US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing of 51 states in 2018, at 340,161. Alaska had the lowest, at 5,405. The median was 36,423 and the figure for the United States was 2.88 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest340,161California

Lowest5,405Alaska

Median36,42351 states

United States2,876,253History

Map of states, 2018

Under 11K
11K to 19K
19K to 36K
36K to 50K
50K to 85K
85K and over

count, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), 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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	340,161	+1.9%
2	Florida Series break	288,783	+5.3%
3	New York Series break	215,872	+3.7%
4	Texas Series break	213,961	+4.2%
5	New Jersey Series break	106,173	+3.6%
6	Illinois Series break	97,487	+2.5%
7	Pennsylvania Series break	96,046	+2.7%
8	Ohio Series break	87,141	+1.8%
9	North Carolina Series break	85,519	+5.3%
10	Georgia Series break	83,744	+5%
11	Michigan Series break	82,064	+2.3%
12	Virginia Series break	70,221	+2.4%
13	Colorado Series break	67,330	+2.9%
14	Arizona Series break	64,664	+2.4%
15	Massachusetts Series break	62,089	+3.6%
16	Washington Series break	59,657	+2.1%
17	Maryland Series break	52,194	+1.8%
18	Missouri Series break	49,544	+2.8%
19	Tennessee Series break	47,395	+5.3%
20	Indiana Series break	46,442	+2.7%
21	Minnesota Series break	45,833	+2%
22	Wisconsin Series break	42,720	+2.6%
23	South Carolina Series break	42,242	+5.1%
24	Connecticut Series break	37,589	+1.2%
25	Louisiana Series break	37,451	+2.9%
26	Utah Series break	36,423	+3.4%
27	Oregon Series break	35,655	+2.5%
28	Alabama Series break	33,527	+4.5%
29	Nevada Series break	31,150	+3%
30	Kentucky Series break	30,654	+3.1%
31	Oklahoma Series break	28,319	+3.4%
32	Iowa Series break	25,348	+2.2%
33	Kansas Series break	22,517	+2.8%
34	Arkansas Series break	19,839	+4.1%
35	Idaho Series break	18,027	+3.9%
36	Mississippi Series break	17,141	+2.7%
37	Nebraska Series break	16,736	+2.7%
38	New Hampshire Series break	13,789	+3.6%
39	Montana Series break	13,439	+3.8%
40	Hawaii Series break	13,166	+2.6%
41	New Mexico Series break	12,832	+2.4%
42	Maine Series break	12,602	+3.3%
43	Delaware Series break	10,550	+5.7%
44	Rhode Island Series break	10,249	+1.5%
45	South Dakota Series break	9,272	+4.1%
46	West Virginia Series break	8,884	+2.5%
47	Wyoming Series break	8,601	+5.9%
48	North Dakota Series break	7,943	+2.7%
49	Vermont Series break	5,939	+2.5%
50	District of Columbia Series break	5,924	+3.5%
51	Alaska Series break	5,405	+3.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), 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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), 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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing, 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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing, 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-real-estate/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing, 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-real-estate/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-real-estate/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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing, 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-real-estate/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), 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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing, 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-real-estate/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-real-estate/us-states?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), 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: real estate, rental and leasing?

California, with 340,161 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: real estate, rental and leasing?

Alaska, with 5,405 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), real estate and rental and leasing (NAICS 53), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.