US states by nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation of 51 states in 2015, at $7.2 billion. North Dakota had the lowest, at $42.79 million. The median was $352.87 million and the figure for the United States was $34.55 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest7,198.4California

Lowest42.8North Dakota

Median352.951 states

United States34,548.8History

Map of states, 2015

Under 110
110 to 160
160 to 350
350 to 580
580 to 840
840 and over

USD million, 2015. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2015

USD million. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2015 USD million	Change on 2014
1	California	7,198.4	+3.1%
2	New York	4,395.9	+1.5%
3	Florida	2,564.7	+5.8%
4	Texas	2,115.2	+3.6%
5	Tennessee	1,093.6	+6.3%
6	Illinois	1,088.1	+5%
7	New Jersey	1,053.1	+3.2%
8	Pennsylvania	995.1	+4.5%
9	Georgia	859.3	+1.2%
10	Massachusetts	795.2	-0.3%
11	North Carolina	784.6	+9.1%
12	Ohio	765.4	+5.6%
13	Michigan	740.8	+7.9%
14	Nevada	653.9	-4.3%
15	Colorado	616.7	+5.4%
16	Virginia	597.1	+3%
17	Washington	590.2	+0.8%
18	Arizona	579	+8.5%
19	Maryland	565.4	+3.1%
20	Minnesota	540.8	+9.3%
21	Connecticut	449.3	+2%
22	Oregon	407.8	+8.9%
23	Louisiana	384.9	+2.5%
24	Missouri	377.5	+4.8%
25	Wisconsin	368.3	+2.3%
26	Indiana	352.9	+7.3%
27	South Carolina	304.3	+7.8%
28	Kentucky	266.8	+1.7%
29	Utah	266.2	+5.8%
30	Oklahoma	243.5	-3.9%
31	Alabama	229.6	+6.6%
32	Hawaii	184.9	+4.1%
33	New Mexico	166.5	+3.1%
34	Kansas	160	+2.5%
35	Iowa	160	+4.5%
36	New Hampshire	158.6	-2.9%
37	Maine	137.4	+5.9%
38	Mississippi	127.6	+13.3%
39	Arkansas	124.4	+4.1%
40	District of Columbia	122.5	+2.1%
41	Idaho	117.7	+13.8%
42	Delaware	114.1	+14.5%
43	Montana	107.9	-1.8%
44	Rhode Island	106.6	+6.9%
45	Nebraska	105.3	+13%
46	Vermont	91.8	+4.9%
47	West Virginia	81.7	+3.3%
48	Alaska	73.7	+2%
49	South Dakota	65	+6.6%
50	Wyoming	56.9	+0.8%
51	North Dakota	42.8	+3.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Receipts of businesses without paid employees in arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), in millions of current US dollars, 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. Receipts are published in thousands of dollars with noise added to protect individual businesses, and are not adjusted for inflation.

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: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/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. (2017). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 7 July 2017, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes. US states by nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2015}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation, 2015
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/07/07
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation?

California, with $7.2 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer business receipts: arts, entertainment and recreation?

North Dakota, with $42.79 million in 2015.

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: receipts (RCPTOT), arts, entertainment, and recreation (NAICS 71), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.