US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 2024

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: retail trade of 51 states in 2024, at $17.28 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $127.41 million. The median was $1.75 billion and the figure for the United States was $139.96 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest17,278.8California

Lowest127.4District of Columbia

Median1,753.651 states

United States139,959History

All states, 2024

USD million. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2024 USD million	Change on 2023
1	California	17,278.8	+3.6%
2	Texas	14,290.6	+7.4%
3	Florida	14,077.1	+12.5%
4	New York	9,790.8	+5.5%
5	New Jersey	5,303.1	+2.3%
6	Pennsylvania	4,963.1	+3.5%
7	Georgia	4,738.7	+8%
8	Ohio	4,417.7	+3.2%
9	North Carolina	3,928.9	+6.2%
10	Illinois	3,815.4	+2.3%
11	Michigan	3,511.4	+0.1%
12	Tennessee	3,354	+1.7%
13	Arizona	2,690.9	+2.6%
14	Virginia	2,480.7	+3.6%
15	Colorado	2,421.1	+8.9%
16	Missouri	2,386.7	+3.6%
17	Massachusetts	2,353.3	+0.7%
18	Indiana	2,141.6	+6.5%
19	Washington	2,139.8	+3.7%
20	South Carolina	2,058	+6.6%
21	Alabama	1,976.7	-2%
22	Wisconsin	1,936.1	+1.2%
23	Maryland	1,935.2	+0.9%
24	Minnesota	1,776.1	+2.8%
25	Oklahoma	1,757.1	+7%
26	Connecticut	1,753.6	+2.3%
27	Utah	1,725.1	+6.4%
28	Kentucky	1,702.7	-1.2%
29	Nevada	1,568.9	+6.5%
30	Louisiana	1,510.8	+6.5%
31	Oregon	1,473.4	+3.4%
32	Arkansas	1,196	-2.5%
33	Delaware	1,176.6	+12.5%
34	Mississippi	1,136	-5%
35	Kansas	1,136	+5.5%
36	Iowa	986.3	+3.8%
37	Wyoming	771.5	+38.7%
38	Idaho	732	+4.5%
39	Nebraska	704.4	+5.9%
40	New Hampshire	658.7	+1.2%
41	New Mexico	640.7	+3.6%
42	Hawaii	585.9	-0.4%
43	Maine	518.8	-0.8%
44	West Virginia	502.6	+0.4%
45	Montana	431.5	+0.6%
46	South Dakota	354.4	+7.9%
47	Rhode Island	344.1	-0.2%
48	North Dakota	251.4	-6.7%
49	Vermont	237	+2.4%
50	Alaska	210.1	-4.3%
51	District of Columbia	127.4	+9.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Receipts of businesses without paid employees in retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/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. (2026). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 2024. U.S. Census Bureau, 29 Sept. 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2024,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 2024}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 2024
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/29
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2024/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest nonemployer business receipts: retail trade?

California, with $17.28 billion in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest nonemployer business receipts: retail trade?

District of Columbia, with $127.41 million in 2024.

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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.