NAICS Sector 45 · IRS SOI + Census CBP 2023

Retail Trade

SBA 7(a)/504 files show 20,909 loans ($11.5B) for NAICS 45, loan-count rank #8 of 24 sectors; FY2020→FY2025 trajectory is rising.

3.3%
Avg net margin
2.4M
Workers
56
Industries
$1.2T
Annual receipts

Retail Trade payroll leans hard on Nonstore Retailers: that single 3-digit NAICS holds 46% of level-3 headcount. Sibling lines fill the rest, a concentrated industry mix inside the sector.

SBA lending in NAICS 45

FY2020–FY2025 · 7(a)+504 roll-up · #8/24 sectors by loan count

Loans

20,909

Volume

$11.5B

Jobs at origination

137,084

Top lender

The Huntington National Bank

FY2020→FY2025: 1680→5040 loans (rising, +3360).

CBP payroll per worker: $42/yr · SOI receipts/est $3.8M.

Highest-margin industries in Retail Trade

Pre-tax net margin by sub-industry, IRS Statistics of Income 2023.

General Merchandise Stores4.7%Miscellaneous Store Retailers3.4%Sporting Goods, Hobby, Music…2.8%Nonstore Retailers2.3%

All Industries in This Sector

Industry Profit Margin
General Merchandise Stores

NAICS 452

 4.7%
Miscellaneous Store Retailers

NAICS 453

 3.4%
Nonstore Retailers

NAICS 454

 2.3%
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores

NAICS 451

 2.8%

Top Profit Margins

Largest Employers

  1. #1 Nonstore Retailers 1,108,365
  2. #2 Miscellaneous Store Retailers 831,551
  3. #3 Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores 471,722

Frequently Asked Questions

Who finances Retail Trade small businesses?
20,909 SBA 7(a)/504 loans totaling $11.5B (FY2020–FY2026); sector loan-count rank #8/24. FY2020→FY2025 loan counts went 1680→5040 (rising). Busiest lender on record: The Huntington National Bank.
How wide is the margin gap inside NAICS 45?
IRS SOI prints a 3.3% sector average for Retail Trade, but the sub-industry spread is 2.4 pp, from General Merchandise Stores at 4.7% down to thinner lines in the same sector.
Which sub-industries dominate Retail Trade employment?
Nonstore Retailers leads with 1,108,365 workers (46% of level-3 headcount); next are Miscellaneous Store Retailers (831,551) and Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores (471,722). Top-3 share is 100%; Herfindahl 0.368 (tight).
Disclaimer: PlainBizBench provides publicly available IRS and Census data for informational purposes only on NAICS 45 (Retail Trade). This is not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant or financial advisor for business-specific guidance.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBizBench

Census CBP 2023 + IRS SOI 2013 for NAICS 45 · SBA 7(a)/504 $11.5B. CSV: sector 45 rows.

Every figure on PlainBizBench is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates every industry within this sector, 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.