US states by nonemployer business receipts: retail trade

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: retail trade of 51 states in 2021, at $14.5 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $95.32 million. The median was $1.41 billion and the figure for the United States was $109.29 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest14,500.9California

Lowest95.3District of Columbia

Median1,408.351 states

United States109,294.2History

Map of states, 2021

Under 400
400 to 900
900 to 1,400
1,400 to 1,800
1,800 to 3,200
3,200 and over

USD million, 2021. 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, 2021

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	2021 USD million	Change on 2020
1	California	14,500.9	+10%
2	Texas	10,890.5	+12%
3	Florida	9,214.2	+8.5%
4	New York	6,757.5	+10.9%
5	Pennsylvania	4,083	+12.6%
6	New Jersey	3,688.3	+14.1%
7	Georgia	3,595.2	+11.8%
8	Ohio	3,428.5	+11.6%
9	North Carolina	3,241	+9.5%
10	Illinois	3,211	+14.7%
11	Michigan	2,783.1	+10.8%
12	Tennessee	2,692.2	+11.1%
13	Arizona	2,309.6	+10.6%
14	Virginia	2,069.1	+13.7%
15	Missouri	2,038.9	+13.1%
16	Massachusetts	1,949.2	+12.9%
17	Washington	1,889.7	+11.1%
18	Indiana	1,812.1	+9.5%
19	Colorado	1,780.8	+10.5%
20	South Carolina	1,730.5	+8.6%
21	Wisconsin	1,681.1	+12.1%
22	Alabama	1,644.3	+9.4%
23	Maryland	1,623.1	+15.8%
24	Minnesota	1,577.7	+12.9%
25	Utah	1,428.8	+10.5%
26	Kentucky	1,408.3	+9.1%
27	Oklahoma	1,340.7	+6%
28	Louisiana	1,314.3	+14.6%
29	Oregon	1,281.5	+11.2%
30	Connecticut	1,271.7	+10.1%
31	Nevada	1,194.8	+11%
32	Arkansas	975.8	+7.9%
33	Kansas	930.1	+9.1%
34	Mississippi	914.7	+3.3%
35	Iowa	893	+9.7%
36	Idaho	635.8	+7.3%
37	Nebraska	574.7	+8.5%
38	New Mexico	526.9	+18.5%
39	New Hampshire	517.5	+7.3%
40	Hawaii	513.2	+26.9%
41	Maine	474.9	+18.5%
42	Delaware	468.4	+7.3%
43	West Virginia	424.9	+14.2%
44	Montana	374.7	+9%
45	South Dakota	327.8	+11.8%
46	Rhode Island	313.1	+15.8%
47	Wyoming	281	+9.2%
48	North Dakota	221.9	+5.8%
49	Vermont	217.4	+12.6%
50	Alaska	182	+7.5%
51	District of Columbia	95.3	+25.1%

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/2021/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. (2024). 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, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2021/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, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 Mar. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2021/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2021/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2021/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2021/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2021. 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/2021/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, 2021
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/03/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2021/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-retail-trade/us-states?period=2021.
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/2021/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

California, with $14.5 billion in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

District of Columbia, with $95.32 million in 2021.

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.