US states by nonemployer businesses: manufacturing

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: manufacturing of 51 states in 2018, at 46,094. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 294. The median was 4,492 and the figure for the United States was 354,100. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest46,094California

Lowest294District of Columbia

Median4,49251 states

United States354,100History

Map of states, 2018

Under 1,700
1,700 to 2,800
2,800 to 4,500
4,500 to 6,900
6,900 to 10K
10K and over

count, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), 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), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	46,094	-0.5%
2	Texas Series break	35,763	+4.8%
3	Florida Series break	25,497	+5.8%
4	New York Series break	18,116	+1%
5	Pennsylvania Series break	14,094	+0.7%
6	Ohio Series break	13,339	+1.5%
7	Michigan Series break	12,208	+0.6%
8	Georgia Series break	10,982	+3.8%
9	North Carolina Series break	10,448	+0.8%
10	Illinois Series break	10,238	+0.6%
11	Washington Series break	8,381	-0.7%
12	Colorado Series break	7,607	+0.5%
13	Minnesota Series break	7,418	+0.3%
14	Wisconsin Series break	7,355	+2.7%
15	Oregon Series break	7,169	-1.7%
16	Arizona Series break	7,097	+1.4%
17	Indiana Series break	6,894	+0.4%
18	New Jersey Series break	6,841	+2%
19	Tennessee Series break	6,327	+2%
20	Missouri Series break	6,206	+0.1%
21	Massachusetts Series break	6,162	+0.7%
22	Virginia Series break	6,156	+3%
23	Alabama Series break	4,663	+2%
24	Louisiana Series break	4,607	+4.1%
25	South Carolina Series break	4,520	+2.5%
26	Maryland Series break	4,492	-0.8%
27	Utah Series break	4,489	+2%
28	Oklahoma Series break	4,193	+4.1%
29	Kentucky Series break	4,031	+2.2%
30	Connecticut Series break	3,417	+0.6%
31	Iowa Series break	3,087	+3.5%
32	Kansas Series break	2,918	+0.4%
33	Idaho Series break	2,896	+3.1%
34	Arkansas Series break	2,797	+0.5%
35	New Mexico Series break	2,774	-0.3%
36	Nevada Series break	2,732	+4.1%
37	Mississippi Series break	2,709	+3.3%
38	Maine Series break	2,391	-1.3%
39	Montana Series break	2,107	-1.7%
40	New Hampshire Series break	2,083	-3.1%
41	Hawaii Series break	2,033	-3.1%
42	Vermont Series break	1,875	-1.5%
43	Nebraska Series break	1,612	+3.9%
44	West Virginia Series break	1,203	-1.7%
45	Alaska Series break	1,199	+2.7%
46	Rhode Island Series break	1,075	-4.3%
47	South Dakota Series break	1,011	-1%
48	Wyoming Series break	991	-0.8%
49	North Dakota Series break	771	+11.9%
50	Delaware Series break	738	+7.4%
51	District of Columbia Series break	294	+8.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), 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), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), 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), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: manufacturing, 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), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: manufacturing, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-manufacturing/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), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), 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), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: manufacturing, 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-manufacturing/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-manufacturing/us-states?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), 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: manufacturing?

California, with 46,094 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: manufacturing?

District of Columbia, with 294 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), manufacturing (NAICS 31-33), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.