US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2017, at $6.72 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $24.58 million. The median was $385.82 million and the figure for the United States was $37.57 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,715.4California

Lowest24.6District of Columbia

Median385.851 states

United States37,568.1History

Map of states, 2017

Under 100
100 to 220
220 to 390
390 to 520
520 to 1,000
1,000 and over

USD million, 2017. 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, 2017

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	2017 USD million	Change on 2016
1	California	6,715.4	+1.6%
2	Florida	3,857.1	+13.2%
3	New York	3,501.4	-2.3%
4	Texas	3,321.8	+5.9%
5	New Jersey	1,808.8	-0.2%
6	Pennsylvania	1,250	-1.1%
7	Illinois	1,131.1	-3.6%
8	Ohio	1,069.1	+0.6%
9	Georgia	1,041	+4.1%
10	Michigan	964.1	+1.6%
11	North Carolina	870.1	-1.5%
12	Massachusetts	715.4	+7.8%
13	Arizona	670.1	+2.8%
14	Tennessee	642.9	-0.8%
15	Washington	628.7	-1.7%
16	Colorado	546.7	+2.3%
17	Virginia	544.6	-0.5%
18	Connecticut	501.1	-2.4%
19	Missouri	494.6	-1.4%
20	Wisconsin	490.1	-4.1%
21	Minnesota	484.2	+1.4%
22	Indiana	472.5	+3.3%
23	Maryland	461.9	-4.9%
24	South Carolina	421.8	+1.7%
25	Alabama	393.6	+0.1%
26	Louisiana	385.8	+6.8%
27	Oregon	372.9	-3.4%
28	Nevada	350	-2.6%
29	Kentucky	332.9	+0.3%
30	Utah	299.7	+6.3%
31	Oklahoma	278.5	-4.2%
32	Kansas	242.6	+7.1%
33	Mississippi	223.3	-0.7%
34	New Hampshire	222.8	+5.9%
35	Iowa	220.1	-4.4%
36	Arkansas	219.8	-0.1%
37	Hawaii	185.1	-0.1%
38	Delaware	153.2	+13%
39	New Mexico	146.7	-1%
40	Idaho	127	+5.4%
41	Maine	123.4	+5.3%
42	Nebraska	115.8	-5%
43	Rhode Island	97.5	+1.6%
44	West Virginia	95.6	+2.9%
45	Montana	83.2	-14.1%
46	Vermont	68.7	-7.2%
47	South Dakota	62.7	+2.2%
48	Wyoming	61.6	+15.5%
49	North Dakota	46	-8.5%
50	Alaska	30.2	-13%
51	District of Columbia	24.6	-4.8%

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/2017/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. (2019). 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, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 27 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_nonemployer_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017. 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/2017/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, 2017
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/27
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2017/historical-datasets/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2017.
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/2017/historical-datasets/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

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

California, with $6.72 billion in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

District of Columbia, with $24.58 million in 2017.

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.