Industry · NAICS 53

Real estate and rental and leasing

The United States has 469,562 employer establishments in real estate and rental and leasing (13.9 per 10,000 residents), employing 2,391,886 people at an average annual pay of $70,076, plus 3,263,571 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
469,562
3,263,571 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
13.9
Paid employees
2,391,886
Average annual pay
$70,076

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
Real estate and rental and leasing by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Sunbury, PA108,107372,9223.40.25×177$39,367604
2Pottsville, PA143,892622,3214.30.31×199$44,864744
3Monroe, MI155,563752,0744.80.35×278$47,428922
4Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI176,299882,00350.36×435$40,0211,050
5Salem, OH100,060502,00150.36×303$46,439584
6Lumberton, NC118,005592,00050.36×168$36,274424
7Bay City, MI102,693551,8675.40.38×425$44,744656
8Ottawa, IL146,200791,8515.40.39×300$55,297843
9Massena-Ogdensburg, NY106,607591,8075.50.40×172$44,465442
10Corbin, KY149,593841,7815.60.40×407$41,523740
11Sumter, SC104,396591,7695.70.41×232$42,901563
12Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH113,680651,7495.70.41×246$40,276529
13Johnstown, PA130,590751,7415.70.41×351$41,692593
14Gettysburg, PA106,945621,7255.80.42×228$45,461662
15Wooster, OH116,551681,7145.80.42×247$43,1421,001
16Merced, CA294,3191731,7015.90.42×742$44,9881,103
17Gadsden, AL103,227611,6925.90.42×237$41,928615
18Lebanon, PA144,706871,66360.43×368$46,6601,016
19Sheboygan, WI117,891711,66060.43×190$41,279726
20Goldsboro, NC119,731741,6186.20.44×306$40,948631
21Anderson Creek, NC141,772881,6116.20.45×324$32,901908
22Waterbury-Shelton, CT457,3842851,6056.20.45×1,496$71,4714,328
23Morristown, TN124,431781,5956.30.45×263$40,464864
24Vineland, NJ154,497971,5936.30.45×466$47,1051,001
25Battle Creek, MI133,331851,5696.40.46×393$42,832564

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 $1.4B on contracts under NAICS 53 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (11,347 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$348.6M25%
    971 awards
  2. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL$61.6M4.4%
    82 awards
  3. Kahului-Wailuku, HI$54.8M3.9%
    157 awards
  4. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA$49.6M3.5%
    177 awards
  5. Jackson, MS$37.9M2.7%
    34 awards
  6. Topeka, KS$36.2M2.6%
    7 awards
  7. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI$29.3M2.1%
    13 awards
  8. Urban Honolulu, HI$28.7M2.1%
    155 awards
  9. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$25.8M1.8%
    284 awards
  10. Salt Lake City-Murray, UT$23.9M1.7%
    33 awards

Counties

  1. District of Columbia, DC$260.6M19%
    587 awards
  2. Miami-Dade County, FL$59.9M4.3%
    44 awards
  3. Maui County, HI$54.8M3.9%
    157 awards
  4. Montgomery County, MD$51.3M3.7%
    50 awards
  5. Madison County, MS$37.9M2.7%
    30 awards
  6. Gwinnett County, GA$36.1M2.6%
    5 awards
  7. Jackson County, KS$35.9M2.6%
    1 award
  8. Honolulu County, HI$28.7M2.1%
    155 awards
  9. Macomb County, MI$28.2M2.0%
    4 awards
  10. San Diego County, CA$25.8M1.8%
    284 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Washington city, DC$260.6M19%
    587 awards
  2. Ridgeland city, MS$26.4M1.9%
    26 awards
  3. Tamiami CDP, FL$23.1M1.7%
    8 awards
  4. Bethesda CDP, MD$21.7M1.5%
    18 awards
  5. Kendale Lakes CDP, FL$19.8M1.4%
    6 awards
  6. Potomac CDP, MD$18.5M1.3%
    8 awards
  7. South Salt Lake city, UT$14.7M1.0%
    3 awards
  8. San Diego city, CA$14.2M1.0%
    186 awards
  9. Los Angeles city, CA$14M1.0%
    34 awards
  10. Portsmouth city, VA$11.8M0.8%
    83 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)