Employment
596,332
Total employees (Census CBP)
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services ·NAICS 541715
NAICS 541715 · IRS SOI (C corp) · Census CBP 2023
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) - Industry Benchmarks
$147,945/yr average annual pay, with 141 SBA loans on record for NAICS 541715.
- 3.9%
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector margin
- 596K
- Workers employed
- $147,945/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $92M
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Data updated August 2026
The verdict · NAICS 541715
California leads Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) activity nationally. IRS SOI doesn't publish margin data at this NAICS level, but the broader Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector runs a 3.9% net margin.
- 3.9%
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector margin (IRS SOI)
- 596K
- Workers employed (Census CBP)
- $147,945/yr
- Avg payroll / employee
- $92M
- SBA lending, FY20–26
Use Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)'s NAICS benchmark as a comparison point, not a forecast for one business.
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) 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 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) sits inside Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, a sector that runs a 3.9% net margin overall.
12,929 establishments employ 596,332 workers (46.1/location) at $147,945/yr average annual pay. California leads employment, followed by Massachusetts and North Carolina.
Avg Payroll / Employee
$147,945/yr
Annual compensation
Establishments
12,929
Business locations
Release-over-release change
What changed from Census CBP 2022 to 2023
Employment increased by 25,100; establishment count increased by 455. 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)
- $88.2B
- Avg Employees per Establishment
- 46.1
Top States by Employment
| State | Employment |
|---|---|
| California | 102,980 |
| Massachusetts | 53,999 |
| North Carolina | 32,238 |
| Michigan | 28,876 |
| Texas | 26,383 |
| New Jersey | 25,898 |
| New York | 21,223 |
| Pennsylvania | 20,627 |
| Maryland | 19,020 |
| Ohio | 14,400 |
Showing top 10 of 51 states
SBA Lending Activity
SBA FY2020–2026SBA Loans Approved
141
Total Loan Volume
$92M
Avg Loan Size
$655K
Jobs Supported
1,677
Program Breakdown
7(a) 118 (84%)
504 23 (16%)
Top SBA Lender
The Huntington National Bank
12 loans in this industry
New Business Share
22.7% of borrowers were new/startup businesses
Annual Lending Trend (7 yrs)
2020 22
2021 15
2022 28
2023 13
2024 24
2025 36
2026 3
Frequently Asked Questions
How profitable is Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)?
IRS SOI doesn't publish margin data at the NAICS 541715 level. California leads this industry nationally. The broader Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector runs a 3.9% net margin (IRS SOI 2013 C corp).
How many businesses are in Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)?
12,929 business establishments. Together they employ 596,332 workers.
What is the average payroll per employee in Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)?
$147,945/yr average annual pay per employee. Businesses average 46.1 employees per establishment.
Which states have the most Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) employment?
California leads with 102,980 workers. Massachusetts (53,999) and North Carolina (32,238) round out the top three.
How much SBA lending does Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) receive?
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) businesses received 141 SBA loans totaling $92 million between FY2020 and FY2026. The average loan size was $655K. These loans supported 1,677 jobs at origination. Most lending (84%) 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, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) ranks #45 of 801 U.S. industries at the 6-digit NAICS level by total employment.
Closest workforce scale
Same NAICS detail level, ordered by the smallest difference in reported Census employment.
Benchmarking Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
- No margin data, check the parent industry. Browse Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- 12,929 establishments, 596,332 workers. Payroll benchmarks
- 141 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 541715 · 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.