US states by nonemployer business receipts: information

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: information of 51 states in 2016, at $2.89 billion. North Dakota had the lowest, at $14.7 million. The median was $120.08 million and the figure for the United States was $12.92 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest2,887.5California

Lowest14.7North Dakota

Median120.151 states

United States12,920.5History

Map of states, 2016

Under 40
40 to 70
70 to 120
120 to 240
240 to 290
290 and over

USD million, 2016. 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, 2016

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	2016 USD million	Change on 2015
1	California	2,887.5	+1.5%
2	New York	1,411.2	+6.2%
3	Florida	935	-6%
4	Texas	905.6	+0.7%
5	New Jersey	489.1	-1%
6	Illinois	389.5	+3.5%
7	Pennsylvania	356.4	+0.9%
8	Georgia	350.2	-0.9%
9	Colorado	288.8	+1.7%
10	Massachusetts	281	-0.5%
11	Ohio	274.9	+0.7%
12	Virginia	273.2	-0.6%
13	North Carolina	258.8	+1.2%
14	Tennessee	257.5	+2.6%
15	Michigan	256.8	-0.5%
16	Washington	248	+0.2%
17	Maryland	245.2	+2.1%
18	Arizona	230.6	+0.3%
19	Nevada	205.4	-0.8%
20	Connecticut	189.9	+1.2%
21	Minnesota	176.4	+2.3%
22	Oregon	159.2	-1.8%
23	Utah	152.9	+15.1%
24	Missouri	139.1	+9.6%
25	Indiana	126.2	-4.1%
26	Wisconsin	120.1	+0.5%
27	South Carolina	113.3	-3.4%
28	Louisiana	108.2	+2%
29	Delaware	90.5	+19.6%
30	Alabama	88.3	+5.4%
31	Oklahoma	86.6	+9%
32	Kentucky	86.1	-0.3%
33	Kansas	68	-7.6%
34	Iowa	67.7	+6.2%
35	New Hampshire	63.1	-0.3%
36	District of Columbia	57.5	+16.1%
37	Arkansas	50.6	+1.2%
38	New Mexico	44	+0.8%
39	Idaho	43.1	-1.8%
40	Mississippi	41.8	+7.9%
41	Hawaii	40.4	-7.8%
42	Wyoming	39.1	-9.3%
43	Maine	36.7	+1.9%
44	Nebraska	33.1	+2.5%
45	Rhode Island	33	+11.6%
46	Montana	27.5	+6.4%
47	Vermont	24.1	-5%
48	West Virginia	22.3	-3.1%
49	South Dakota	17.1	-8.7%
50	Alaska	15.5	+5%
51	North Dakota	14.7	+6%

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/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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes. US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-information/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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: information, 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-information/us-states?period=2016. 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/2016/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, 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-information/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-information/us-states?period=2016.
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/2016/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer business receipts: information?

California, with $2.89 billion in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer business receipts: information?

North Dakota, with $14.7 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), information (NAICS 51), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.