US states by nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services of 51 states in 2018, at $31.53 billion. North Dakota had the lowest, at $185.84 million. The median was $1.75 billion and the figure for the United States was $178.37 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest31,532.5California

Lowest185.8North Dakota

Median1,752.551 states

United States178,372.6History

Map of states, 2018

Under 500
500 to 900
900 to 1,800
1,800 to 3,100
3,100 to 5,000
5,000 and over

USD million, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2018

USD million. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 USD million	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	31,532.5	+6%
2	Texas Series break	15,673	+6.4%
3	New York Series break	15,378.2	+8%
4	Florida Series break	14,517.3	+10.7%
5	New Jersey Series break	7,207.2	+6.4%
6	Illinois Series break	5,951.7	+5.7%
7	Pennsylvania Series break	5,837	+5.4%
8	Massachusetts Series break	5,808.4	+6.6%
9	Virginia Series break	5,087.7	+4.6%
10	Georgia Series break	4,856.9	+5.6%
11	Ohio Series break	4,267.5	+5.8%
12	Colorado Series break	4,213	+8.1%
13	Maryland Series break	3,986.3	+5.3%
14	North Carolina Series break	3,858.4	+8.3%
15	Washington Series break	3,810.3	+4.7%
16	Michigan Series break	3,724.5	+6.7%
17	Arizona Series break	3,391.5	+8.4%
18	Tennessee Series break	2,934.3	+8%
19	Connecticut Series break	2,863.8	+3.3%
20	Minnesota Series break	2,461.4	+4.5%
21	Nevada Series break	2,104.1	+10.4%
22	Oregon Series break	2,073.8	+8%
23	Louisiana Series break	1,982.9	+6.4%
24	Missouri Series break	1,940.8	+5.4%
25	South Carolina Series break	1,775.3	+10.9%
26	Indiana Series break	1,752.5	+8.1%
27	Wisconsin Series break	1,751.4	+4.6%
28	Utah Series break	1,670.5	+10.8%
29	Alabama Series break	1,408.8	+6%
30	Oklahoma Series break	1,406	+8.6%
31	Kentucky Series break	1,197.3	+4.9%
32	District of Columbia Series break	1,141.2	+6%
33	Kansas Series break	1,006.3	+6.5%
34	New Hampshire Series break	959.1	+5.2%
35	Delaware Series break	774.3	+15.4%
36	Mississippi Series break	752.2	+4.9%
37	Hawaii Series break	717.9	+3.1%
38	Iowa Series break	711.9	+3.9%
39	Arkansas Series break	682.4	+5.8%
40	New Mexico Series break	676.6	+6.4%
41	Idaho Series break	665	+13.2%
42	Maine Series break	556.5	+7.5%
43	Rhode Island Series break	530.8	+3.5%
44	Montana Series break	478.7	+8.5%
45	Nebraska Series break	457.2	+5%
46	Wyoming Series break	418.2	+18.4%
47	Vermont Series break	369	+7.8%
48	West Virginia Series break	352.5	+4.6%
49	Alaska Series break	282.4	+2.1%
50	South Dakota Series break	230.5	+5%
51	North Dakota Series break	185.8	+22.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Receipts of businesses without paid employees in professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), 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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/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. (2020). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 21 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-professional-services/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes. US states by nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-professional-services/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-professional-services/us-states?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services, 2018}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-professional-services/us-states?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services, 2018
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/21
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-professional-services/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-professional-services/us-states?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services?

California, with $31.53 billion in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer business receipts: professional, scientific and technical services?

North Dakota, with $185.84 million in 2018.

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), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.