Looking to buy a book on National Book Lovers Day?

August 9 is National Book Lovers Day. More than 6,300 privately owned book stores operated in more than 1,300 U.S. counties (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) a year ago, in August 2019. Los Angeles County, California, had the most book stores in August 2019, with 195. New York County, New York (Manhattan Borough), had the highest density of book stores by far. In August 2019, New York County had 3.6 book stores per square mile, which was over 2,000 times the U.S. average.

Which state is the most bookish? Vermont had the most book stores per 100,000 people among all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Vermont had over 5 book stores for every 100,000 people. The U.S. average was just under 2 book stores per 100,000 people.

If you’re a noir novel nut in New York, a sci-fi super fan in San Francisco, or a bibliophile in between, don’t forget to visit your local book store before National Book Lovers Day is over!

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. You can get more industry employment data for the nation, states, counties, and metropolitan areas with the data viewer tool. We also have more charts and maps on state and county employment, wages, and establishments. The population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau.