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 2016, at $7.55 billion. North Dakota had the lowest, at $44.56 million. The median was $364.79 million and the figure for the United States was $35.41 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest7,547.2California

Lowest44.6North Dakota

Median364.851 states

United States35,406.7History

Map of states, 2016

Under 120
120 to 170
170 to 360
360 to 590
590 to 860
860 and over

USD million, 2016. 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, 2016

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	2016 USD million	Change on 2015
1	California	7,547.2	+4.8%
2	New York	4,445.4	+1.1%
3	Florida	2,377.6	-7.3%
4	Texas	2,099.1	-0.8%
5	Tennessee	1,161.1	+6.2%
6	New Jersey	1,150	+9.2%
7	Illinois	1,121.2	+3%
8	Pennsylvania	1,015.8	+2.1%
9	Georgia	879.3	+2.3%
10	Massachusetts	827.8	+4.1%
11	Ohio	792.8	+3.6%
12	North Carolina	777	-1%
13	Michigan	769.2	+3.8%
14	Nevada	703.4	+7.6%
15	Virginia	640	+7.2%
16	Colorado	622.2	+0.9%
17	Washington	608	+3%
18	Arizona	580.5	+0.3%
19	Maryland	577.9	+2.2%
20	Minnesota	554.2	+2.5%
21	Connecticut	453	+0.8%
22	Oregon	418.6	+2.7%
23	Louisiana	394.2	+2.4%
24	Missouri	387.3	+2.6%
25	Indiana	370.8	+5.1%
26	Wisconsin	364.8	-1%
27	South Carolina	327.9	+7.8%
28	Kentucky	276.9	+3.8%
29	Utah	275.6	+3.5%
30	Oklahoma	253.4	+4%
31	Alabama	241.4	+5.1%
32	Hawaii	201.8	+9.2%
33	Kansas	174.8	+9.3%
34	New Mexico	169.3	+1.7%
35	Iowa	168.7	+5.4%
36	New Hampshire	155.7	-1.8%
37	Maine	141.7	+3.2%
38	District of Columbia	137.6	+12.3%
39	Arkansas	128.6	+3.4%
40	Mississippi	126	-1.2%
41	Idaho	120.3	+2.2%
42	Delaware	118.6	+4%
43	Montana	113.7	+5.4%
44	Nebraska	111	+5.4%
45	Rhode Island	110.8	+3.9%
46	Vermont	89.4	-2.6%
47	West Virginia	81	-0.8%
48	Alaska	70.9	-3.8%
49	South Dakota	64.5	-0.7%
50	Wyoming	63.9	+12.3%
51	North Dakota	44.6	+4.1%

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/2016/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. (2018). 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, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/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, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 21 June 2018, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2016. 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/2016/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, 2016
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/06/21
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-arts-entertainment/us-states?period=2016.
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/2016/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 $7.55 billion in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

North Dakota, with $44.56 million in 2016.

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.