Industry · NAICS 611

Schools, colleges and instruction

The United States has 118,004 employer establishments in schools, colleges and instruction (3.5 per 10,000 residents), employing 3,926,820 people at an average annual pay of $50,335, plus 924,679 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
118,004
924,679 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
3.5
Paid employees
3,926,820
Average annual pay
$50,335

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
Schools, colleges and instruction by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Lumberton, NC118,005814,7510.70.19×96$32,750198
2Merced, CA294,3192114,0150.70.20×298$36,805276
3Cookeville, TN148,324159,88810.29×179$19,559243
4El Centro, CA180,683199,5101.10.30×402$24,378188
5Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,889169,4931.10.30×665$37,561262
6Gadsden, AL103,227119,3841.10.30×233$23,245177
7Cleveland, TN130,260149,3041.10.31×1,261$24,506277
8Homosassa Springs, FL166,667189,2591.10.31×67$40,254273
9Albertville, AL101,307119,2101.10.31×50$16,640165
10Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH368,327409,2081.10.31×402$24,236675
11Sevierville, TN100,410119,1281.10.31×189$32,952130
12Visalia, CA480,816539,0721.10.31×1,340$51,235657
13Pottsville, PA143,892168,9931.10.32×349$51,246151
14Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ223,586258,9431.10.32×552$39,353261
15Fond du Lac, WI104,349128,6961.10.33×1,198$25,145137
16Joplin, MO-KS204,948248,5401.20.33×744$23,272329
17Morristown, TN124,431158,2951.20.34×912$36,282207
18Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,197198,0631.20.35×223$29,969144
19Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC370,164477,8761.30.36×1,228$33,381578
20Monroe, MI155,563207,7781.30.37×248$27,786312
21Ottawa, IL146,200197,6951.30.37×354$27,198188
22Albany, GA145,548197,6601.30.37×210$34,533417
23Yuma, AZ214,228287,6511.30.37×562$34,543338
24Dalton, GA145,315197,6481.30.37×74$33,689179
25Jackson, TN182,442247,6021.30.38×1,984$31,541401

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 $4.4B on contracts under NAICS 611 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (7,955 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$519.7M12%
    1,504 awards
  2. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$358.2M8.2%
    115 awards
  3. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$256.5M5.9%
    157 awards
  4. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC$153.2M3.5%
    268 awards
  5. Ozark, AL$108.3M2.5%
    7 awards
  6. Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ$82.5M1.9%
    14 awards
  7. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX$71.2M1.6%
    96 awards
  8. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD$71M1.6%
    153 awards
  9. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ$54.4M1.2%
    79 awards
  10. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$54M1.2%
    145 awards

Counties

  1. Tarrant County, TX$270.5M6.2%
    34 awards
  2. District of Columbia, DC$247M5.7%
    592 awards
  3. Middlesex County, NJ$219.3M5.0%
    12 awards
  4. Fairfax County, VA$123.6M2.8%
    228 awards
  5. Hampton city, VA$108.7M2.5%
    28 awards
  6. Dale County, AL$108.3M2.5%
    7 awards
  7. Cochise County, AZ$82.5M1.9%
    14 awards
  8. Bexar County, TX$70.6M1.6%
    94 awards
  9. Vernon Parish, LA$68.6M1.6%
    3 awards
  10. San Diego County, CA$50.9M1.2%
    130 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Washington city, DC$247M5.7%
    592 awards
  2. Fort Worth city, TX$113.8M2.6%
    24 awards
  3. Hampton city, VA$108.7M2.5%
    28 awards
  4. Sierra Vista city, AZ$82.5M1.9%
    13 awards
  5. Princeton Meadows CDP, NJ$55.1M1.3%
    1 award
  6. Augusta-Richmond County consolidated government (balance), GA$41M0.9%
    31 awards
  7. Wolf Trap CDP, VA$40.5M0.9%
    38 awards
  8. San Antonio city, TX$34.5M0.8%
    70 awards
  9. White Settlement city, TX$34.4M0.8%
    3 awards
  10. Los Angeles city, CA$33M0.8%
    53 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)