US states by nonemployer business receipts: information

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: information of 51 states in 2015, at $2.84 billion. North Dakota had the lowest, at $13.87 million. The median was $119.5 million and the figure for the United States was $12.76 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,843.7California

Lowest13.9North Dakota

Median119.551 states

United States12,762History

Map of states, 2015

Under 40
40 to 60
60 to 120
120 to 230
230 to 280
280 and over

USD million, 2015. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), information (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2015 USD million	Change on 2014
1	California	2,843.7	+3.2%
2	New York	1,329.3	+0.2%
3	Florida	994.6	-1.6%
4	Texas	899.4	+0.2%
5	New Jersey	494.1	+2.8%
6	Illinois	376.4	-1.9%
7	Georgia	353.2	+3%
8	Pennsylvania	353.2	+4.4%
9	Colorado	284	-3.4%
10	Massachusetts	282.4	+0.2%
11	Virginia	274.9	-1.4%
12	Ohio	273.1	-1.3%
13	Michigan	258.1	+9.5%
14	North Carolina	255.8	-1.7%
15	Tennessee	250.9	+0.5%
16	Washington	247.6	+0.9%
17	Maryland	240.1	-4.2%
18	Arizona	229.9	+5.9%
19	Nevada	207.1	+5%
20	Connecticut	187.7	-0.5%
21	Minnesota	172.4	+5.8%
22	Oregon	162.1	+6.7%
23	Utah	132.8	+3.2%
24	Indiana	131.6	+5.6%
25	Missouri	127	+0.1%
26	Wisconsin	119.5	+0.7%
27	South Carolina	117.3	+15.5%
28	Louisiana	106.1	+0.4%
29	Kentucky	86.4	+7.1%
30	Alabama	83.7	-4.4%
31	Oklahoma	79.4	-3%
32	Delaware	75.7	+14.3%
33	Kansas	73.5	+12.8%
34	Iowa	63.8	+5.6%
35	New Hampshire	63.4	+2.5%
36	Arkansas	50	+2.6%
37	District of Columbia	49.5	-19.3%
38	Idaho	43.9	-3.3%
39	Hawaii	43.8	-5.6%
40	New Mexico	43.6	-2%
41	Wyoming	43.1	+7.4%
42	Mississippi	38.7	-2.5%
43	Maine	36	+1.3%
44	Nebraska	32.3	-7.4%
45	Rhode Island	29.5	-2.5%
46	Montana	25.9	+3%
47	Vermont	25.3	-2.2%
48	West Virginia	23	-9.2%
49	South Dakota	18.7	+15.7%
50	Alaska	14.7	-7.2%
51	North Dakota	13.9	-3.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Receipts of businesses without paid employees in information (publishing, media, telecommunications and data processing) (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes. US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-information/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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), information (NAICS 51), 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-information/us-states?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), information (NAICS 51), 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: information?

California, with $2.84 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer business receipts: information?

North Dakota, with $13.87 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.