US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2018, at 61,303. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 287. The median was 4,452 and the figure for the United States was 399,400. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest61,303California

Lowest287District of Columbia

Median4,45251 states

United States399,400History

Map of states, 2018

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

count, 2018. 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, 2018

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	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	61,303	+1.3%
2	Florida Series break	40,956	+2.4%
3	Texas Series break	34,735	+1.3%
4	New York Series break	31,999	-0.6%
5	New Jersey Series break	14,148	+0.3%
6	Pennsylvania Series break	13,315	-0.9%
7	Illinois Series break	13,157	-2.2%
8	Georgia Series break	12,383	+0.5%
9	Ohio Series break	11,929	-0.8%
10	North Carolina Series break	10,956	-0.8%
11	Michigan Series break	10,832	-0.4%
12	Massachusetts Series break	7,773	-2.8%
13	Arizona Series break	7,547	-0.2%
14	Washington Series break	6,912	-4.3%
15	Virginia Series break	6,881	0%
16	Colorado Series break	6,830	-1.9%
17	Tennessee Series break	6,802	-0.1%
18	Missouri Series break	6,248	+1.9%
19	Wisconsin Series break	6,184	-2.4%
20	Minnesota Series break	6,139	-2.7%
21	Indiana Series break	5,926	-1.2%
22	South Carolina Series break	5,280	+0.1%
23	Maryland Series break	5,253	-2.4%
24	Alabama Series break	4,992	+2%
25	Oregon Series break	4,550	-3.1%
26	Louisiana Series break	4,452	+0.7%
27	Connecticut Series break	4,180	0%
28	Utah Series break	4,033	+1.4%
29	Kentucky Series break	3,935	-4%
30	Nevada Series break	3,729	+3.6%
31	Oklahoma Series break	3,593	+0.5%
32	Iowa Series break	3,092	+0.3%
33	Kansas Series break	2,932	-2.1%
34	Arkansas Series break	2,867	-0.6%
35	Mississippi Series break	2,821	-2.2%
36	New Mexico Series break	2,417	-5.1%
37	Hawaii Series break	2,395	-3%
38	Idaho Series break	2,017	+1.5%
39	New Hampshire Series break	1,746	-0.5%
40	Nebraska Series break	1,735	+0.6%
41	Maine Series break	1,536	-1.8%
42	Delaware Series break	1,225	+3.7%
42	Montana Series break	1,225	+0.7%
44	West Virginia Series break	1,213	-2.1%
45	Rhode Island Series break	1,120	-1.3%
46	South Dakota Series break	896	-0.6%
47	Vermont Series break	833	-0.5%
48	Wyoming Series break	758	+1.2%
49	North Dakota Series break	741	+0.4%
50	Alaska Series break	592	+6.9%
51	District of Columbia Series break	287	+1.4%

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/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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale 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-wholesale-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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale 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-wholesale-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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms: US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018. 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/2018/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, 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2018.
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/2018/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade?

California, with 61,303 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade?

District of Columbia, with 287 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12.