US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation of 51 states in 2018, at 232,198. North Dakota had the lowest, at 2,890. The median was 17,729 and the figure for the United States was 1.51 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest232,198California

Lowest2,890North Dakota

Median17,72951 states

United States1,513,725History

Map of states, 2018

Under 6,000
6,000 to 9,000
9,000 to 18K
18K to 31K
31K to 42K
42K and over

count, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2018

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	232,198	+4.9%
2	New York Series break	143,649	+4.8%
3	Texas Series break	105,363	+7.1%
4	Florida Series break	97,312	+7.3%
5	Illinois Series break	54,764	+4.6%
6	Pennsylvania Series break	51,690	+4.6%
7	Georgia Series break	46,380	+6.4%
8	Ohio Series break	44,825	+5.7%
9	North Carolina Series break	42,445	+4.6%
10	New Jersey Series break	41,064	+5.7%
11	Massachusetts Series break	39,624	+4.4%
12	Michigan Series break	39,400	+4.7%
13	Tennessee Series break	36,578	+6.2%
14	Virginia Series break	36,531	+4.3%
15	Washington Series break	33,713	+4.2%
16	Colorado Series break	33,009	+5.3%
17	Minnesota Series break	32,309	+4.3%
18	Maryland Series break	30,208	+4.1%
19	Arizona Series break	26,983	+6.9%
20	Oregon Series break	23,600	+6.1%
21	Missouri Series break	23,170	+5.7%
22	Wisconsin Series break	22,946	+4.5%
23	Indiana Series break	22,669	+6.9%
24	South Carolina Series break	18,362	+6.3%
25	Connecticut Series break	18,028	+3.9%
26	Nevada Series break	17,729	+6.3%
27	Louisiana Series break	17,307	+4.4%
28	Utah Series break	14,478	+8.2%
29	Kentucky Series break	14,137	+5.2%
30	Alabama Series break	13,925	+7.6%
31	Oklahoma Series break	12,677	+6.8%
32	Iowa Series break	10,850	+4.8%
33	Kansas Series break	10,791	+3.6%
34	New Mexico Series break	9,457	+2.7%
35	Arkansas Series break	7,924	+6.9%
36	Maine Series break	7,726	+4.1%
37	Mississippi Series break	7,521	+5.4%
38	Nebraska Series break	7,121	+3.5%
39	New Hampshire Series break	7,002	+3.4%
40	Hawaii Series break	6,945	+3.2%
41	Idaho Series break	6,859	+9.7%
42	Montana Series break	5,936	+7.1%
43	Rhode Island Series break	5,737	+7.1%
44	District of Columbia Series break	5,619	+4.9%
45	Vermont Series break	4,912	+3.8%
46	West Virginia Series break	4,560	+5.1%
47	South Dakota Series break	4,180	+8.3%
48	Delaware Series break	3,991	+5.6%
49	Alaska Series break	3,605	+3.1%
50	Wyoming Series break	3,026	+4.2%
51	North Dakota Series break	2,890	+9.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), 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), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/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. (2020). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 21 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2018}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2018
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/21
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation?

California, with 232,198 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation?

North Dakota, with 2,890 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, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.