How many people are employed in Alaska?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Alaska has 263,002 employees across 21,692 business establishments in 468 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Alaska?

The largest industries in Alaska by employment are Full-Service Restaurants (8,365), Limited-Service Restaurants (6,951), and Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (6,945).

What is the average payroll in Alaska?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Alaska. The highest-paying tracked industry is Other Marine Fishing at $869,000/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Alaska?

Alaska has 21,692 business establishments across 468 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · AK · Census CBP 2023

Alaska Industry Benchmarks

Name: Alaska Industry Employment and Payroll Benchmarks
Creator: PlainBizBench
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 468 industries in Alaska. Drill into any industry for a Alaska-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

263K
Workers: 22K
Establishments: 468
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Alaska

Alaska employs 263,002 workers across 468 tracked industries, led by Full-Service Restaurants (8,365 workers).

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors Alaska; top-three cumulative share is 43%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

Alaska sector employment mix

Share of private-sector employment by NAICS-2 sector (Census CBP 2023). Tile area = workers.

Alaska private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in Alaska (19% of 263,002 private-sector workers (about the 4th percentile of states by employment)), but sibling sectors still take meaningful shares. Read the treemap as an anchor-plus-breadth economy rather than a one-sector state.

#1 · NAICS 62

Health Care and Social Assistance

49,634 · 19%

#2 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

34,008 · 13%

#3 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

28,571 · 11%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.094 (open) · top-three 43% of Alaska private payroll.

Profit margins are national (IRS SOI); open any industry row below, then the matching national industry page for profitability.

Census CBP firm roll

County Business Patterns AK ANCHORED · CBP

#49/51 · 263,002 workers · 21,692 firms

EMP 263,002
EST 21,692
RANK #49/51
PCT 4th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 19% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 12.1 /firm
BOOK 468 NAICS
PHOTO Vermont

Nearest employment-scale peer: Vermont (248,351 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Alaska ranks #49 of 51 states and territories by total private-sector employment (level-2 sector totals, the same non-double-counted aggregate shown above). Margins stay on national industry pages (IRS SOI). Read with this state → · Lead 6-digit industry →

Census CBP level-2 private employment among this state and nearest nationwide peers

Top Industries by Employment

Industry	Employment	Establishments	Annual Payroll	Avg Payroll/Emp
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	8,365	533	$302.9M	$36,213/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	6,951	490	$182.2M	$26,206/yr
Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging NAICS 311710	6,945	90	$484.3M	$69,734/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	6,060	210	N/A	N/A
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	5,457	290	$262.7M	$48,138/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	5,115	434	$587.4M	$114,837/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	4,955	228	$500.3M	$100,962/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	4,515	141	N/A	N/A
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	4,376	158	$145.4M	$33,229/yr
Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations NAICS 213112	3,767	43	$411.1M	$109,128/yr
Commercial and Institutional Building Construction NAICS 236220	3,253	242	$348.6M	$107,148/yr
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	3,038	355	$62.7M	$20,635/yr
Couriers and Express Delivery Services NAICS 492110	2,715	47	$396.3M	$145,966/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	2,417	315	$163.9M	$67,792/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	2,232	390	$62.9M	$28,199/yr
Credit Unions NAICS 522130	2,155	95	$157.9M	$73,290/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	1,986	244	$178.3M	$89,762/yr
Other Individual and Family Services NAICS 624190	1,955	158	$111.3M	$56,930/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	1,939	264	$165.7M	$85,454/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	1,902	173	$62.6M	$32,908/yr

Scale peers for Alaska's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (263,002 in Alaska), excluding AK.

Vermont 248,351 South Dakota 297,192 Wyoming 203,847 North Dakota 327,925 Rhode Island 394,740 Montana 401,056 Delaware 435,085 Hawaii 437,405

Disclaimer: Alaska (AK) figures on this page are Census CBP employment and payroll counts for informational registry use only, not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant for decisions about Alaska businesses.

Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · AK

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Alaska (AK). See our methodology.

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau → · Verify with IRS SOI →