US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade

California had the highest nonemployer business receipts: wholesale trade of 51 states in 2021, at $6.72 billion. District of Columbia had the lowest, at $24.77 million. The median was $441.41 million and the figure for the United States was $40.78 billion. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest6,716.2California

Lowest24.8District of Columbia

Median441.451 states

United States40,777.8History

Map of states, 2021

Under 120
120 to 250
250 to 440
440 to 550
550 to 1,100
1,100 and over

USD million, 2021. 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, 2021

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	2021 USD million	Change on 2020
1	California	6,716.2	+3.2%
2	Florida	4,639.2	+2.4%
3	New York	3,831.2	+5.9%
4	Texas	3,748	+6.5%
5	New Jersey	2,002	+5.3%
6	Pennsylvania	1,314.4	+5.8%
7	Illinois	1,180.9	+1.7%
8	Georgia	1,145.1	+4.8%
9	Ohio	1,104.5	+5.9%
10	Michigan	1,052.3	+9.9%
11	North Carolina	937.7	+0.4%
12	Arizona	750.8	+9.1%
13	Tennessee	743.9	+7.9%
14	Massachusetts	705.5	+10.9%
15	Washington	617.2	+1.8%
16	Wisconsin	562.2	+10.8%
17	Virginia	551.8	+8.3%
18	Colorado	545.8	+8.5%
19	Missouri	534.1	+6.7%
20	Connecticut	517.4	+4.6%
21	Minnesota	505.5	+6.1%
22	Indiana	503.2	+11.1%
23	Maryland	495.7	+8.7%
24	South Carolina	461.1	-1.8%
25	Alabama	449.4	+8.8%
26	Nevada	441.4	+9%
27	Louisiana	406.6	+3.2%
28	Oregon	395.4	+9.2%
29	Kentucky	371.4	+9.7%
30	Oklahoma	320.8	+5.4%
31	Utah	307.1	-1.6%
32	Mississippi	283.5	+4.9%
33	Iowa	282.6	+0.8%
34	Kansas	249.2	0%
35	Arkansas	241.6	+6.6%
36	New Hampshire	214.1	+5.6%
37	Delaware	201.9	+6.7%
38	Hawaii	187.1	+17.5%
39	Idaho	156.5	+6.4%
40	Maine	147.2	+13.3%
41	New Mexico	144.6	+10.2%
42	Nebraska	135.9	+12.2%
43	Montana	116.1	+12.7%
44	West Virginia	105.5	+3.8%
45	Rhode Island	104.5	+14.2%
46	Wyoming	89.7	+6.3%
47	South Dakota	66.8	+8.7%
48	Vermont	64.9	+5%
49	North Dakota	63.4	+16.1%
50	Alaska	40.1	+14.6%
51	District of Columbia	24.8	0%

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/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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes (US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes, US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale 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-wholesale-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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2021/historical-datasets/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes: US states by nonemployer business receipts: wholesale 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2021. 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/2021/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, 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-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonemployer-receipts-wholesale-trade/us-states?period=2021.
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/2021/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 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

District of Columbia, with $24.77 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), wholesale trade (NAICS 42), all legal forms and receipts sizes. Retrieved 2026-10-12.