Profit Margin
2.4%
Net income ÷ total receipts (IRS SOI)
Utilities ·NAICS 2213
NAICS 2213 · IRS SOI 2013 (C corp) · Census CBP 2023
Water, Sewage and Other Systems - Industry Benchmarks
$77,927/yr average annual pay, with 285 SBA loans on record for NAICS 2213.
- 2.4%
- Net margin
- 52K
- Workers employed
- $77,927/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $142M
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Data updated August 2026
The verdict · NAICS 2213
Water, Sewage and Other Systems runs a 2.4% pre-tax net margin - significantly below average, typical of high-volume, low-margin sectors - across 5K establishments employing 52K workers.
- 2.4%
- Pre-tax net margin (IRS SOI)
- 52K
- Workers employed (Census CBP)
- $77,927/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $142M
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Use Water, Sewage and Other Systems's NAICS benchmark as a comparison point, not a forecast for one business.
Water, Sewage and Other Systems 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 2013 (C corporation headline) and Census County Business Patterns 2023
Benchmarking Insights for Water, Sewage and Other Systems
Water, Sewage and Other Systems sits inside Utilities at a 2.4% net margin (significantly below average, typical of high-volume, low-margin sectors), $11.3B in aggregate receipts across 5,272 returns, averaging $2.1B per establishment.
5,210 establishments employ 52,028 workers (10.0/location) at $77,927/yr average annual pay. Texas leads employment, followed by California and Florida.
Water, Sewage and Other Systems sits in the 20th percentile for employment and the 20th percentile for net margin among 4-digit NAICS industries with reported data.
Total Receipts
$11.3B
Annual revenue (IRS SOI)
Net Income
$267.7M
Pre-tax net income
Employment
52,028
Total employees (Census CBP)
Avg Payroll / Employee
$77,927/yr
Annual compensation
Establishments
5,210
Business locations
Release-over-release change
What changed from Census CBP 2022 to 2023
Employment increased by 3,502; establishment count increased by 107. 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)Where each dollar of Water, Sewage and Other Systems revenue goes
Workforce scale
Water, Sewage and Other Systems margin vs national reference points
Water, Sewage and Other Systems net margin 7.9%
Cross-industry median (5%)
p25/median/p75 = 3%/5%/7%
Business Structure Breakdown
Per-entity IRS SOI tables at their own vintages, shares only when every row shares one year (never mix 2013/2017/2022 populations).
C Corporation SOI 2013
5,272 returns 100%
Margin: 2.4% · Receipts: $11.3B
Financial Detail
- Total Tax Returns Filed
- 5,272
- Avg Receipts per Business
- $2.1B
- Annual Payroll (Total)
- $4.1B
- Avg Employees per Establishment
- 10.0
Sub-Industries
| Industry | Profit Margin |
|---|---|
| Sewage Treatment Facilities NAICS 22132 | N/A |
| Steam and Air-Conditioning Supply NAICS 22133 | N/A |
| Water Supply and Irrigation Systems NAICS 22131 | N/A |
Top States by Employment
| State | Employment |
|---|---|
| Texas | 7,553 |
| California | 5,842 |
| Florida | 3,563 |
| Arizona | 1,765 |
| Mississippi | 1,759 |
| Ohio | 1,281 |
| New York | 1,260 |
| Connecticut | 1,063 |
| Colorado | 741 |
| Washington | 740 |
Showing top 10 of 50 states
SBA Lending Activity
SBA FY2020–2026SBA Loans Approved
285
Total Loan Volume
$142M
Avg Loan Size
$500K
Jobs Supported
2,434
Program Breakdown
7(a) 269 (94%)
504 16 (6%)
Top SBA Lender
The Huntington National Bank
21 loans in this industry
New Business Share
30.5% of borrowers were new/startup businesses
Annual Lending Trend (7 yrs)
2020 40
2021 56
2022 43
2023 34
2024 51
2025 58
2026 3
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average revenue for Water, Sewage and Other Systems?
$11.3B in total annual receipts across all Water, Sewage and Other Systems businesses. Average per business: $2.1B.
How profitable is Water, Sewage and Other Systems?
2.4% net profit margin, significantly below average, typical of high-volume, low-margin sectors.
How many businesses are in Water, Sewage and Other Systems?
5,210 business establishments. Together they employ 52,028 workers.
What is the average payroll per employee in Water, Sewage and Other Systems?
$77,927/yr average annual pay per employee. Businesses average 10.0 employees per establishment.
Which states have the most Water, Sewage and Other Systems employment?
Texas leads with 7,553 workers. California (5,842) and Florida (3,563) round out the top three.
How much SBA lending does Water, Sewage and Other Systems receive?
Water, Sewage and Other Systems businesses received 285 SBA loans totaling $142 million between FY2020 and FY2026. The average loan size was $500K. These loans supported 2,434 jobs at origination. Most lending (94%) came through the SBA 7(a) program.
Nationwide industries with similar benchmark drivers
Two IRS/Census peer sets for Water, Sewage and Other Systems, both at NAICS level 4 and excluding this code so the neighborhoods are not self-links.
According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Water, Sewage and Other Systems ranks #207 of 259 U.S. industries at the 4-digit NAICS level by total employment. According to IRS SOI 2013 IRS Statistics of Income, its reported pre-tax net margin ranks #101 of 126 at that same detail level.
Similar reported net margin
Nearest peer industries by ABS(IRS pre-tax margin) (2.4% here).
Similar workforce scale
Nearest peer industries by ABS(Census employment) (52,028 here).
Read with this industry: Understanding profit margins by industry · 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 2213 · CBP 2023 · IRS SOI 2013
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.