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 2017, at 251,405. Alaska had the lowest, at 3,291. The median was 25,639 and the figure for the United States was 2.14 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest251,405California

Lowest3,291Alaska

Median25,63951 states

United States2,143,437History

Map of states, 2017

Under 6,000
6,000 to 14K
14K to 26K
26K to 37K
37K to 58K
58K and over

count, 2017. 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, 2017

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	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	California	251,405	+0.7%
2	Florida	249,445	+6.6%
3	Texas	249,258	+5.3%
4	New York	104,235	+0.6%
5	Georgia	102,887	+4.1%
6	North Carolina	77,662	+2.7%
7	Illinois	73,573	-1%
8	Ohio	66,112	+2.1%
9	Michigan	58,681	+1.6%
10	Pennsylvania	56,279	+2%
11	Tennessee	53,855	+3.9%
12	Virginia	48,940	+2.7%
13	New Jersey	45,504	+4%
14	Arizona	41,793	+2.8%
15	Alabama	39,895	+3.4%
16	Louisiana	39,340	+3.5%
17	Maryland	38,834	+0.8%
18	South Carolina	36,718	+5%
19	Colorado	34,625	+2.5%
20	Massachusetts	34,390	+1.8%
21	Indiana	34,277	+1.6%
22	Missouri	34,048	+2.9%
23	Washington	29,411	+1.5%
24	Kentucky	28,124	+1.7%
25	Oklahoma	27,638	+3.6%
26	Mississippi	25,639	+4.1%
27	Minnesota	24,621	-0.3%
28	Arkansas	21,088	+3.8%
29	Wisconsin	20,575	+0.8%
30	Connecticut	19,720	+0.7%
31	Oregon	17,910	+4%
32	Nevada	17,508	+1.4%
33	Kansas	14,892	-0.2%
34	Utah	14,272	+4.2%
35	Iowa	13,905	-1.3%
36	Nebraska	9,470	+1.6%
37	Hawaii	9,324	+3.7%
38	New Mexico	9,202	+2.3%
39	Idaho	8,604	+5.8%
40	Maine	8,089	+2.3%
41	New Hampshire	7,250	+0.1%
42	West Virginia	7,079	+1.1%
43	Rhode Island	5,544	+3.4%
44	Montana	5,337	+4.7%
45	Delaware	4,507	+4.9%
46	Vermont	4,450	+2.3%
47	South Dakota	4,035	+2.6%
48	Wyoming	3,509	+5.8%
49	District of Columbia	3,392	-1.3%
50	North Dakota	3,295	-0.5%
51	Alaska	3,291	+3.7%

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/2017/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. (2019). 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, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2017. 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/2017/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, 2017
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-administrative-support/us-states?period=2017.
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/2017/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 251,405 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Alaska, with 3,291 in 2017.

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.