Industry · NAICS 238

Specialty trade contractors

The United States has 521,315 employer establishments in specialty trade contractors (15.5 per 10,000 residents), employing 4,986,759 people at an average annual pay of $71,571, plus 1,986,549 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
521,315
1,986,549 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
15.5
Paid employees
4,986,759
Average annual pay
$71,571

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
Specialty trade contractors by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX901,0964372,0624.80.31×3,539$48,68611,157
2Brownsville-Harlingen, TX428,9062151,99550.32×1,811$49,0384,011
3Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,197871,7615.70.37×663$63,231279
4El Centro, CA180,6831041,7375.80.37×966$61,104551
5Laredo, TX271,9421671,6286.10.40×1,321$43,6422,822
6Corbin, KY149,5931041,43870.45×726$79,2441,135
7Warner Robins, GA200,7301481,3567.40.48×1,430$54,4341,084
8Fayetteville, NC392,3452951,3307.50.49×3,574$66,0351,441
9Anniston-Oxford, AL116,341881,3227.60.49×677$57,903649
10Lumberton, NC118,005921,2837.80.50×712$53,2391,151
11Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH113,680931,2228.20.53×724$62,876337
12Gulfport-Biloxi, MS422,3833611,1708.50.55×3,928$57,1003,271
13Wheeling, WV-OH135,6901161,1708.50.55×1,225$63,854483
14Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,8891301,1688.60.55×3,127$69,492497
15Jacksonville, NC210,9551811,1658.60.55×1,435$51,066994
16Rome, GA100,193871,1528.70.56×739$55,748642
17Memphis, TN-MS-AR1,342,3861,1771,1418.80.57×17,214$70,2708,646
18Hattiesburg, MS156,1091381,1318.80.57×1,035$51,3731,295
19Beckley, WV111,564991,1278.90.57×809$53,679322
20Auburn-Opelika, AL202,3681801,1248.90.57×1,573$54,342890
21El Paso, TX876,6417851,11790.58×7,904$48,7817,272
22Clarksville, TN-KY340,0833061,11190.58×2,170$57,4211,935
23Albany, GA145,5481321,1039.10.59×1,608$55,993715
24Morristown, TN124,4311141,0929.20.59×1,016$63,146841
25Ann Arbor, MI367,8453391,0859.20.60×2,864$78,7991,419

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 $3.2B on contracts under NAICS 238 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (13,026 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$332.1M10%
    1,118 awards
  2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$110.9M3.5%
    314 awards
  3. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD$81M2.5%
    272 awards
  4. Jacksonville, NC$77.1M2.4%
    53 awards
  5. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$73.2M2.3%
    265 awards
  6. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA$58.5M1.8%
    96 awards
  7. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$58.5M1.8%
    137 awards
  8. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$49.4M1.6%
    179 awards
  9. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC$46.2M1.4%
    195 awards
  10. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$46M1.4%
    69 awards

Counties

  1. District of Columbia, DC$148.5M4.7%
    574 awards
  2. Arlington County, VA$91.4M2.9%
    50 awards
  3. Onslow County, NC$77.1M2.4%
    53 awards
  4. San Diego County, CA$73.2M2.3%
    265 awards
  5. DeKalb County, GA$51.4M1.6%
    33 awards
  6. Harris County, TX$43.2M1.4%
    56 awards
  7. Bell County, TX$42.7M1.3%
    142 awards
  8. San Bernardino County, CA$40.9M1.3%
    64 awards
  9. Montgomery County, MD$39.6M1.2%
    174 awards
  10. Pierce County, WA$36.3M1.1%
    106 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Washington city, DC$148.5M4.7%
    574 awards
  2. Arlington CDP, VA$91.4M2.9%
    50 awards
  3. New York city, NY$72.7M2.3%
    134 awards
  4. Houston city, TX$42.4M1.3%
    46 awards
  5. Philadelphia city, PA$36.3M1.1%
    73 awards
  6. Victorville city, CA$26.6M0.8%
    2 awards
  7. San Diego city, CA$25.8M0.8%
    158 awards
  8. Chamblee city, GA$24M0.8%
    20 awards
  9. Norfolk city, VA$24M0.8%
    54 awards
  10. St. Louis city, MO$23.8M0.7%
    33 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)