US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: retail trade of 51 states in 2018, at 245,358. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 2,033. The median was 27,639 and the figure for the United States was 2.1 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest245,358California

Lowest2,033District of Columbia

Median27,63951 states

United States2,103,399History

Map of states, 2018

Under 9,000
9,000 to 19K
19K to 28K
28K to 41K
41K to 64K
64K and over

count, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	245,358	+1.1%
2	Texas Series break	202,128	+2.9%
3	Florida Series break	158,623	+4.5%
4	New York Series break	119,025	0%
5	Pennsylvania Series break	81,853	-1.8%
6	Ohio Series break	71,038	-0.3%
7	Illinois Series break	70,292	-1.4%
8	Georgia Series break	68,960	+3.1%
9	North Carolina Series break	65,273	-0.3%
10	Michigan Series break	61,591	+0.2%
11	New Jersey Series break	51,982	+1%
12	Virginia Series break	47,414	-2.6%
13	Tennessee Series break	46,510	+1.7%
14	Washington Series break	42,122	-1.9%
15	Indiana Series break	41,556	-1.9%
16	Arizona Series break	41,533	+0.5%
17	Missouri Series break	41,251	-0.4%
18	Minnesota Series break	40,307	-0.3%
19	Colorado Series break	39,729	-0.3%
20	Wisconsin Series break	39,493	-0.5%
21	Massachusetts Series break	39,447	-1.6%
22	Maryland Series break	34,013	+0.2%
23	South Carolina Series break	31,634	+1.5%
24	Alabama Series break	30,198	+1.9%
25	Kentucky Series break	28,926	-0.9%
26	Oklahoma Series break	27,639	-2.8%
27	Louisiana Series break	27,360	0%
28	Utah Series break	27,001	-0.2%
29	Oregon Series break	26,721	+1%
30	Iowa Series break	23,358	-2.7%
31	Kansas Series break	21,033	-2%
32	Nevada Series break	20,848	+1.7%
33	Connecticut Series break	19,667	+0.4%
34	Arkansas Series break	19,348	-0.9%
35	Mississippi Series break	17,902	+0.5%
36	Nebraska Series break	14,851	-2.6%
37	Idaho Series break	14,545	+0.6%
38	New Mexico Series break	10,518	-2.6%
39	West Virginia Series break	10,514	-2.9%
40	Hawaii Series break	10,347	-5.3%
41	Maine Series break	9,727	-1%
42	New Hampshire Series break	9,147	+0.3%
43	Montana Series break	9,051	+1%
44	South Dakota Series break	8,505	+1.2%
45	North Dakota Series break	6,453	-1.5%
46	Delaware Series break	5,948	+0.8%
47	Rhode Island Series break	5,525	-0.1%
48	Wyoming Series break	5,153	-0.1%
49	Vermont Series break	5,099	-0.2%
50	Alaska Series break	4,850	-4.7%
51	District of Columbia Series break	2,033	+8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade, 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-retail-trade/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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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: retail trade?

California, with 245,358 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: retail trade?

District of Columbia, with 2,033 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.