US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade
California had the highest employer establishments: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2018, at 58,226. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 387. The median was 4,999 and the figure for the United States was 403,648. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Map of states, 2018
- Under 1,600
- 1,600 to 3,200
- 3,200 to 5,000
- 5,000 to 7,000
- 7,000 to 12K
- 12K and over
All states, 2018
Full ranking
| Rank | States | 2018 | Change on 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 58,226 | -1.1% |
| 2 | Texas | 33,010 | -1% |
| 3 | Florida | 30,949 | -1.1% |
| 4 | New York | 29,805 | -2.5% |
| 5 | Illinois | 17,750 | -1.9% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 14,001 | -2.1% |
| 7 | New Jersey | 13,689 | -1.2% |
| 8 | Ohio | 13,483 | -1.4% |
| 9 | Georgia | 12,972 | -1% |
| 10 | North Carolina | 11,481 | -2.1% |
| 11 | Michigan | 10,643 | -2.5% |
| 12 | Washington | 9,018 | -1.9% |
| 13 | Minnesota | 7,801 | -1.9% |
| 14 | Indiana | 7,476 | -1.7% |
| 15 | Massachusetts | 7,427 | -1.9% |
| 16 | Missouri | 7,420 | -2.7% |
| 17 | Colorado | 7,172 | -0.7% |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 6,935 | -0.5% |
| 19 | Virginia | 6,866 | -1.1% |
| 20 | Tennessee | 6,743 | -1.8% |
| 21 | Arizona | 6,533 | -0.1% |
| 22 | Maryland | 5,369 | -1.2% |
| 23 | Louisiana | 5,275 | -1.2% |
| 24 | Oregon | 5,227 | -2% |
| 25 | Alabama | 5,154 | -1.8% |
| 26 | South Carolina | 4,999 | -0.4% |
| 27 | Iowa | 4,998 | -0.8% |
| 28 | Oklahoma | 4,559 | -1.4% |
| 29 | Kansas | 4,330 | -2.4% |
| 30 | Kentucky | 4,184 | -2.2% |
| 31 | Connecticut | 4,006 | -2.2% |
| 32 | Utah | 3,685 | -0.1% |
| 33 | Arkansas | 3,326 | -1.5% |
| 34 | Nebraska | 3,168 | -1% |
| 35 | Nevada | 3,127 | +0.2% |
| 36 | Mississippi | 2,685 | -1% |
| 37 | Idaho | 2,149 | -0.9% |
| 38 | New Hampshire | 1,794 | -2% |
| 39 | North Dakota | 1,721 | -1% |
| 40 | New Mexico | 1,704 | -2.5% |
| 41 | Hawaii | 1,583 | -2.3% |
| 42 | Montana | 1,574 | -1.6% |
| 43 | South Dakota | 1,554 | -0.8% |
| 44 | Maine | 1,529 | -0.7% |
| 45 | West Virginia | 1,400 | -0.8% |
| 46 | Rhode Island | 1,301 | -0.8% |
| 47 | Delaware | 1,155 | -0.2% |
| 48 | Wyoming | 801 | -3.4% |
| 49 | Vermont | 767 | -2.9% |
| 50 | Alaska | 737 | -2.1% |
| 51 | District of Columbia | 387 | -4.4% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Number of establishments with paid employees in wholesale trade (NAICS 42), 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms (US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/
MLA 9
County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 June 2020, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2020) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms, US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2018,
author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
title = {{County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade, 2018}},
year = {2020},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Census Bureau
TI - County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms: US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade, 2018
PY - 2020
DA - 2020/06/25
PB - U.S. Census Bureau
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-establishments-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2018/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank US states by employer establishments: wholesale trade using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"cbp_establishments_wholesale_trade","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=cbp_establishments_wholesale_trade&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10Questions
Which state has the highest employer establishments: wholesale trade?
California, with 58,226 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which state has the lowest employer establishments: wholesale trade?
District of Columbia, with 387 in 2018.
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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.