Industry · NAICS 44-45

Retail trade

The United States has 1,043,373 employer establishments in retail trade (31 per 10,000 residents), employing 16,046,207 people at an average annual pay of $37,746, plus 2,178,016 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
1,043,373
2,178,016 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
31
Paid employees
16,046,207
Average annual pay
$37,746

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
Retail trade by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Merced, CA294,31955053518.70.60×8,958$34,3901,199
2Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,88928752918.90.61×5,649$31,606752
3Greeley, CO360,97168852519.10.62×11,515$43,2642,271
4Stockton-Lodi, CA806,0551,65848620.60.66×32,216$38,6274,054
5Anderson Creek, NC141,77229248620.60.66×3,738$31,451810
6Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,19731848220.80.67×4,813$36,427487
7Yuma, AZ214,22846046621.50.69×8,928$35,142933
8Bakersfield-Delano, CA917,5992,00745721.90.71×32,541$37,6014,776
9Killeen-Temple, TX502,4971,106454220.71×19,055$35,1862,751
10Yuba City, CA184,40241144922.30.72×6,235$38,734877
11San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA1,958,6444,37644822.30.72×80,672$54,8198,761
12Vallejo, CA451,3771,01244622.40.72×19,054$40,6122,470
13Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ5,087,63111,62043822.80.74×246,994$42,20730,338
14Visalia, CA480,8161,10243622.90.74×17,040$34,9761,957
15Fresno, CA1,188,9362,75243223.10.75×42,400$38,1895,708
16Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL824,7941,91643023.20.75×34,212$35,8185,946
17Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA4,707,44810,99242823.40.75×224,267$41,16830,835
18Las Cruces, NM225,96653342423.60.76×8,481$31,5571,038
19San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX2,719,8926,44342223.70.76×122,359$36,95317,757
20Lexington Park, MD209,99549942123.80.77×8,407$33,3791,413
21Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV6,328,73015,14841823.90.77×265,458$39,21538,236
22Tucson, AZ1,065,2392,561416240.78×53,052$34,4255,298
23Monroe, MI155,56337641424.20.78×5,636$35,551815
24Brownsville-Harlingen, TX428,9061,03741424.20.78×17,820$31,9643,535
25El Centro, CA180,68343741324.20.78×8,080$33,416942

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 $740.4M on contracts under NAICS 44-45 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (306,004 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$329.1M44%
    152,070 awards
  2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$93.2M13%
    40,956 awards
  3. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$70.7M9.5%
    16 awards
  4. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$42.2M5.7%
    260 awards
  5. St. Louis, MO-IL$34.2M4.6%
    94,518 awards
  6. Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN$26.9M3.6%
    197 awards
  7. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$25.5M3.4%
    23 awards
  8. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$17.4M2.4%
    2,814 awards
  9. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC$12.3M1.7%
    3,718 awards
  10. Athens, OH$9.7M1.3%
    6 awards

Counties

  1. Lake County, IL$328.5M44%
    152,050 awards
  2. Suffolk County, NY$90.9M12%
    40,782 awards
  3. San Mateo County, CA$70.6M9.5%
    10 awards
  4. St. Louis County, MO$34.2M4.6%
    94,516 awards
  5. Marion County, IN$26.9M3.6%
    197 awards
  6. Harris County, TX$25.5M3.4%
    21 awards
  7. District of Columbia, DC$25.4M3.4%
    117 awards
  8. King County, WA$17.4M2.4%
    2,812 awards
  9. Durham County, NC$12.3M1.7%
    3,718 awards
  10. Athens County, OH$9.7M1.3%
    6 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Lake Forest city, IL$260M35%
    152,042 awards
  2. Melville CDP, NY$82.5M11%
    40,765 awards
  3. Foster City city, CA$61.4M8.3%
    9 awards
  4. Mettawa village, IL$27.9M3.8%
    152,042 awards
  5. Washington city, DC$25.4M3.4%
    117 awards
  6. Houston city, TX$25.4M3.4%
    22 awards
  7. Indianapolis city (balance), IN$24.3M3.3%
    197 awards
  8. Seattle city, WA$17.4M2.4%
    2,811 awards
  9. San Mateo city, CA$9.1M1.2%
    9 awards
  10. Arlington CDP, VA$8.8M1.2%
    11 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)