US states by nonemployer businesses: utilities

Texas had the highest nonemployer businesses: utilities of 51 states in 2017, at 1,865. Alaska had the lowest, at 30. The median was 171 and the figure for the United States was 13,761. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,865Texas

Lowest30Alaska

Median17151 states

United States13,761History

Map of states, 2017

Under 80
80 to 120
120 to 170
170 to 230
230 to 380
380 and over

count, 2017. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2017

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	Texas Series break	1,865	-27.9%
2	California Series break	1,182	-26.6%
3	Florida Series break	945	-38.1%
4	New York Series break	879	-41.9%
5	Pennsylvania Series break	560	-30.3%
6	Georgia Series break	466	-30.4%
7	New Jersey Series break	422	-36.8%
8	Massachusetts Series break	413	-32.4%
9	North Carolina Series break	395	-40.3%
10	Ohio Series break	353	-33.8%
11	Illinois Series break	349	-29.1%
12	Maryland Series break	341	-31.8%
13	Washington Series break	330	-0.9%
14	Colorado Series break	300	-19.6%
15	Arizona Series break	297	-8.6%
16	Virginia Series break	231	-43.5%
17	Mississippi Series break	229	-20.5%
18	Michigan Series break	228	-29%
19	Indiana Series break	214	-29.8%
20	Louisiana Series break	207	-19.8%
21	Minnesota Series break	206	-33.3%
22	Tennessee Series break	205	-33.7%
23	Hawaii Series break	190	-1.6%
24	Missouri Series break	186	-32.6%
25	Utah Series break	173	-10.8%
26	Alabama Series break	171	-37.1%
27	South Carolina Series break	169	-36.7%
28	Iowa Series break	163	-29.1%
29	Oregon Series break	156	-14.8%
30	Connecticut Series break	151	-26.7%
31	Kentucky Series break	144	-33.6%
32	Oklahoma Series break	141	-37.9%
32	Wisconsin Series break	141	-30.2%
34	Arkansas Series break	125	-25.6%
35	New Mexico Series break	121	+19.8%
36	Vermont Series break	119	+13.3%
37	Idaho Series break	107	-12.3%
38	Kansas Series break	105	-25.5%
39	Rhode Island Series break	94	-49.7%
40	West Virginia Series break	84	-14.3%
41	Nevada Series break	82	-37.9%
42	New Hampshire Series break	81	-28.9%
43	Montana Series break	79	-22.5%
44	Maine Series break	62	-26.2%
45	South Dakota Series break	57	-8.1%
46	Wyoming Series break	51	-19%
47	Delaware Series break	46	-11.5%
48	District of Columbia Series break	42	-8.7%
49	Nebraska Series break	40	-43.7%
50	North Dakota Series break	34	-20.9%
51	Alaska Series break	30	-36.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in utilities (NAICS 22), 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), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/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. (2019). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: utilities, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: utilities, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-utilities/us-states?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: utilities, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-utilities/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: utilities, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-utilities/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: utilities, 2017}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-utilities/us-states?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: utilities, 2017
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-utilities/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-utilities/us-states?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer businesses: utilities?

Texas, with 1,865 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: utilities?

Alaska, with 30 in 2017.

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), utilities (NAICS 22), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.