US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: retail trade of 51 states in 2020, at $13.19 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $76.18 million. The median was $1.29 billion and the figure for the United States was $98.44 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest13,187.4California

Lowest76.2District of Columbia

Median1,291.151 states

United States98,440.1History

Map of states, 2020

Under 400
400 to 800
800 to 1,300
1,300 to 1,700
1,700 to 2,900
2,900 and over

USD million, 2020. 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, 2020

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	2020 USD million	Change on 2019
1	California	13,187.4	+0.6%
2	Texas	9,723.1	+5.5%
3	Florida	8,489.8	+10.9%
4	New York	6,093.2	+1.2%
5	Pennsylvania	3,626	+1.7%
6	New Jersey	3,231.7	+5.7%
7	Georgia	3,214.9	+10.9%
8	Ohio	3,070.9	+3%
9	North Carolina	2,959.1	+4%
10	Illinois	2,799.3	+9.4%
11	Michigan	2,512.2	+1.1%
12	Tennessee	2,422.9	+5.4%
13	Arizona	2,087.9	+7.5%
14	Virginia	1,819.5	+9.8%
15	Missouri	1,802.8	+8.1%
16	Massachusetts	1,726.3	+2.4%
17	Washington	1,700.1	+4.7%
18	Indiana	1,654.9	+9.6%
19	Colorado	1,611.6	+1.3%
20	South Carolina	1,593.3	+8.6%
21	Alabama	1,503.5	+7.3%
22	Wisconsin	1,499	+4.7%
23	Maryland	1,401.1	+4.8%
24	Minnesota	1,397.5	+0.5%
25	Utah	1,292.6	+10.7%
26	Kentucky	1,291.1	+1.4%
27	Oklahoma	1,264.6	+4.7%
28	Connecticut	1,155.3	-0.3%
29	Oregon	1,152.5	+2.3%
30	Louisiana	1,146.9	+2.5%
31	Nevada	1,076.1	+2.2%
32	Arkansas	904.7	+5.2%
33	Mississippi	885.6	+0.8%
34	Kansas	852.9	+4.4%
35	Iowa	814	+7.7%
36	Idaho	592.5	+12.9%
37	Nebraska	529.7	+7%
38	New Hampshire	482.2	+2.3%
39	New Mexico	444.8	-6.6%
40	Delaware	436.5	+5.9%
41	Hawaii	404.4	-12%
42	Maine	400.9	+6.5%
43	West Virginia	372	+1.6%
44	Montana	343.8	+6.1%
45	South Dakota	293.1	+4.5%
46	Rhode Island	270.3	-2.1%
47	Wyoming	257.3	+20.2%
48	North Dakota	209.7	+7.2%
49	Vermont	193.1	+5.1%
50	Alaska	169.4	-2.6%
51	District of Columbia	76.2	-11.5%

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/2020/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. (2023). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 17 Aug. 2023, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2023. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2023) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2023},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2020. 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/2020/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, 2020
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/08/17
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2020/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2020.
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/2020/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

California, with $13.19 billion in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

District of Columbia, with $76.18 million in 2020.

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.