US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: retail trade of 51 states in 2018, at $13.05 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $79.67 million. The median was $1.16 billion and the figure for the United States was $92.22 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest13,046.9California

Lowest79.7District of Columbia

Median1,15551 states

United States92,223.3History

Map of states, 2018

Under 400
400 to 800
800 to 1,200
1,200 to 1,600
1,600 to 2,700
2,700 and over

USD million, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 USD million	Change on 2017
1	California Series break	13,046.9	+2.7%
2	Texas Series break	8,662	+3.9%
3	Florida Series break	7,263.7	+5.4%
4	New York Series break	5,854.2	+1.5%
5	Pennsylvania Series break	3,584	+0.4%
6	New Jersey Series break	3,019.7	+2.6%
7	Ohio Series break	2,938.2	+1.3%
8	Georgia Series break	2,771.4	+2.2%
9	North Carolina Series break	2,712.9	+2.4%
10	Illinois Series break	2,606	+0.5%
11	Michigan Series break	2,477.7	+1.9%
12	Tennessee Series break	2,231.8	-0.4%
13	Arizona Series break	1,867	+2.6%
14	Missouri Series break	1,678.2	-1.4%
15	Massachusetts Series break	1,672.2	+0.8%
16	Virginia Series break	1,630.4	-0.2%
17	Colorado Series break	1,584.8	+3.9%
18	Washington Series break	1,578.2	-1.9%
19	Indiana Series break	1,547.9	+1%
20	Wisconsin Series break	1,463.2	+0.6%
21	South Carolina Series break	1,449.2	+2.6%
22	Minnesota Series break	1,396.4	-1.5%
23	Alabama Series break	1,362.5	+3.9%
24	Maryland Series break	1,334.2	-0.4%
25	Kentucky Series break	1,274.4	-2.4%
26	Oklahoma Series break	1,155	-1.4%
27	Oregon Series break	1,140.7	+3.6%
28	Connecticut Series break	1,130.8	+1.2%
29	Louisiana Series break	1,128.2	+2.6%
30	Utah Series break	1,091.4	+3.8%
31	Nevada Series break	1,036.9	-3.1%
32	Mississippi Series break	853	-1.9%
33	Arkansas Series break	850.2	-0.6%
34	Kansas Series break	829.7	+1.3%
35	Iowa Series break	754.7	-1.7%
36	Idaho Series break	506.3	+1.9%
37	Nebraska Series break	503	-0.6%
38	New Hampshire Series break	481.6	+1.7%
39	New Mexico Series break	468.3	+1.2%
40	Hawaii Series break	455.8	-2.7%
41	Maine Series break	390.7	-2.2%
42	West Virginia Series break	372	-1%
43	Delaware Series break	366.6	+4.8%
44	Montana Series break	314.3	+1.1%
45	South Dakota Series break	275.4	+0.4%
46	Rhode Island Series break	273.1	-1.9%
47	Vermont Series break	201.9	+5.5%
48	Wyoming Series break	201.9	-0.1%
49	North Dakota Series break	191.4	-1.6%
50	Alaska Series break	163.9	-6.5%
51	District of Columbia Series break	79.7	+7.6%

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/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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. 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, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) 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, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2018/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018. 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/2018/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, 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-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2018.
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/2018/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

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

California, with $13.05 billion in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

District of Columbia, with $79.67 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), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.