Industry · NAICS 22

Utilities

The United States has 20,379 employer establishments in utilities (0.6 per 10,000 residents), employing 667,277 people at an average annual pay of $127,240, plus 19,685 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
20,379
19,685 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
0.6
Paid employees
667,277
Average annual pay
$127,240

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
Utilities by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Knoxville, TN947,5259105,2810.10.16×49$104,612—
2Flint, MI401,351580,2700.10.21×437$130,16014
3San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA1,958,6443163,1820.20.26×2,864$159,18172
4Clarksville, TN-KY340,083656,6810.20.29×242$96,8318
5Ann Arbor, MI367,845752,5490.20.31×310$156,18714
6Lincoln, NE345,833749,4050.20.33×125$90,8567
7Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC1,789,3253748,3600.20.34×1,617$120,02830
8Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV2,351,0085047,0200.20.35×2,750$121,79667
9Modesto, CA554,4591246,2050.20.36×308$156,15310
10Jacksonville, FL1,726,2823845,4280.20.36×858$118,00995
11Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN2,116,7864844,1000.20.37×940$107,93871
12Gainesville, GA218,510543,7020.20.38×101$131,94111
13Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA4,062,8579343,6870.20.38×5,984$142,965124
14Stockton-Lodi, CA806,0551942,4240.20.39×270$119,12616
15San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX2,719,8926541,8440.20.39×1,037$96,827131
16Ocala, FL412,3001041,2300.20.40×201$122,28926
17Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI4,356,81810740,7180.20.41×10,119$139,716111
18Lansing-East Lansing, MI475,1971239,6000.30.42×528$126,3374
19Omaha, NE-IA988,5042539,5400.30.42×659$246,915—
20Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV305,789838,2240.30.43×320$101,96614
21Fargo, ND-MN263,906737,7010.30.44×197$103,0969
22Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ5,087,63113537,6860.30.44×8,460$124,550216
23Tucson, AZ1,065,2392936,7320.30.45×2,017$114,02248
24Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC398,6991136,2450.30.46×237$81,48512
25San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA4,601,32612736,2310.30.46×13,488$197,596191

1–25 of 368 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 $2.3B on contracts under NAICS 22 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (4,187 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$260.4M11%
    243 awards
  2. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD$87.9M3.8%
    44 awards
  3. Richmond, VA$62.5M2.7%
    26 awards
  4. Brunswick-St. Simons, GA$56.7M2.4%
    5 awards
  5. Fairbanks-College, AK$54.4M2.3%
    8 awards
  6. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$54.3M2.3%
    98 awards
  7. Oklahoma City, OK$54.3M2.3%
    32 awards
  8. Anchorage, AK$52.1M2.2%
    13 awards
  9. Fort Leonard Wood, MO$45.9M2.0%
    27 awards
  10. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$45.7M1.9%
    44 awards

Counties

  1. Montgomery County, MD$107.7M4.6%
    43 awards
  2. Glynn County, GA$56.7M2.4%
    5 awards
  3. Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK$54.4M2.3%
    8 awards
  4. Richmond city, VA$54M2.3%
    14 awards
  5. Oklahoma County, OK$53.7M2.3%
    29 awards
  6. Anchorage Municipality, AK$52.1M2.2%
    13 awards
  7. Pulaski County, MO$45.9M2.0%
    27 awards
  8. San Diego County, CA$45.7M1.9%
    44 awards
  9. Bell County, TX$45.6M1.9%
    8 awards
  10. District of Columbia, DC$43.5M1.9%
    109 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Bethesda CDP, MD$97.3M4.2%
    18 awards
  2. Fairbanks city, AK$54.2M2.3%
    7 awards
  3. Richmond city, VA$54M2.3%
    14 awards
  4. Anchorage municipality, AK$52.1M2.2%
    13 awards
  5. Oklahoma City city, OK$51.6M2.2%
    17 awards
  6. Washington city, DC$43.5M1.9%
    109 awards
  7. Fayetteville city, NC$35.7M1.5%
    13 awards
  8. New York city, NY$34.5M1.5%
    43 awards
  9. San Diego city, CA$31.7M1.4%
    38 awards
  10. Urban Honolulu CDP, HI$22.6M1.0%
    6 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)