US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2017, at 60,489. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 283. The median was 4,422 and the figure for the United States was 399,261. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest60,489California

Lowest283District of Columbia

Median4,42251 states

United States399,261History

Map of states, 2017

Under 1,200
1,200 to 2,900
2,900 to 4,400
4,400 to 6,500
6,500 to 12K
12K and over

count, 2017. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	California	60,489	-2.3%
2	Florida	39,997	+5.3%
3	Texas	34,291	-1.6%
4	New York	32,181	-2.6%
5	New Jersey	14,107	-0.8%
6	Illinois	13,456	-3.8%
7	Pennsylvania	13,442	-3.2%
8	Georgia	12,318	-3%
9	Ohio	12,027	-3.8%
10	North Carolina	11,043	-4.1%
11	Michigan	10,876	-2.1%
12	Massachusetts	7,999	+11.7%
13	Arizona	7,564	-2.5%
14	Washington	7,225	-4%
15	Colorado	6,965	-4%
16	Virginia	6,880	-5.5%
17	Tennessee	6,808	-4.5%
18	Wisconsin	6,334	-2.3%
19	Minnesota	6,309	-2.8%
20	Missouri	6,133	-3.3%
21	Indiana	5,997	-2.9%
22	Maryland	5,383	-5.4%
23	South Carolina	5,273	-2.9%
24	Alabama	4,893	-5.2%
25	Oregon	4,694	-5.3%
26	Louisiana	4,422	-2.8%
27	Connecticut	4,178	-1.3%
28	Kentucky	4,097	-3.7%
29	Utah	3,976	-1.3%
30	Nevada	3,600	-3.5%
31	Oklahoma	3,575	-5.7%
32	Iowa	3,083	-2%
33	Kansas	2,996	-3.9%
34	Mississippi	2,885	-2.9%
35	Arkansas	2,883	-0.9%
36	New Mexico	2,547	-6.4%
37	Hawaii	2,470	-4.4%
38	Idaho	1,988	-0.5%
39	New Hampshire	1,754	-3.4%
40	Nebraska	1,725	-1.7%
41	Maine	1,564	-4.1%
42	West Virginia	1,239	-6.1%
43	Montana	1,217	-3.5%
44	Delaware	1,181	+5.9%
45	Rhode Island	1,135	-5.5%
46	South Dakota	901	-1%
47	Vermont	837	-5.2%
48	Wyoming	749	-2.9%
49	North Dakota	738	-1.3%
50	Alaska	554	-7.4%
51	District of Columbia	283	-6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of businesses without paid employees in wholesale trade (NAICS 42), 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), 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: wholesale trade?

California, with 60,489 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade?

District of Columbia, with 283 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.