US states by nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management of 51 states in 2016, at 249,705. Alaska had the lowest, at 3,174. The median was 24,694 and the figure for the United States was 2.08 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest249,705California

Lowest3,174Alaska

Median24,69451 states

United States2,082,724History

Map of states, 2016

Under 6,000
6,000 to 14K
14K to 25K
25K to 36K
36K to 57K
57K and over

count, 2016. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	California	249,705	-0.8%
2	Texas	236,687	+2.2%
3	Florida	233,972	+0.8%
4	New York	103,633	-0.5%
5	Georgia	98,840	-0.3%
6	North Carolina	75,604	+2.4%
7	Illinois	74,351	-1.1%
8	Ohio	64,747	-1.4%
9	Michigan	57,744	-0.2%
10	Pennsylvania	55,153	+0.3%
11	Tennessee	51,818	+1.5%
12	Virginia	47,658	+2.2%
13	New Jersey	43,744	+1.1%
14	Arizona	40,649	+1.1%
15	Alabama	38,577	+0.7%
16	Maryland	38,507	+0.1%
17	Louisiana	38,020	+1.3%
18	South Carolina	34,982	+1.2%
19	Massachusetts	33,778	+0.1%
20	Colorado	33,768	+2.3%
21	Indiana	33,730	-0.6%
22	Missouri	33,076	+2.5%
23	Washington	28,974	+2.7%
24	Kentucky	27,644	+0.1%
25	Oklahoma	26,674	+0.5%
26	Minnesota	24,694	-0.2%
27	Mississippi	24,634	+1.4%
28	Wisconsin	20,404	+1.3%
29	Arkansas	20,319	-0%
30	Connecticut	19,585	-0.4%
31	Nevada	17,267	+3.9%
32	Oregon	17,222	+1%
33	Kansas	14,915	0%
34	Iowa	14,082	+2.1%
35	Utah	13,694	+4.6%
36	Nebraska	9,319	+2.1%
37	Hawaii	8,994	+3.4%
38	New Mexico	8,992	+0.7%
39	Idaho	8,135	+2.6%
40	Maine	7,911	+0.3%
41	New Hampshire	7,243	-1.4%
42	West Virginia	7,001	-0.6%
43	Rhode Island	5,362	-2.7%
44	Montana	5,097	+1.4%
45	Vermont	4,352	-3%
46	Delaware	4,298	-0.3%
47	South Dakota	3,932	+4.1%
48	District of Columbia	3,436	+2.3%
49	Wyoming	3,317	+4.3%
50	North Dakota	3,310	+3.2%
51	Alaska	3,174	+1.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), from the U.S. Census Bureau Nonemployer Statistics.

Nonemployer Statistics: businesses with no paid employees that are subject to federal income tax, mostly the self-employed, counted from tax records, with receipts above small minimum amounts. Census says some years are not comparable with earlier ones, and they are marked as series breaks: 2018 in every sector (businesses were reclassified from their descriptions, which moved many out of other services), 2022 in every sector (new receipts cutoffs) and 2017 in utilities (the same reclassification). Most nonemployers are sole proprietors whose business may be a side activity. 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. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. 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). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 21 June 2018, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management, 2016}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management, 2016
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/06/21
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management?

California, with 249,705 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: administrative support and waste management?

Alaska, with 3,174 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, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (NAICS 56), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.