US states by nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance of 51 states in 2018, at 90,267. Vermont had the lowest, at 1,015. The median was 9,229 and the figure for the United States was 755,353. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest90,267California

Lowest1,015Vermont

Median9,22951 states

United States755,353History

Map of states, 2018

Under 2,400
2,400 to 6,200
6,200 to 9,200
9,200 to 13K
13K to 22K
22K and over

count, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), 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), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	90,267	+2.1%
2	Texas Series break	81,219	+11.7%
3	Florida Series break	71,931	+6.6%
4	New York Series break	54,037	+4.3%
5	Illinois Series break	29,943	+0.3%
6	Pennsylvania Series break	26,189	+2.6%
7	New Jersey Series break	23,990	+2.6%
8	Georgia Series break	23,325	+3.3%
9	Ohio Series break	22,066	-4%
10	North Carolina Series break	20,467	+4%
11	Michigan Series break	18,025	+0.6%
12	Colorado Series break	15,279	+2.8%
13	Massachusetts Series break	14,836	+2.2%
14	Virginia Series break	14,805	+1.7%
15	Arizona Series break	14,316	+1.9%
16	Tennessee Series break	14,068	+3.9%
17	Missouri Series break	13,459	+1.9%
18	Minnesota Series break	12,803	-0.1%
19	Indiana Series break	11,798	+1.9%
20	Maryland Series break	11,771	+1.7%
21	Washington Series break	11,692	+2.1%
22	Louisiana Series break	11,155	-3.1%
23	Wisconsin Series break	11,141	-0.3%
24	Connecticut Series break	11,061	+1.5%
25	South Carolina Series break	10,533	+3.4%
26	Utah Series break	9,229	+2.6%
27	Oklahoma Series break	8,911	+3.1%
28	Alabama Series break	8,424	-0.3%
29	Nevada Series break	8,063	+3.5%
30	Kansas Series break	7,494	-0.8%
31	Kentucky Series break	7,442	+2.7%
32	Iowa Series break	7,400	-0.5%
33	Mississippi Series break	7,117	+0.9%
34	Oregon Series break	6,306	-1.1%
35	Arkansas Series break	5,910	+3.9%
36	Nebraska Series break	5,336	0%
37	Idaho Series break	3,723	-0%
38	Delaware Series break	2,988	+5.2%
39	Hawaii Series break	2,984	+3.8%
40	New Mexico Series break	2,952	-0.1%
41	South Dakota Series break	2,938	+0.7%
42	New Hampshire Series break	2,557	+4%
43	North Dakota Series break	2,275	-1.3%
44	Montana Series break	2,137	+0.2%
45	West Virginia Series break	2,036	-4%
46	Rhode Island Series break	2,011	+3.8%
47	Maine Series break	1,860	-0.5%
48	Wyoming Series break	1,675	+10.1%
49	Alaska Series break	1,370	-19.2%
50	District of Columbia Series break	1,024	+2.1%
51	Vermont Series break	1,015	+6.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in finance and insurance (NAICS 52), 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), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), 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), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance, 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), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance, 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-finance-insurance/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance, 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-finance-insurance/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-finance-insurance/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), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance, 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-finance-insurance/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), 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), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance, 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-finance-insurance/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-finance-insurance/us-states?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), 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: finance and insurance?

California, with 90,267 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: finance and insurance?

Vermont, with 1,015 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), finance and insurance (NAICS 52), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.