Industry · NAICS 23822

Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors

The United States has 111,207 employer establishments in plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (3.3 per 10,000 residents), employing 1,214,761 people at an average annual pay of $73,693, plus 189,085 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
111,207
189,085 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
3.3
Paid employees
1,214,761
Average annual pay
$73,693

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
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Lumberton, NC118,005157,8671.30.38×127$65,181103
2Corbin, KY149,593207,4801.30.40×97$46,588123
3Beckley, WV111,564166,9731.40.43×87$36,71325
4McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX901,0961386,5301.50.46×937$53,5831,018
5Wheeling, WV-OH135,690226,1681.60.49×285$44,58230
6Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,197256,1281.60.49×113$73,85033
7Brownsville-Harlingen, TX428,906716,0411.70.50×401$46,020427
8Morristown, TN124,431215,9251.70.51×97$46,515101
9Dalton, GA145,315265,5891.80.54×462$51,576111
10Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,889285,4251.80.56×664$65,35737
11Albany, GA145,548275,3911.90.56×386$55,72069
12Ann Arbor, MI367,845705,2551.90.58×803$76,74586
13Kenosha, WI167,852325,2451.90.58×442$85,92564
14El Centro, CA180,683355,1621.90.59×297$66,72188
15Bay City, MI102,693205,1351.90.59×125$55,73629
16Massena-Ogdensburg, NY106,607215,07720.60×247$64,63637
17Laredo, TX271,942545,03620.60×409$36,372321
18Rome, GA100,193205,01020.60×169$51,93573
19Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA312,656634,96320.61×709$65,776209
20Sunbury, PA108,107224,91420.62×121$47,57040
21Farmington, NM120,754254,8302.10.63×276$51,88032
22Cleveland, TN130,260274,8242.10.63×166$49,398118
23Columbus, OH2,192,1644564,8072.10.63×7,986$72,977908
24Youngstown-Warren, OH425,541894,7812.10.63×1,067$69,799173
25Flint, MI401,351844,7782.10.63×1,975$86,656174

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 $908.8M on contracts under NAICS 23822 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (4,274 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$59M6.5%
    384 awards
  2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA$50M5.5%
    40 awards
  3. Jacksonville, NC$42.4M4.7%
    38 awards
  4. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$28.1M3.1%
    76 awards
  5. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$27.1M3.0%
    57 awards
  6. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC$26.6M2.9%
    65 awards
  7. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$21.2M2.3%
    140 awards
  8. Columbus, GA-AL$19.5M2.1%
    6 awards
  9. St. Louis, MO-IL$17.7M2.0%
    34 awards
  10. Manhattan, KS$17.1M1.9%
    23 awards

Counties

  1. DeKalb County, GA$47.7M5.2%
    15 awards
  2. Onslow County, NC$42.4M4.7%
    38 awards
  3. San Diego County, CA$28.1M3.1%
    76 awards
  4. Norfolk city, VA$21M2.3%
    26 awards
  5. Muscogee County, GA$18M2.0%
    2 awards
  6. District of Columbia, DC$17.5M1.9%
    159 awards
  7. Riley County, KS$17.1M1.9%
    22 awards
  8. Bexar County, TX$16.6M1.8%
    27 awards
  9. Honolulu County, HI$16.2M1.8%
    66 awards
  10. St. Louis city, MO$15.7M1.7%
    19 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Chamblee city, GA$23.6M2.6%
    8 awards
  2. Norfolk city, VA$21M2.3%
    26 awards
  3. Washington city, DC$17.5M1.9%
    159 awards
  4. San Antonio city, TX$16.4M1.8%
    27 awards
  5. St. Louis city, MO$15.7M1.7%
    19 awards
  6. Salem city, VA$15.7M1.7%
    9 awards
  7. Coronado city, CA$13.9M1.5%
    8 awards
  8. Dallas city, TX$13.8M1.5%
    26 awards
  9. Sioux Falls city, SD$13M1.4%
    4 awards
  10. Wright-Patterson AFB CDP, OH$12.6M1.4%
    13 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)