US states by nonemployer businesses: information

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: information of 51 states in 2022, at 69,618. North Dakota had the lowest, at 464. The median was 4,381 and the figure for the United States was 396,260. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest69,618California

Lowest464North Dakota

Median4,38151 states

United States396,260History

Map of states, 2022

Under 1,400
1,400 to 2,100
2,100 to 4,400
4,400 to 7,500
7,500 to 11K
11K and over

count, 2022. 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, 2022

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	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	California Series break	69,618	+1%
2	New York Series break	33,705	+1%
3	Texas Series break	32,634	+4.3%
4	Florida Series break	30,876	+3.1%
5	Georgia Series break	15,594	+2.9%
6	Illinois Series break	12,619	-0.5%
7	Pennsylvania Series break	11,987	+2.4%
8	New Jersey Series break	11,584	+2.3%
9	North Carolina Series break	10,809	+5.4%
10	Ohio Series break	10,132	+2.5%
11	Tennessee Series break	9,823	+5.4%
12	Michigan Series break	9,238	+1.7%
13	Virginia Series break	9,176	-1.9%
14	Washington Series break	8,896	+1.6%
15	Colorado Series break	8,558	+0.6%
16	Massachusetts Series break	8,158	-3.6%
17	Maryland Series break	7,812	+4.2%
18	Arizona Series break	7,375	+3.5%
19	Minnesota Series break	5,893	+3.4%
20	Oregon Series break	5,766	+2.1%
21	Indiana Series break	5,370	+4.1%
22	Missouri Series break	5,238	+2.3%
23	Utah Series break	4,973	+2.6%
24	Wisconsin Series break	4,611	+2.8%
25	Nevada Series break	4,580	+3.9%
26	South Carolina Series break	4,381	+4%
27	Connecticut Series break	4,245	-1.1%
28	Louisiana Series break	3,763	+3%
29	Alabama Series break	3,506	+3.4%
30	Oklahoma Series break	3,360	+7.3%
31	Kentucky Series break	3,241	+4.3%
32	Kansas Series break	2,387	+3.1%
33	Iowa Series break	2,292	+0.2%
34	Arkansas Series break	2,171	+7.8%
35	Idaho Series break	1,903	+2.1%
36	New Mexico Series break	1,872	+3.5%
37	Delaware Series break	1,755	+12.3%
38	Mississippi Series break	1,750	-2%
39	New Hampshire Series break	1,553	+2.5%
40	Nebraska Series break	1,495	+5.8%
41	Maine Series break	1,492	-0.3%
42	Hawaii Series break	1,424	+2.4%
43	District of Columbia Series break	1,403	-4.6%
44	Montana Series break	1,230	+2.8%
45	Rhode Island Series break	1,138	+4.4%
46	Wyoming Series break	1,059	+18.2%
47	West Virginia Series break	982	-0.3%
48	Vermont Series break	958	+0.3%
49	South Dakota Series break	788	+8.5%
50	Alaska Series break	623	+3.3%
51	North Dakota Series break	464	+0.7%

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/2022/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. (2024). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 12 Dec. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/us-states?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/us-states?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: information, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/us-states?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/us-states?period=2022. 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/2022/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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/12/12
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/us-states?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-information/us-states?period=2022.
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/2022/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer businesses: information?

California, with 69,618 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: information?

North Dakota, with 464 in 2022.

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.