Industry · NAICS 56

Administrative, support, and waste management services

The United States has 451,014 employer establishments in administrative, support, and waste management services (13.4 per 10,000 residents), employing 13,454,862 people at an average annual pay of $56,705, plus 3,082,024 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
451,014
3,082,024 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
13.4
Paid employees
13,454,862
Average annual pay
$56,705

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
Administrative, support, and waste management services by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX901,0963952,2814.40.33×10,476$34,15916,446
2Brownsville-Harlingen, TX428,9062251,9065.20.39×9,721$29,1516,204
3Corbin, KY149,593801,8705.30.40×3,105$36,6711,394
4El Centro, CA180,683971,8635.40.40×1,467$45,3361,623
5Lumberton, NC118,005641,8445.40.40×1,357$32,6061,531
6Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,197841,8245.50.41×770$76,843667
7Merced, CA294,3191641,7955.60.42×1,325$47,5931,491
8Massena-Ogdensburg, NY106,607651,6406.10.46×947$54,259411
9Killeen-Temple, TX502,4973331,5096.60.49×5,255$37,4263,774
10Hammond, LA138,101921,5016.70.50×2,083$35,8551,948
11Decatur, AL158,9181121,41970.53×1,794$33,0371,652
12Las Cruces, NM225,9661601,4127.10.53×3,037$35,3591,718
13Richmond-Berea, KY127,624911,4027.10.53×1,393$50,612932
14Springfield, OH135,342991,3677.30.55×2,383$32,913911
15Fayetteville, NC392,3452881,3627.30.55×4,716$41,7263,372
16Anderson Creek, NC141,7721051,3507.40.55×790$35,7961,250
17Clarksville, TN-KY340,0832521,3507.40.55×5,525$40,5702,669
18Visalia, CA480,8163571,3477.40.55×6,910$34,0002,538
19Laredo, TX271,9422041,3337.50.56×5,098$35,4376,075
20Pottsville, PA143,8921081,3327.50.56×932$53,530619
21Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL155,2531181,3167.60.57×3,588$34,0291,515
22Bakersfield-Delano, CA917,5997031,3057.70.57×12,993$48,8395,900
23Yakima, WA257,3141981,3007.70.57×2,768$42,601926
24Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ124,716961,2997.70.57×1,644$49,640994
25Moses Lake, WA103,035801,2887.80.58×1,045$59,584438

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 $58.6B on contracts under NAICS 56 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (64,077 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Knoxville, TN$6.9B12%
    267 awards
  2. Albuquerque, NM$5.5B9.4%
    244 awards
  3. Los Alamos, NM$5.5B9.4%
    17 awards
  4. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC$4.5B7.7%
    104 awards
  5. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$4.5B7.6%
    11,975 awards
  6. Kansas City, MO-KS$2.6B4.4%
    327 awards
  7. Amarillo, TX$1.7B2.8%
    28 awards
  8. Kennewick-Richland, WA$1.6B2.8%
    54 awards
  9. Killeen-Temple, TX$1.4B2.4%
    110 awards
  10. Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV$1.1B1.8%
    191 awards

Counties

  1. Anderson County, TN$6.8B12%
    159 awards
  2. Bernalillo County, NM$5.5B9.4%
    225 awards
  3. Los Alamos County, NM$5.5B9.4%
    17 awards
  4. Aiken County, SC$4.5B7.6%
    19 awards
  5. Jackson County, MO$2.4B4.2%
    144 awards
  6. Potter County, TX$1.7B2.8%
    28 awards
  7. Benton County, WA$1.6B2.8%
    51 awards
  8. District of Columbia, DC$1.6B2.7%
    7,978 awards
  9. Bell County, TX$1.4B2.4%
    104 awards
  10. Clark County, NV$1.1B1.8%
    191 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Oak Ridge city, TN$6.8B12%
    158 awards
  2. Kansas City city, MO$2.4B4.1%
    140 awards
  3. Washington city, DC$1.6B2.7%
    7,978 awards
  4. Richland city, WA$1.3B2.3%
    45 awards
  5. Lexington-Fayette urban county, KY$606.3M1.0%
    339 awards
  6. Fort Bliss CDP, TX$507.8M0.9%
    160 awards
  7. Boca Raton city, FL$426.7M0.7%
    48 awards
  8. Anchorage municipality, AK$355.8M0.6%
    545 awards
  9. Aiken city, SC$307.3M0.5%
    1 award
  10. Arlington CDP, VA$301.3M0.5%
    242 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)