: 9,012 countNew Hampshire: 5,754 countNew Jersey: 30,031 countNew Mexico: 6,282 countNew York: 72,674 countNorth Carolina: 35,465 countNorth Dakota: 3,130 countOhio: 34,367 countOklahoma: 13,319 countOregon: 13,998 countPennsylvania: 40,488 countRhode Island: 3,593 countSouth Carolina: 18,490 countSouth Dakota: 3,868 countTennessee: 23,204 countTexas: 83,788 countUtah: 10,315 countVermont: 2,927 countVirginia: 26,037 countWashington: 20,787 countWest Virginia: 5,721 countWisconsin: 18,178 countWyoming: 2,646 count
  • Under 5,000
  • 5,000 to 9,000
  • 9,000 to 15K
  • 15K to 19K
  • 19K to 34K
  • 34K and over
count, 2022. 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, 2022

California: 107,053 countCalifornia107,053Texas: 83,788 countTexas83,788Florida: 75,743 countFlorida75,743New York: 72,674 countNew York72,674Pennsylvania: 40,488 countPennsylvania40,488Illinois: 35,947 countIllinois35,947Georgia: 35,823 countGeorgia35,823North Carolina: 35,465 countNorth Carolina35,465Ohio: 34,367 countOhio34,367Michigan: 32,936 countMichigan32,936New Jersey: 30,031 countNew Jersey30,031Virginia: 26,037 countVirginia26,037Tennessee: 23,204 countTennessee23,204Massachusetts: 22,637 countMassachusetts22,637Indiana: 21,110 countIndiana21,110Washington: 20,787 countWashington20,787Missouri: 20,006 countMissouri20,006Colorado: 18,698 countColorado18,698South Carolina: 18,490 countSouth Carolina18,490Wisconsin: 18,178 countWisconsin18,178Alabama: 17,855 countAlabama17,855Arizona: 17,832 countArizona17,832Minnesota: 17,816 countMinnesota17,816Maryland: 16,707 countMaryland16,707Louisiana: 15,929 countLouisiana15,929Kentucky: 15,021 countKentucky15,021Oregon: 13,998 countOregon13,998Oklahoma: 13,319 countOklahoma13,319Connecticut: 11,649 countConnecticut11,649Mississippi: 11,334 countMississippi11,334Iowa: 11,150 countIowa11,150Arkansas: 10,696 countArkansas10,696Utah: 10,315 countUtah10,315Kansas: 9,580 countKansas9,580Nevada: 9,012 countNevada9,012Nebraska: 6,931 countNebraska6,931Idaho: 6,335 countIdaho6,335New Mexico: 6,282 countNew Mexico6,282Maine: 6,096 countMaine6,096New Hampshire: 5,754 countNew Hampshire5,754West Virginia: 5,721 countWest Virginia5,721Montana: 4,696 countMontana4,696Hawaii: 4,426 countHawaii4,426South Dakota: 3,868 countSouth Dakota3,868Delaware: 3,735 countDelaware3,735Rhode Island: 3,593 countRhode Island3,593North Dakota: 3,130 countNorth Dakota3,130Vermont: 2,927 countVermont2,927Wyoming: 2,646 countWyoming2,646Alaska: 2,426 countAlaska2,426District of Columbia: 1,649 countDistrict of Columbia1,649California: 107,053 countCalifornia107,053Texas: 83,788 countTexas83,788Florida: 75,743 countFlorida75,743New York: 72,674 countNew York72,674Pennsylvania: 40,488 countPennsylvania40,488Illinois: 35,947 countIllinois35,947Georgia: 35,823 countGeorgia35,823North Carolina: 35,465 countNorth Carolina35,465Ohio: 34,367 countOhio34,367Michigan: 32,936 countMichigan32,936New Jersey: 30,031 countNew Jersey30,031Virginia: 26,037 countVirginia26,037Tennessee: 23,204 countTennessee23,204Massachusetts: 22,637 countMassachusetts22,637Indiana: 21,110 countIndiana21,110Washington: 20,787 countWashington20,787Missouri: 20,006 countMissouri20,006Colorado: 18,698 countColorado18,698South Carolina: 18,490 countSouth Carolina18,490Wisconsin: 18,178 countWisconsin18,178Alabama: 17,855 countAlabama17,855Arizona: 17,832 countArizona17,832Minnesota: 17,816 countMinnesota17,816Maryland: 16,707 countMaryland16,707Louisiana: 15,929 countLouisiana15,929Kentucky: 15,021 countKentucky15,021Oregon: 13,998 countOregon13,998Oklahoma: 13,319 countOklahoma13,319Connecticut: 11,649 countConnecticut11,649Mississippi: 11,334 countMississippi11,334Iowa: 11,150 countIowa11,150Arkansas: 10,696 countArkansas10,696Utah: 10,315 countUtah10,315Kansas: 9,580 countKansas9,580Nevada: 9,012 countNevada9,012Nebraska: 6,931 countNebraska6,931Idaho: 6,335 countIdaho6,335New Mexico: 6,282 countNew Mexico6,282Maine: 6,096 countMaine6,096New Hampshire: 5,754 countNew Hampshire5,754West Virginia: 5,721 countWest Virginia5,721Montana: 4,696 countMontana4,696Hawaii: 4,426 countHawaii4,426South Dakota: 3,868 countSouth Dakota3,868Delaware: 3,735 countDelaware3,735Rhode Island: 3,593 countRhode Island3,593North Dakota: 3,130 countNorth Dakota3,130Vermont: 2,927 countVermont2,927Wyoming: 2,646 countWyoming2,646Alaska: 2,426 countAlaska2,426District of Columbia: 1,649 countDistrict of Columbia1,649
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

RankStates2022
count		Change on 2021
1California107,053+1.2%
2Texas83,788+2.1%
3Florida75,743+0.6%
4New York72,674-0.2%
5Pennsylvania40,488+0.1%
6Illinois35,947-0.4%
7Georgia35,823+0.9%
8North Carolina35,465+1.4%
9Ohio34,367+0.8%
10Michigan32,936+0.2%
11New Jersey30,031+0.5%
12Virginia26,037+1%
13Tennessee23,204+1.4%
14Massachusetts22,637+0.7%
15Indiana21,110+1.4%
16Washington20,787+0.2%
17Missouri20,006+1%
18Colorado18,698+0.6%
19South Carolina18,490+2.6%
20Wisconsin18,178+1.1%
21Alabama17,855+1.1%
22Arizona17,832+1.7%
23Minnesota17,816+0.3%
24Maryland16,707-1.1%
25Louisiana15,929+0.6%
26Kentucky15,021+1.7%
27Oregon13,998+0.6%
28Oklahoma13,319+0.3%
29Connecticut11,649+0.3%
30Mississippi11,334+1.6%
31Iowa11,150+0.8%
32Arkansas10,696+2.2%
33Utah10,315-0.2%
34Kansas9,580+0.3%
35Nevada9,012+2%
36Nebraska6,931+0.8%
37Idaho6,335+2.6%
38New Mexico6,282+4.5%
39Maine6,096+1.5%
40New Hampshire5,754+0.6%
41West Virginia5,721+1.9%
42Montana4,696+2.6%
43Hawaii4,426+1%
44South Dakota3,868+3.4%
45Delaware3,735+0.1%
46Rhode Island3,593+0.8%
47North Dakota3,130+0.2%
48Vermont2,927-2.9%
49Wyoming2,646+1.3%
50Alaska2,426+1.2%
51District of Columbia1,649-0.9%

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/2022/. 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. (2024). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2022/

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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 June 2024, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2022/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/us-states?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2022/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/us-states?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: retail trade, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2022/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/us-states?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2022/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/us-states?period=2022. 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/2022/. 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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/06/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2022/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/us-states?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-retail-trade/us-states?period=2022.
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/2022/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer establishments: retail trade?

California, with 107,053 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer establishments: retail trade?

District of Columbia, with 1,649 in 2022.

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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