NAICS 3116 · IRS SOI 2013 (C corp) · Census CBP 2023

Animal Slaughtering and Processing - Industry Benchmarks

$50,981/yr average annual pay, with 283 SBA loans on record for NAICS 3116.

2.5%
Net margin: 556K
Workers employed: $50,981/yr
Avg payroll / employee: $254M
SBA lending, FY20–26

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · NAICS 3116

Animal Slaughtering and Processing runs a 2.5% pre-tax net margin - significantly below average, typical of high-volume, low-margin sectors - across 4K establishments employing 556K workers.

2.5%
Pre-tax net margin (IRS SOI): 556K
Workers employed (Census CBP): $50,981/yr
Avg payroll / employee: $254M
SBA lending, FY20–26

Use Animal Slaughtering and Processing's NAICS benchmark as a comparison point, not a forecast for one business.

Animal Slaughtering and Processing 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 Animal Slaughtering and Processing

Animal Slaughtering and Processing sits inside Manufacturing at a 2.5% net margin (significantly below average, typical of high-volume, low-margin sectors), $147.5B in aggregate receipts across 3,997 returns, averaging $36.9B per establishment.

3,716 establishments employ 556,205 workers (149.7/location) at $50,981/yr average annual pay. Texas leads employment, followed by Georgia and North Carolina.

Animal Slaughtering and Processing sits in the 76th percentile for employment and the 22nd percentile for net margin among 4-digit NAICS industries with reported data.

Profit Margin

2.5%

Net income ÷ total receipts (IRS SOI)

Total Receipts

$147.5B

Annual revenue (IRS SOI)

Net Income

$3.6B

Pre-tax net income

Employment

556,205

Total employees (Census CBP)

Avg Payroll / Employee

$50,981/yr

Annual compensation

Establishments

3,716

Business locations

Release-over-release change

What changed from Census CBP 2022 to 2023

Employment increased by 22,049; establishment count increased by 53. This comparison uses two published national Census County Business Patterns releases; suppressed fields are omitted rather than estimated.

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Where each dollar of Animal Slaughtering and Processing revenue goes

Receipts decomposition, IRS Statistics of Income 2023 aggregate for Animal Slaughtering and Processing

Workforce scale

Establishment size, Animal Slaughtering and Processing (Census SUSB)

Animal Slaughtering and Processing margin vs national reference points

Animal Slaughtering and Processing net margin 8.2%

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

3,997 returns 100%

Margin: 2.5% · Receipts: $147.5B

Financial Detail

Total Tax Returns Filed: 3,997
Avg Receipts per Business: $36.9B
Annual Payroll (Total): $28.4B
Avg Employees per Establishment: 149.7

Sub-Industries

Industry	Profit Margin	Employment	Avg Payroll/Emp
Animal Slaughtering and Processing NAICS 31161	N/A	556,205	$50,981/yr

Top States by Employment

State	Employment	Establishments	Annual Payroll	Avg Payroll/Emp
Texas	45,056	292	$2.3B	$50,488/yr
Georgia	37,848	118	$1.7B	$44,714/yr
North Carolina	34,430	113	$1.6B	$46,040/yr
Iowa	34,010	149	$1.9B	$56,630/yr
Alabama	25,711	78	$1.1B	$41,500/yr
Illinois	23,872	160	$1.4B	$59,132/yr
Pennsylvania	19,447	158	$1.1B	$57,738/yr
Mississippi	18,488	60	$720.3M	$38,960/yr
Wisconsin	18,089	135	$1.1B	$59,960/yr
Minnesota	17,848	101	$1.0B	$56,517/yr

Showing top 10 of 50 states

SBA Lending Activity

SBA FY2020–2026

SBA Loans Approved

283

Total Loan Volume

$254M

Avg Loan Size

$898K

Jobs Supported

4,242

Program Breakdown

7(a) 233 (82%)

504 50 (18%)

Top SBA Lender

The Huntington National Bank

11 loans in this industry

New Business Share

35.0% of borrowers were new/startup businesses

Annual Lending Trend (7 yrs)

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

View SBA lending rankings →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average revenue for Animal Slaughtering and Processing?

$147.5B in total annual receipts across all Animal Slaughtering and Processing businesses. Average per business: $36.9B.

How profitable is Animal Slaughtering and Processing?

2.5% net profit margin, significantly below average, typical of high-volume, low-margin sectors.

How many businesses are in Animal Slaughtering and Processing?

3,716 business establishments. Together they employ 556,205 workers.

What is the average payroll per employee in Animal Slaughtering and Processing?

$50,981/yr average annual pay per employee. Businesses average 149.7 employees per establishment.

Which states have the most Animal Slaughtering and Processing employment?

Texas leads with 45,056 workers. Georgia (37,848) and North Carolina (34,430) round out the top three.

How much SBA lending does Animal Slaughtering and Processing receive?

Animal Slaughtering and Processing businesses received 283 SBA loans totaling $254 million between FY2020 and FY2026. The average loan size was $898K. These loans supported 4,242 jobs at origination. Most lending (82%) came through the SBA 7(a) program.

Nationwide industries with similar benchmark drivers

Two IRS/Census peer sets for Animal Slaughtering and Processing, both at NAICS level 4 and excluding this code so the neighborhoods are not self-links.

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Animal Slaughtering and Processing ranks #62 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 #98 of 126 at that same detail level.

Similar reported net margin

Nearest peer industries by ABS(IRS pre-tax margin) (2.5% here).

Lawn and Garden Equipment and Supplies Stores 2.4% Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers 2.4% Water, Sewage and Other Systems 2.4%

Similar workforce scale

Nearest peer industries by ABS(Census employment) (556,205 here).

Office Administrative Services 550,384 Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Stores 550,237 Nondepository Credit Intermediation 570,079

Read with this industry: Understanding profit margins by industry · Manufacturing · 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 3116 · 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 Accessed 2026-07-06

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.