Self-employment method
Electronics and Appliance Retailers
34,032 people filed as a nonemployer business under this industry code in 2022 — no payroll, no employees, just them. These are gross receipts reported to the IRS, before any expense is taken out.
Median GROSS RECEIPTS for the year — money in, before rent, materials, fuel, insurance or tax. This is not take-home pay.
Share who grossed under $10,000 for the whole year — before expenses.
The middle half, in gross receipts. A quarter of filers took less than the lower figure.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
How often it does not work out
Of the 34,032 people who filed under this code in 2022, 39.15% grossed under $10,000 for the entire year — before a single expense was deducted.
That is a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes GROSS RECEIPTS, not net income. Everyone inside that share earned less than the figure suggests once rent, materials, mileage, insurance and self-employment tax came out — and filers who grossed well above the threshold may still have netted nothing. The true share of people who earn nothing meaningful from this is higher than the number above, never lower.
Denominator: establishments_total = 34,032 · US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
Every filer, by what they grossed
The full distribution Census publishes. The median above is interpolated inside the band that holds the 50th percentile.
| Gross receipts for the year | Filers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 8,604 | 25.4% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 4,721 | 13.9% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 6,587 | 19.4% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 4,485 | 13.2% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 3,594 | 10.6% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 3,222 | 9.5% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 1,433 | 4.2% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 727 | 2.1% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 500 | 1.5% |
Who this suits
At the midpoint this work grossed $18,224 for the year — $1,518 a month in revenue. That is a real second income and a long way short of a first one, and Census cannot tell you which of those the typical filer intended.
34,032 people filed under this code, almost none of whom appear in any employment statistic. Electronics and Appliance Retailers is part of the economy salary surveys simply do not see.
17.4% of filers grossed $100,000 or more, which is high for this dataset. A substantial share of this field is running an actual business rather than an occasional one.
Independent furniture, electronics and home retail suits people who can sell considered purchases, where a customer visits twice and buys once.
There is no qualification, licence or minimum to appear in this data — you file and you are counted. Read the receipts distribution as the price of that: no barrier at the door means no filter before the numbers.
Who should not do this
13.0x between the quarters — $4,921 against $64,020, or $4,924 a month. This is the shape of a field where a minority does very well and the summary statistics quietly borrow their success.
The bottom quarter of Electronics and Appliance Retailers earns under $4,921 — $45,099 below the $50,020 a typical American job pays. Entering at the bottom and waiting is a live risk here, not a theoretical one, and some people never leave that quarter.
Do not start this holding showroom stock on credit — the purchase cycle in this category is long and the interest is not.
39.2% of the 34,032 people who filed in 2022 grossed under $10,000 for the year — 13,323 people. Approaching half of everyone who tried Electronics and Appliance Retailers took in less revenue than a part-time wage, before costs.
Read that as a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes gross receipts, not net income, so everyone inside that share earned less than $10,000 suggests once costs came out — and filers who grossed well above $10,000 may still have netted nothing.
What the spread tells you
A ratio of 13.0x between the quarters is the signature of a winner-take-most distribution. $18,224 is a real number about a real population, but nobody entering Electronics and Appliance Retailers should plan around it.
Put in money rather than ratios: $4,921 at the 25th percentile, $18,224 at the midpoint, $64,020 at the 75th. $59,099 separates the quarter of Electronics and Appliance Retailers at the bottom from the quarter at the top.
Between $4,921 and $64,020 — the two ends of the middle half — sits $18,224. Moving from the midpoint to the upper quarter is worth $45,796; the whole climb from the lower quarter is $59,099.
The top quarter of Electronics and Appliance Retailers begins $45,796 above the $18,224 midpoint, while the bottom quarter starts only $13,303 below it. A range stretched that far in one direction is the signature of a field where a small group earns a great deal more than the middle does.
Per hour of a full-time year, the middle of Electronics and Appliance Retailers takes $8.76 in revenue — $2.36 at the bottom quarter and $30.77 at the top. Costs have not been deducted from any of those figures, so none of them is an hourly wage.
The raw counts, before anyone interprets them: under $5,000, 8,604 filers. $5,000 to $9,999, 4,721. $10,000 to $24,999, 6,587. Over $100,000, 5,882 — and 2,660 over $250,000.
What these figures are, and what they are not
These are GROSS RECEIPTS: everything that came in, before expenses. Rent, stock, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax all come out of the $18,224 midpoint before anyone eats, so it is not comparable with a $18,224 wage and should never be read as one.
Treat the per-hour figure as a conversion. It assumes a flat full-time year against $18,224 because we have no verified record of unpaid hours or out-of-pocket costs for this work, and we would rather convert honestly than adjust invented ones.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else