US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2016, at $6.61 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $25.82 million. The median was $385.91 million and the figure for the United States was $36.86 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,611.4California

Lowest25.8District of Columbia

Median385.951 states

United States36,861History

Map of states, 2016

Under 100
100 to 220
220 to 390
390 to 520
520 to 980
980 and over

USD million, 2016. 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, 2016

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	2016 USD million	Change on 2015
1	California	6,611.4	-1.4%
2	New York	3,583.7	-1%
3	Florida	3,406	-9.8%
4	Texas	3,138	-7.8%
5	New Jersey	1,813.2	+0.6%
6	Pennsylvania	1,264.1	+1.1%
7	Illinois	1,173.2	-1.2%
8	Ohio	1,062.5	-2.3%
9	Georgia	999.7	-5.8%
10	Michigan	948.9	-0.5%
11	North Carolina	883.6	-0.7%
12	Massachusetts	663.9	-4.5%
13	Arizona	651.8	-4.2%
14	Tennessee	647.9	+0.1%
15	Washington	639.8	-2.8%
16	Virginia	547.2	-3.2%
17	Colorado	534.3	-2.6%
18	Connecticut	513.2	-0.6%
19	Wisconsin	511	-0%
20	Missouri	501.5	+1.6%
21	Maryland	485.9	-0.7%
22	Minnesota	477.6	-2.8%
23	Indiana	457.6	-0.8%
24	South Carolina	414.5	-0.9%
25	Alabama	393.1	-3.3%
26	Oregon	385.9	-2.3%
27	Louisiana	361.1	+0.1%
28	Nevada	359.4	-3.5%
29	Kentucky	331.8	-0.8%
30	Oklahoma	290.8	+3.5%
31	Utah	281.9	-2.7%
32	Iowa	230.4	-2.9%
33	Kansas	226.6	-6.8%
34	Mississippi	225	-6.3%
35	Arkansas	220	+2.2%
36	New Hampshire	210.5	+1.4%
37	Hawaii	185.3	-2.6%
38	New Mexico	148.2	-1.2%
39	Delaware	135.6	-2.5%
40	Nebraska	121.9	-3.3%
41	Idaho	120.5	+1.4%
42	Maine	117.2	+5%
43	Montana	96.8	+2.5%
44	Rhode Island	96	-3.3%
45	West Virginia	92.9	-9.7%
46	Vermont	74.1	-7.8%
47	South Dakota	61.4	-9.8%
48	Wyoming	53.3	-4.9%
49	North Dakota	50.3	+7.8%
50	Alaska	34.7	-18.4%
51	District of Columbia	25.8	+19.6%

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/2016/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. (2018). 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, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/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, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 21 June 2018, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2016. 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/2016/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, 2016
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/06/21
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2016/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2016.
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/2016/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

California, with $6.61 billion in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

District of Columbia, with $25.82 million in 2016.

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.