Industry · NAICS 42

Wholesale trade

The United States has 382,081 employer establishments in wholesale trade (11.3 per 10,000 residents), employing 6,236,357 people at an average annual pay of $90,505, plus 472,266 nonemployer businesses.

In the United States

Establishments
382,081
472,266 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents
11.3
Paid employees
6,236,357
Average annual pay
$90,505

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
Wholesale trade by residents per establishment
#Placevs US
1Jacksonville, NC210,955633,34830.26×445$60,928117
2Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ124,716422,9693.40.30×435$59,890129
3Lexington Park, MD209,995712,9583.40.30×591$71,663231
4Warner Robins, GA200,730732,7503.60.32×1,038$46,926194
5Massena-Ogdensburg, NY106,607402,6653.80.33×553$97,99172
6Killeen-Temple, TX502,4971902,6453.80.33×3,240$71,657388
7Anderson Creek, NC141,772542,6253.80.34×716$50,521133
8Hanford-Corcoran, CA153,197592,5973.90.34×713$69,496111
9Merced, CA294,3191152,5593.90.34×1,905$67,069198
10Show Low, AZ109,197432,5393.90.35×383$61,272130
11Ithaca, NY104,453442,3744.20.37×761$50,48167
12Richmond-Berea, KY127,624542,3634.20.37×648$57,731104
13Fayetteville, NC392,3451702,3084.30.38×3,108$48,184319
14Sevierville, TN100,410442,2824.40.39×532$69,395129
15Homosassa Springs, FL166,667782,1374.70.41×759$51,805205
16Wildwood-The Villages, FL151,889722,1104.70.42×578$65,401168
17Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA181,422862,1104.70.42×1,087$52,815124
18State College, PA158,739782,0354.90.43×665$60,570132
19Amherst Town-Northampton, MA165,217822,01550.44×1,430$75,726152
20Morgantown, WV141,509711,99350.44×610$59,302116
21Clarksville, TN-KY340,0831721,9775.10.45×2,627$64,435265
22Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA277,3581411,9675.10.45×1,296$63,691204
23Watertown-Fort Drum, NY113,280581,9535.10.45×1,067$58,166109
24Lumberton, NC118,005611,9355.20.46×677$55,558112
25Lawton, OK127,338661,9295.20.46×716$63,69777

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 $8.6B on contracts under NAICS 42 in fiscal year 2026, nationwide (1,059,495 awards, each counted once per county where it was performed).

Metro areas

  1. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC$2.4B28%
    4,833 awards
  2. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN$2.2B25%
    207,289 awards
  3. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD$1.9B22%
    303,048 awards
  4. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$234.7M2.7%
    146,692 awards
  5. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$212.2M2.5%
    13,046 awards
  6. Rockford, IL$180.8M2.1%
    3,552 awards
  7. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$169M2.0%
    43,959 awards
  8. Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN$162M1.9%
    643 awards
  9. Richmond, VA$141.8M1.6%
    92,301 awards
  10. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$93.9M1.1%
    4,932 awards

Counties

  1. Virginia Beach city, VA$2.4B28%
    4,414 awards
  2. Montgomery County, PA$1.8B21%
    281,369 awards
  3. Cook County, IL$1.1B13%
    20,986 awards
  4. DuPage County, IL$775.5M9.0%
    722 awards
  5. Lake County, IL$268.8M3.1%
    183,569 awards
  6. Winnebago County, IL$180.8M2.1%
    3,552 awards
  7. Davidson County, TN$155.8M1.8%
    44 awards
  8. Henrico County, VA$138.6M1.6%
    92,280 awards
  9. Suffolk County, MA$135.9M1.6%
    4,624 awards
  10. Fairfax County, VA$86.6M1.0%
    6,551 awards

Cities and towns

  1. Virginia Beach city, VA$2.4B28%
    4,414 awards
  2. Itasca village, IL$544.5M6.3%
    235 awards
  3. Winnetka village, IL$427.3M4.9%
    321 awards
  4. Northfield village, IL$360.7M4.2%
    321 awards
  5. Conshohocken borough, PA$253.7M2.9%
    281,148 awards
  6. Waukegan city, IL$224.9M2.6%
    181,474 awards
  7. West Conshohocken borough, PA$213.3M2.5%
    281,148 awards
  8. Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance), TN$155.8M1.8%
    44 awards
  9. Park Ridge city, IL$155.5M1.8%
    17,629 awards
  10. Boston city, MA$135.9M1.6%
    4,624 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)