The business landscape is ever-changing, so you may be wondering which sectors have had the biggest impact on the economy. Or which states drove economic activity in some industries and how they compared at the national, state and local levels.
According to the 2022 Economic Census, the top five U.S. sectors by number of establishments were these North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) sectors: Retail Trade (1,040,277), Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (977,257), Health Care and Social Assistance (971,253), Construction (803,120), and Accommodation and Food Services (772,441). California had 107,165 retail establishments, the most for any state/state equivalent, while Washington, D.C. the fewest with 1,630.
“Connecting industry information to geographic locations across the United States helps us better understand the economic changes taking place within the country.”
– Nick Orsini, associate director for Economic
Programs at the U.S. Census Bureau
By total sales, the leading U.S. sectors were Wholesale Trade ($11.9 trillion); Manufacturing ($7.0 trillion); Retail Trade ($7.0 trillion); Finance and Insurance ($5.9 trillion); and Health Care and Social Assistance ($3.3 trillion). Of $50.5 trillion total U.S. sales in 2022, the top five states accounted for 40.1%. The top two states, Texas and California, accounted for 29.2% of the nation’s Wholesale Trade sales.
The leading states (in alphabetical order) for the number of establishments, sales, annual payroll and employment were California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas.
What Is the Economic Census?
The economic census is the official five-year measure of U.S. employer businesses (those with paid employees) that provides comprehensive statistics at the national, state and local levels.
It serves as the benchmark for economic activity, such as the Gross Domestic Product and Producer Price Index.
The Census Bureau began releasing 2022 Economic Census data a year ago. It recently (in December) released the survey’s Geographic Area Statistics, providing key statistics on U.S. states and selected geographies with varying levels of industry detail — two-to-six digit NAICS and seven-to-eight digit NAICS-based codes of sectors including:
- Agriculture (only includes NAICS 1151 and 1152, Support Activities for Crop and Animal Production).
- Mining.
- Utilities.
- Construction.
- Manufacturing.
- Wholesale Trade.
- Retail Trade.
- Services.
While the level of detail varies by industry, the Geographic Area Statistics is a major data release for several reasons.
First, the economic census is the first census program to publish data on a 2022 NAICS basis.
Second, Geographic Area Statistics data from the 2022 Economic Census were released for all 50 states and the District of Columbia at the same time rather than on a “flow” basis as in past economic census years.
Lastly, the state-level statistics provide important data for trade associations, chambers of commerce, businesses and communities that rely on this information for economic development, business decisions and strategic planning.
“Connecting industry information to geographic locations across the United States helps us better understand the economic changes taking place within the country,” said Nick Orsini, associate director for Economic Programs at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Visualizing the Geographic Area Statistics
A new data visualization allows data users to view the state-level statistics quickly by hovering over the states on the U.S. map or by using the drop-down arrow at the top right of the chart to select your desired state.
From there, data users can access statistics for:
- Revenue.
- Number of employees.
- First quarter payroll.
- Annual payroll.
- Number of establishments.
The NAICS detail selector is also available to choose two-digit (sector) through six-digit (national industry) NAICS codes. The default NAICS detail is sector level.
For example, data users can select a state like Ohio by clicking on the map or hovering over the state. That will bring up a bar chart of sector-by-sector comparisons. The bar chart shows that for Ohio, the leading sector by revenue is Wholesale Trade with $396.6 billion.
Note: Select the image to go to the interactive data visualization.
To get county-level data, select a state from the state selection drop-down and drill down to county-level data by clicking “View County Level Data.”
Once the map displays, the circles vary in size due to the value of the selected statistic. For example, if you select “Butler County, Ohio” (shown below) by clicking on that geography on the map, it will pop up a new sector-by-sector bar chart of those statistics.
For Butler County, sectors with some of the largest numbers of employees were Accommodation and Food Services (16,083), Health Care and Social Assistance (16,745), Manufacturing (23,775), and Retail Trade (19,413).
Later in the year, a series of State Snapshots will be produced highlighting data from both the 2022 Economic Census and 2022 Census of Governments.
Uses of Economic Census Data
How can data users benefit from these newly released statistics?
Imagine a restaurateur in Boulder County, Colorado, who wants to expand his chain of pizzerias.
He can use Geographic Area Statistics data to determine sales of all full-service restaurants (NAICS 722511) in the county (which in 2022 were $556.1 million). He can use other info like the annual payroll ($215.0 million), employment (7,444), and number of establishments (345) for this industry to determine how much he should pay employees to be competitive as well as whether his restaurant revenue justifies opening another location.
By taking these key statistics into account, this business owner can make an informed decision about whether opening another pizzeria in a different part of the county makes sound business sense.
Key Changes to the 2022 Economic Census
The economic census has measured economic activity in the United States since 1810, tracking everything from blacksmithing and musket production to robotics and lasers, continually evolving to keep up with the times.
Among the changes introduced with the 2022 Economic Census:
- Industry coverage expanded to include support activities for crop production and animal production (NAICS 1151 and 1152).
- For all sectors, questions were added on business technologies that ask about the use and acquisition of touchscreens and kiosks, additive manufacturing (3D printing), use of robotics, and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID).
- Businesses in all sectors were asked if they sold or purchased services to/from clients outside the United States to help track exported and imported services.
- Health care sector businesses were asked if they received revenues from telemedicine services.
- Retail and wholesale establishments were able to select cannabis as a primary business activity.
- Cryptocurrency, electric vehicles and remanufacturing were added as product lines.
- One of the biggest NAICS changes was in the Retail Trade (NAICS 44-45) sector to focus on the types of products being sold instead of the method of selling them. There is no longer any distinction between brick-and-mortar and online stores.
The collection instrument utilized machine learning to assist with determining an establishment’s primary industry classification and to ensure respondents received the appropriate industry-specific questions for their kind of business. This instrument also used natural language processing to provide a smart search functionality for respondents to find products in the North American Product Classification System.
