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Bookstores per 100,000 residents.
This measure has no better end. The order describes the states, it does not rank them — see the other direction.
Employer book-store establishments per 100,000 residents, from Census industry NAICS 451211. This includes chains and independent stores; the Census does not identify ownership, so it is not presented as an independent-bookstore count. It excludes sellers without paid employees and does not measure selection, events, used books, prices, or proximity. State figures sum county establishments and divide by state population.
District of Columbia has the highest published bookstores in this comparison, at 4.0 / 100k residents. The next states shown are Vermont (3.9 / 100k residents) and New Hampshire (2.7 / 100k residents).
The table orders 51 states by bookstores per 100,000 residents. It describes one published measure, not an overall judgment about where to live.
Use the result as a starting point, then compare the underlying source, dates, and local county figures before making a decision. Employer book-store establishments per 100,000 residents, from Census industry NAICS 451211. This includes chains and independent stores; the Census does not identify ownership, so it is not presented as an independent-bookstore count. It excludes sellers without paid employees and does not measure selection, events, used books, prices, or proximity. State figures sum county establishments and divide by state population.
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<iframe src="https://movermath.com/embed/bookstores" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Bookstores per 100,000 residents by state"></iframe>Source: U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns. · How this is built