Employment
95,538
Total employees (Census CBP)
Utilities ·NAICS 22121
NAICS 22121 · IRS SOI (C corp) · Census CBP 2023
Natural Gas Distribution - Industry Benchmarks
$121,200/yr average annual pay, with 24 SBA loans on record for NAICS 22121.
- -1.3%
- Utilities sector margin
- 96K
- Workers employed
- $121,200/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $17M
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Data updated August 2026
The verdict · NAICS 22121
Pennsylvania leads Natural Gas Distribution activity nationally. IRS SOI doesn't publish margin data at this NAICS level, but the broader Utilities sector runs a -1.3% net margin.
- -1.3%
- Utilities sector margin (IRS SOI)
- 96K
- Workers employed (Census CBP)
- $121,200/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $17M
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Use Natural Gas Distribution's NAICS benchmark as a comparison point, not a forecast for one business.
Natural Gas Distribution is reported here with financial measures from IRS Statistics of Income and workforce measures from Census County Business Patterns. The page keeps those source systems distinct, shows unavailable fields rather than estimating them, and links the underlying industry context so readers can compare the same NAICS activity before interpreting a margin or payroll figure.
Source: IRS SOI (C corporation headline) and Census County Business Patterns 2023
Benchmarking Insights for Natural Gas Distribution
Natural Gas Distribution sits inside Utilities, a sector that runs a -1.3% net margin overall.
2,434 establishments employ 95,538 workers (39.3/location) at $121,200/yr average annual pay. Pennsylvania leads employment, followed by New York and Indiana.
Natural Gas Distribution sits in the 59th percentile for employment among 5-digit NAICS industries with reported data.
Avg Payroll / Employee
$121,200/yr
Annual compensation
Establishments
2,434
Business locations
Release-over-release change
What changed from Census CBP 2022 to 2023
Employment increased by 3,982; establishment count increased by 14. This comparison uses two published national Census County Business Patterns releases; suppressed fields are omitted rather than estimated.
Subscribe to this industry's release updates (RSS)Workforce scale
Financial Detail
- Annual Payroll (Total)
- $11.6B
- Avg Employees per Establishment
- 39.3
Sub-Industries
| Industry | Profit Margin |
|---|---|
| Natural Gas Distribution NAICS 221210 | N/A |
Top States by Employment
| State | Employment |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 5,042 |
| New York | 4,207 |
| Indiana | 2,985 |
| Louisiana | 1,200 |
| North Carolina | 769 |
| Kentucky | 598 |
| South Carolina | 468 |
| Maine | 134 |
Showing top 10 of 50 states
SBA Lending Activity
SBA FY2020–2026SBA Loans Approved
24
Total Loan Volume
$17M
Avg Loan Size
$693K
Jobs Supported
164
Program Breakdown
7(a) 23 (96%)
504 1 (4%)
Top SBA Lender
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
5 loans in this industry
New Business Share
41.7% of borrowers were new/startup businesses
Annual Lending Trend (6 yrs)
2020 5
2021 4
2022 5
2023 3
2024 1
2025 6
Frequently Asked Questions
How profitable is Natural Gas Distribution?
IRS SOI doesn't publish margin data at the NAICS 22121 level. Pennsylvania leads this industry nationally. The broader Utilities sector runs a -1.3% net margin (IRS SOI 2013 C corp).
How many businesses are in Natural Gas Distribution?
2,434 business establishments. Together they employ 95,538 workers.
What is the average payroll per employee in Natural Gas Distribution?
$121,200/yr average annual pay per employee. Businesses average 39.3 employees per establishment.
Which states have the most Natural Gas Distribution employment?
Pennsylvania leads with 5,042 workers. New York (4,207) and Indiana (2,985) round out the top three.
How much SBA lending does Natural Gas Distribution receive?
Natural Gas Distribution businesses received 24 SBA loans totaling $17 million between FY2020 and FY2026. The average loan size was $693K. These loans supported 164 jobs at origination. Most lending (96%) came through the SBA 7(a) program.
Nationwide industries with similar benchmark drivers
Two IRS/Census peer sets for Natural Gas Distribution, both at NAICS level 5 and excluding this code so the neighborhoods are not self-links.
According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Natural Gas Distribution ranks #226 of 551 U.S. industries at the 5-digit NAICS level by total employment.
Similar workforce scale
Nearest peer industries by ABS(Census employment) (95,538 here).
Read with this industry: Industry employment trends · Utilities · Rankings
Disclaimer: Public IRS/Census data, not financial or tax advice. See our full disclaimer.
Sources: IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) Business Tax Statistics · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023
NAICS 22121 · CBP 2023 · IRS SOI
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, which released its 2023 County Business Patterns dataset in June 2025, PlainBizBench benchmarks 2,002 U.S. industries against Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income data. See our methodology for the full compilation process.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2023
Every figure on PlainBizBench is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates profit-margin, payroll, entity-type, and SBA-lending benchmarks for this industry, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.
Disclaimer: Public IRS/Census data, not financial or tax advice. See our full disclaimer.