US states by nonemployer businesses: information

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: information of 51 states in 2018, at 69,518. North Dakota had the lowest, at 458. The median was 3,696 and the figure for the United States was 358,505. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest69,518California

Lowest458North Dakota

Median3,69651 states

United States358,505History

Map of states, 2018

Under 1,200
1,200 to 1,700
1,700 to 3,700
3,700 to 6,500
6,500 to 9,000
9,000 and over

count, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	69,518	+3.4%
2	New York Series break	33,513	+2.2%
3	Texas Series break	26,542	+3.2%
4	Florida Series break	25,881	+4%
5	Georgia Series break	12,310	+5%
6	Illinois Series break	11,829	+2%
7	New Jersey Series break	10,791	+2.4%
8	Pennsylvania Series break	10,690	+1.7%
9	Ohio Series break	9,100	+1.2%
10	North Carolina Series break	8,927	+2.7%
11	Michigan Series break	8,438	-0.3%
12	Massachusetts Series break	8,305	+2.3%
13	Virginia Series break	8,216	+2.6%
14	Colorado Series break	7,938	+2.3%
15	Tennessee Series break	7,875	+4.7%
16	Washington Series break	7,778	+1.2%
17	Maryland Series break	6,870	+0.3%
18	Arizona Series break	6,311	+1.8%
19	Minnesota Series break	5,493	-0.6%
20	Oregon Series break	5,276	+0.9%
21	Missouri Series break	4,770	+5%
22	Indiana Series break	4,618	+0.2%
23	Utah Series break	4,313	+4.5%
24	Wisconsin Series break	4,223	0%
25	Connecticut Series break	4,047	+1.9%
26	Nevada Series break	3,696	+5.3%
27	South Carolina Series break	3,686	-1.2%
28	Louisiana Series break	3,501	+0.5%
29	Alabama Series break	3,141	+1.8%
30	Kentucky Series break	2,877	+2.9%
31	Oklahoma Series break	2,821	+0.9%
32	Iowa Series break	2,188	+0.4%
33	Kansas Series break	2,154	-2.3%
34	Arkansas Series break	1,788	+0.6%
35	Idaho Series break	1,644	+2.6%
36	New Mexico Series break	1,638	-1.3%
37	Mississippi Series break	1,553	-1.4%
38	District of Columbia Series break	1,504	+0.7%
39	New Hampshire Series break	1,367	-2.9%
40	Maine Series break	1,360	+2.6%
41	Nebraska Series break	1,326	-0.7%
42	Hawaii Series break	1,267	+4.7%
43	Delaware Series break	1,204	+4.3%
44	Montana Series break	1,057	+0.3%
45	Rhode Island Series break	1,009	+1.2%
46	Vermont Series break	918	+5.6%
47	West Virginia Series break	916	+4.9%
48	Wyoming Series break	720	+4%
49	South Dakota Series break	631	+5.9%
50	Alaska Series break	509	-6.4%
51	North Dakota Series break	458	+5.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in information (publishing, media, telecommunications and data processing) (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/us-states?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), 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: information?

California, with 69,518 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: information?

North Dakota, with 458 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.