US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2015, at $6.71 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $21.59 million. The median was $395.06 million and the figure for the United States was $37.95 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,708California

Lowest21.6District of Columbia

Median395.151 states

United States37,946.1History

Map of states, 2015

Under 110
110 to 230
230 to 400
400 to 530
530 to 1,000
1,000 and over

USD million, 2015. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2015

USD million. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2015 USD million	Change on 2014
1	California	6,708	+1%
2	Florida	3,777.8	-0.5%
3	New York	3,618.7	+1.9%
4	Texas	3,401.8	-2.2%
5	New Jersey	1,802.4	-0.9%
6	Pennsylvania	1,249.9	-4.4%
7	Illinois	1,187.6	-1.7%
8	Ohio	1,087.6	-1.6%
9	Georgia	1,061.6	+3.1%
10	Michigan	954	-1%
11	North Carolina	890.2	+0.2%
12	Massachusetts	694.9	-2%
13	Arizona	680.6	-3.4%
14	Washington	658.3	+0.5%
15	Tennessee	647.1	-0.1%
16	Virginia	565.6	+2.8%
17	Colorado	548.6	+0.7%
18	Connecticut	516.1	-4.9%
19	Wisconsin	511.1	-2%
20	Missouri	493.5	-2.4%
21	Minnesota	491.3	-0.4%
22	Maryland	489.1	-3.3%
23	Indiana	461.2	-3.9%
24	South Carolina	418.3	+5%
25	Alabama	406.3	+0.1%
26	Oregon	395.1	-0.3%
27	Nevada	372.5	+2.6%
28	Louisiana	360.8	-8.3%
29	Kentucky	334.5	-3.5%
30	Utah	289.7	+2.6%
31	Oklahoma	281.1	-2.9%
32	Kansas	243.1	+5.8%
33	Mississippi	240.2	-4.7%
34	Iowa	237.2	-6%
35	Arkansas	215.2	-0.6%
36	New Hampshire	207.6	-3%
37	Hawaii	190.3	+3.7%
38	New Mexico	150	-3.4%
39	Delaware	139.1	-6.6%
40	Nebraska	126.1	+5.1%
41	Idaho	118.9	-12.2%
42	Maine	111.6	-0.8%
43	West Virginia	102.9	-4.3%
44	Rhode Island	99.3	+3%
45	Montana	94.5	+3.3%
46	Vermont	80.3	+1.8%
47	South Dakota	68	+3.7%
48	Wyoming	56	+1.2%
49	North Dakota	46.6	-17.5%
50	Alaska	42.6	+18.8%
51	District of Columbia	21.6	-3.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Receipts of businesses without paid employees in wholesale trade (NAICS 42), 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/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. (2017). Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/

MLA 9

Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 7 July 2017, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2017) Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade, 2015}},
  year = {2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade, 2015
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/07/07
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Nonemployer Statistics, state and US files: receipts (RCPTOT), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2015/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

California, with $6.71 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

District of Columbia, with $21.59 million in 2015.

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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.