Transportation and Warehousing ·NAICS 483

NAICS 483 · IRS SOI 2013 (C corp) · Census CBP 2023

Water Transportation - Industry Benchmarks

$108,243/yr average annual pay, with 86 SBA loans on record for NAICS 483.

4.1%
Net margin: 63K
Workers employed: $108,243/yr
Avg payroll / employee: $49M
SBA lending, FY20–26

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · NAICS 483

Water Transportation runs a 4.1% pre-tax net margin - below the national median - across 2K establishments employing 63K workers.

4.1%
Pre-tax net margin (IRS SOI): 63K
Workers employed (Census CBP): $108,243/yr
Avg payroll / employee: $49M
SBA lending, FY20–26

Use Water Transportation's NAICS benchmark as a comparison point, not a forecast for one business.

Water Transportation 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 Transportation

Water Transportation sits inside Transportation and Warehousing at a 4.1% net margin (below the national median), $31.4B in aggregate receipts across 3,832 returns, averaging $8.2B per establishment.

1,790 establishments employ 62,806 workers (35.1/location) at $108,243/yr average annual pay. Louisiana leads employment, followed by Washington and Kentucky.

Profit Margin

4.1%

Net income ÷ total receipts (IRS SOI)

Total Receipts

$31.4B

Annual revenue (IRS SOI)

Net Income

$1.3B

Pre-tax net income

Employment

62,806

Total employees (Census CBP)

Avg Payroll / Employee

$108,243/yr

Annual compensation

Establishments

1,790

Business locations

Release-over-release change

What changed from Census CBP 2022 to 2023

Employment increased by 2,171; establishment count increased by 10. 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 Water Transportation revenue goes

Receipts decomposition, IRS Statistics of Income 2023 aggregate for Water Transportation

Workforce scale

Establishment size, Water Transportation (Census SUSB)

Water Transportation margin vs national reference points

Water Transportation net margin 13.6%

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

3,832 returns

Margin: 4.1% · Receipts: $31.4B

Sole Proprietorship SOI 2022

7,973 returns

Margin: -6.6% · Receipts: $1.5B

Financial Detail

Total Tax Returns Filed: 3,832
Avg Receipts per Business: $8.2B
Annual Payroll (Total): $6.8B
Avg Employees per Establishment: 35.1

Sub-Industries

Industry	Profit Margin	Employment	Avg Payroll/Emp
Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation NAICS 4831	N/A	N/A	N/A
Inland Water Transportation NAICS 4832	N/A	21,136	$91,781/yr

Top States by Employment

State	Employment	Establishments	Annual Payroll	Avg Payroll/Emp
Louisiana	10,246	247	$984.6M	$96,099/yr
Washington	5,077	82	$614.4M	$121,012/yr
Kentucky	3,168	19	$280.3M	$88,491/yr
New York	2,520	97	$257.3M	$102,108/yr
Alaska	1,165	127	N/A	N/A
New Jersey	1,048	70	$108.7M	$103,742/yr
Mississippi	985	10	$96.8M	$98,296/yr
Illinois	740	33	N/A	N/A
Michigan	545	33	$102.9M	$188,824/yr
Minnesota	187	14	N/A	N/A

Showing top 10 of 36 states

SBA Lending Activity

SBA FY2020–2026

SBA Loans Approved

Total Loan Volume

$49M

Avg Loan Size

$572K

Jobs Supported

821

Program Breakdown

7(a) 80 (93%)

504 6 (7%)

Top SBA Lender

Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company

9 loans in this industry

New Business Share

33.7% 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 Water Transportation?

$31.4B in total annual receipts across all Water Transportation businesses. Average per business: $8.2B.

How profitable is Water Transportation?

4.1% net profit margin, below the national median.

How many businesses are in Water Transportation?

1,790 business establishments. Together they employ 62,806 workers.

What is the average payroll per employee in Water Transportation?

$108,243/yr average annual pay per employee. Businesses average 35.1 employees per establishment.

Which states have the most Water Transportation employment?

Louisiana leads with 10,246 workers. Washington (5,077) and Kentucky (3,168) round out the top three.

How much SBA lending does Water Transportation receive?

Water Transportation businesses received 86 SBA loans totaling $49 million between FY2020 and FY2026. The average loan size was $572K. These loans supported 821 jobs at origination. Most lending (93%) came through the SBA 7(a) program.

Comparable industry benchmarks

These links are calculated from the current national dataset. They are comparison paths, not recommendations or evidence that businesses operate alike.

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Water Transportation ranks #71 of 77 U.S. industries at the 3-digit NAICS level by total employment. According to IRS SOI 2013 IRS Statistics of Income, its reported pre-tax net margin ranks #47 of 75 at that same detail level.

Closest reported net margins

Same NAICS detail level, ordered by the smallest difference in reported IRS pre-tax margin.

Closest workforce scale

Same NAICS detail level, ordered by the smallest difference in reported Census employment.

Benchmarking Water Transportation

Net margin: 4.1% vs sector. Browse Transportation and Warehousing
1,790 establishments, 62,806 workers. Payroll benchmarks
86 SBA loans on record. SBA lending 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 483 · 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.