US states by nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing of 51 states in 2020, at 453,770. Vermont had the lowest, at 2,103. The median was 30,198 and the figure for the United States was 3.19 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest453,770California

Lowest2,103Vermont

Median30,19851 states

United States3,189,090History

Map of states, 2020

Under 7,000
7,000 to 17K
17K to 30K
30K to 54K
54K to 94K
94K and over

count, 2020. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2020

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	California	453,770	+5.3%
2	Florida	323,410	+13.6%
3	Texas	316,981	+10.5%
4	New York	261,570	+7%
5	Illinois	167,692	+7.8%
6	Georgia	114,664	+11.9%
7	New Jersey	113,471	+6.6%
8	Pennsylvania	101,693	+13.2%
9	Ohio	97,958	+21.9%
10	Virginia	85,062	+18.2%
11	Michigan	76,311	+26.7%
12	Maryland	75,622	+13.2%
13	North Carolina	74,912	+17.8%
14	Washington	67,394	+14.4%
15	Massachusetts	66,665	-3.9%
16	Arizona	63,425	+18.8%
17	Colorado	56,943	+11.9%
18	Minnesota	53,029	+17.9%
19	Tennessee	50,702	+15%
20	Indiana	50,081	+21.6%
21	Missouri	43,764	+20.1%
22	Nevada	36,919	-1.2%
23	South Carolina	35,569	+24.5%
24	Louisiana	33,314	+6.6%
25	Oregon	30,387	+18.9%
26	Wisconsin	30,198	+13.4%
27	Kentucky	28,508	+18.3%
28	Alabama	26,657	+27.1%
29	Connecticut	25,996	+13%
30	Oklahoma	24,705	+23.3%
31	Utah	20,989	+19.2%
32	Mississippi	17,887	+15.7%
33	Iowa	17,863	+13.8%
34	Kansas	16,637	+18.9%
35	Arkansas	16,433	+21.4%
36	Nebraska	13,198	+14.1%
37	Idaho	11,128	+25.4%
38	New Mexico	10,483	+23.3%
39	Delaware	9,711	+31.7%
40	Rhode Island	9,295	+4.4%
41	Hawaii	8,379	-9.6%
42	District of Columbia	7,254	-6.3%
43	West Virginia	6,605	+25.9%
44	New Hampshire	5,711	+13.1%
45	Montana	5,414	+23.2%
46	Maine	5,220	+10.3%
47	North Dakota	4,885	+8.4%
48	South Dakota	4,884	+7.8%
49	Alaska	4,730	+16.9%
50	Wyoming	2,909	+21.5%
51	Vermont	2,103	+6.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), 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), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/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. (2023). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 17 Aug. 2023, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-transportation-warehousing/us-states?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2023. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-transportation-warehousing/us-states?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2023) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-transportation-warehousing/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing, 2020}},
  year = {2023},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-transportation-warehousing/us-states?period=2020. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing, 2020
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/08/17
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-transportation-warehousing/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-transportation-warehousing/us-states?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing?

California, with 453,770 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: transportation and warehousing?

Vermont, with 2,103 in 2020.

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), transportation and warehousing (NAICS 48-49), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.