Industry · NAICS 72

Accommodation and food services

The United States has 784,882 employer establishments in accommodation and food services (23.3 per 10,000 residents), employing 14,608,170 people at an average annual pay of $26,914, plus 721,546 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
784,882
721,546 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
23.3
Paid employees
14,608,170
Average annual pay
$26,914

Places ranked by residents per establishment

Places ranked by residents per establishment: more residents for each business, fewer competitors per resident. A count, not a measure of demand: retirement areas, low incomes or tourism change what a business needs.

Places
State
Size
Accommodation and food services by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Anderson Creek, NC141,772184771130.56×3,482$17,421231
2Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,88919976313.10.56×5,068$23,440166
3Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL824,7941,10774513.40.58×22,244$21,1212,345
4Merced, CA294,31940073613.60.58×6,644$23,534447
5Homosassa Springs, FL166,66723172213.90.59×3,725$20,591219
6Ocala, FL412,30058670414.20.61×11,303$22,546873
7Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,19722568114.70.63×4,671$29,306185
8McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX901,0961,32967814.70.63×27,717$19,4444,343
9Sebring, FL108,15516167214.90.64×3,050$20,216192
10El Centro, CA180,68327266415.10.65×4,158$25,508300
11Logan, UT-ID158,55424066115.10.65×4,738$17,827211
12Corbin, KY149,59323164815.40.66×5,256$18,375157
13Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT739,1161,15064315.60.67×24,113$20,086951
14Punta Gorda, FL206,81432264215.60.67×6,236$24,382342
15Greeley, CO360,97156663815.70.67×9,773$22,750496
16Ogden, UT660,3661,04363315.80.68×20,862$19,250733
17Visalia, CA480,81676263115.80.68×12,116$23,758782
18Yuba City, CA184,40229662316.10.69×5,955$29,070202
19Richmond-Berea, KY127,62420562316.10.69×4,272$18,933181
20Las Cruces, NM225,96636462116.10.69×8,043$20,286397
21Vineland, NJ154,49725061816.20.69×3,613$21,331188
22Lumberton, NC118,00519560516.50.71×3,773$16,768223
23Decatur, AL158,91826360416.50.71×4,922$19,848234
24Jackson, MI159,60726759816.70.72×5,106$19,477181
25York-Hanover, PA466,06878259616.80.72×14,171$20,022631

1–25 of 398 places

Sources: County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024).

  • Residents per establishment is the place's population estimate for 2023 divided by its establishments; more residents per business means fewer competitors per resident. Places with fewer than the minimum establishments are left out because a handful of businesses makes the ratio jump around.
  • Metro areas are made of whole counties and their figures are the exact sums of those counties'. A metro area is listed under its principal state.
  • This compares counts of businesses with counts of residents. It does not measure demand, spending power, visitors, the size or quality of the businesses, or whether a market is open. Employment and payroll carry the Census Bureau's noise infusion.
  • County Business Patterns 2023 uses NAICS 2017 codes; the nonemployer figures use NAICS 2022. Industries are matched by name between editions.
  • Growth needs a second reference year of County Business Patterns in the same industry classification; only 2023 is loaded, so there is no growth column yet.

Federal contracts in this industry

Federal agencies obligated $1.5B on contracts under NAICS 72 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (6,349 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$232.6M15%
    405 awards
  2. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$107.2M7.0%
    67 awards
  3. Jacksonville, NC$93M6.0%
    1 award
  4. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX$61.1M4.0%
    62 awards
  5. Columbia, SC$53.7M3.5%
    21 awards
  6. Columbus, GA-AL$47.6M3.1%
    12 awards
  7. Richmond, VA$35.7M2.3%
    2 awards
  8. Norfolk, NE$34M2.2%
    4 awards
  9. Brunswick-St. Simons, GA$33.1M2.1%
    280 awards
  10. Wichita Falls, TX$22.5M1.5%
    1 award

Counties

  1. District of Columbia, DC$188.8M12%
    107 awards
  2. Lake County, IL$107M6.9%
    44 awards
  3. Onslow County, NC$93M6.0%
    1 award
  4. Bexar County, TX$60.9M4.0%
    55 awards
  5. Richland County, SC$53.4M3.5%
    15 awards
  6. Chattahoochee County, GA$47.5M3.1%
    2 awards
  7. Prince George County, VA$35.7M2.3%
    2 awards
  8. Madison County, NE$34M2.2%
    4 awards
  9. Glynn County, GA$32.9M2.1%
    277 awards
  10. Wichita County, TX$22.5M1.5%
    1 award

Cities and towns

  1. Washington city, DC$188.8M12%
    107 awards
  2. North Chicago city, IL$102.2M6.6%
    1 award
  3. Jacksonville city, NC$93M6.0%
    1 award
  4. Columbia city, SC$53.3M3.5%
    15 awards
  5. Cusseta-Chattahoochee County unified government, GA$47.5M3.1%
    2 awards
  6. Lackland AFB CDP, TX$32.2M2.1%
    27 awards
  7. San Antonio city, TX$24M1.6%
    55 awards
  8. Wichita Falls city, TX$19.2M1.2%
    1 award
  9. Augusta-Richmond County consolidated government (balance), GA$18M1.2%
    22 awards
  10. New York city, NY$14M0.9%
    39 awards

Where the work was performed, as agencies report it (often the contractor's office). Metro areas are the exact sums of their counties. Cities are estimated: each action's county money split by the share of its ZIP code's land inside the city, so a city's figure is part of its county's.

USAspending.gov, prime award contract transactions (FPDS)