US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade

California had the highest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2022, at 64,530. District of Columbia had the lowest, at 390. The median was 4,629 and the figure for the United States was 445,919. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest64,530California

Lowest390District of Columbia

Median4,62951 states

United States445,919History

Map of states, 2022

Under 1,600
1,600 to 3,200
3,200 to 4,600
4,600 to 6,900
6,900 to 13K
13K and over

count, 2022. 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, 2022

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	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	California Series break	64,530	+13.2%
2	Florida Series break	49,092	+16.3%
3	Texas Series break	40,877	+17.2%
4	New York Series break	34,895	+15.6%
5	New Jersey Series break	16,633	+20.7%
6	Illinois Series break	15,709	+14%
7	Pennsylvania Series break	14,556	+17.6%
8	Georgia Series break	14,439	+13.6%
9	Ohio Series break	12,840	+14.9%
10	Michigan Series break	12,118	+16.4%
11	North Carolina Series break	11,844	+14.8%
12	Massachusetts Series break	8,802	+10.7%
13	Virginia Series break	8,366	+14.8%
14	Arizona Series break	8,017	+12.4%
15	Tennessee Series break	7,463	+11.8%
16	Colorado Series break	7,087	+13.2%
17	Maryland Series break	6,945	+19.8%
18	Missouri Series break	6,885	+11.5%
19	Washington Series break	6,695	+11.2%
20	Wisconsin Series break	6,652	+14.6%
21	Minnesota Series break	6,593	+17.6%
22	Indiana Series break	6,310	+14.2%
23	South Carolina Series break	5,916	+11.3%
24	Alabama Series break	5,340	+13.5%
25	Louisiana Series break	4,846	+13.9%
26	Utah Series break	4,629	+25.8%
27	Oregon Series break	4,564	+12.7%
28	Nevada Series break	4,482	+23.2%
29	Connecticut Series break	4,352	+14.1%
30	Kentucky Series break	4,319	+12.5%
31	Oklahoma Series break	4,023	+13.3%
32	Iowa Series break	3,532	+19.7%
33	Arkansas Series break	3,290	+18.6%
34	Mississippi Series break	3,209	+11.8%
35	Kansas Series break	3,078	+14.5%
36	Idaho Series break	2,397	+18.4%
37	New Mexico Series break	2,325	+10.2%
38	Hawaii Series break	2,321	+8.5%
39	Nebraska Series break	1,921	+12.9%
40	New Hampshire Series break	1,786	+11.3%
41	Maine Series break	1,734	+11.4%
42	Delaware Series break	1,709	+25.5%
43	Montana Series break	1,528	+20.8%
44	West Virginia Series break	1,262	+15%
45	Rhode Island Series break	1,208	+13.6%
46	South Dakota Series break	1,081	+24.4%
47	Wyoming Series break	1,055	+22.8%
48	Vermont Series break	864	+11.9%
49	North Dakota Series break	848	+12.8%
50	Alaska Series break	562	+16.8%
51	District of Columbia Series break	390	+27.5%

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/2022/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. (2024). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms (US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/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, 2022. U.S. Census Bureau, 12 Dec. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2022. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms. US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: establishments (ESTAB), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms, US states by nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2022. 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/2022/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, 2022
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/12/12
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2022/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-businesses-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2022.
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/2022/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade?

California, with 64,530 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer businesses: wholesale trade?

District of Columbia, with 390 in 2022.

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.