US states by nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: arts, entertainment and recreation of 51 states in 2020, at 198,174. North Dakota had the lowest, at 2,422. The median was 15,702 and the figure for the United States was 1.34 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest198,174California

Lowest2,422North Dakota

Median15,70251 states

United States1,339,293History

Map of states, 2020

Under 5,000
5,000 to 8,000
8,000 to 16K
16K to 26K
26K to 37K
37K and over

count, 2020. 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, 2020

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	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	California	198,174	-15.3%
2	New York	118,350	-15.9%
3	Texas	100,034	-11.2%
4	Florida	97,759	-5.3%
5	Illinois	46,527	-15.7%
6	Georgia	45,971	-6.7%
7	Pennsylvania	43,934	-17.2%
8	Ohio	38,350	-17.4%
9	North Carolina	38,130	-15.1%
10	New Jersey	35,717	-15.4%
11	Tennessee	35,276	-9%
12	Michigan	33,512	-17.2%
13	Massachusetts	32,657	-19.8%
14	Virginia	32,099	-15.4%
15	Colorado	29,134	-15.8%
16	Washington	28,239	-19.7%
17	Arizona	25,946	-10.9%
18	Minnesota	25,668	-21.6%
19	Maryland	25,563	-17.5%
20	Oregon	20,753	-15.7%
21	Missouri	20,415	-13.8%
22	Indiana	19,427	-16.2%
23	Wisconsin	19,093	-18.9%
24	South Carolina	17,168	-12.6%
25	Nevada	16,546	-13.3%
26	Connecticut	15,702	-15.9%
27	Louisiana	15,514	-14.9%
28	Utah	14,048	-8.3%
29	Alabama	13,085	-11.6%
30	Kentucky	12,456	-15.7%
31	Oklahoma	11,949	-10.7%
32	Iowa	9,423	-15.7%
33	Kansas	9,280	-16.1%
34	New Mexico	8,151	-19.5%
35	Arkansas	7,381	-11.9%
36	Mississippi	7,081	-11.9%
37	Maine	6,863	-15.5%
38	Idaho	6,549	-10.8%
39	Nebraska	6,352	-14.6%
40	New Hampshire	6,024	-15.5%
41	Hawaii	6,002	-19.7%
42	Montana	5,564	-10.7%
43	Rhode Island	4,837	-20.4%
44	District of Columbia	4,668	-16%
45	Vermont	4,386	-14.1%
46	West Virginia	3,873	-17.9%
47	South Dakota	3,721	-11%
48	Delaware	3,623	-14.7%
49	Alaska	3,046	-17.8%
50	Wyoming	2,851	-10.6%
51	North Dakota	2,422	-17.4%

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/2020/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. (2023). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 17 Aug. 2023, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2023. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2023) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2023},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2020. 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/2020/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, 2020
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/08/17
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2020.
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/2020/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 198,174 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

North Dakota, with 2,422 in 2020.

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.