How many people are employed in Arizona?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Arizona has 2,864,269 employees across 162,118 business establishments in 867 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Arizona?

The largest industries in Arizona by employment are Limited-Service Restaurants (120,520), Full-Service Restaurants (115,968), and Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices (75,703).

What is the average payroll in Arizona?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Arizona. The highest-paying tracked industry is Sports Teams and Clubs at $557,972/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Arizona?

Arizona has 162,118 business establishments across 867 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · AZ · Census CBP 2023

Arizona Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 867 industries in Arizona. Drill into any industry for a Arizona-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

2.9M
Workers: 162K
Establishments: 867
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Arizona

Arizona employs 2,864,269 workers across 867 tracked industries, led by Limited-Service Restaurants (120,520 workers).

No single sector dominates Arizona (lead 15%; top-three 40%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Arizona sector employment mix

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

Arizona private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Arizona spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 15% of 2,864,269 private-sector workers (about the 71st percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

AZ breadth ledger · HHI 0.089
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	434,866	15%
Retail Trade (44)	358,161	13%
Accommodation and Food Services (72)	343,720	12%
Top-three cumulative 40% - no single NAICS-2 block dominates.

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 AZ DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#15/51 · 2,864,269 workers · 162,118 firms

EMP 2,864,269
EST 162,118
RANK #15/51
PCT 71st pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 15% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 17.7 /firm
BOOK 867 NAICS
PHOTO Minnesota

Nearest employment-scale peer: Minnesota (2,788,620 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Arizona ranks #15 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
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	120,520	5,713	$2.6B	$21,951/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	115,968	4,464	$3.4B	$29,312/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	75,703	791	$7.0B	$92,431/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	56,723	786	$2.6B	$45,740/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	52,453	5,008	$5.6B	$106,479/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	41,834	1,173	$3.6B	$86,043/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	40,772	1,078	$1.7B	$41,532/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	37,297	773	$1.0B	$27,973/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	32,158	2,567	$2.3B	$70,941/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	31,364	620	$1.5B	$46,267/yr
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools NAICS 611310	30,768	77	$1.3B	$42,320/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	28,859	1,718	$2.1B	$72,559/yr
General Warehousing and Storage NAICS 493110	27,242	296	$1.5B	$54,761/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	24,776	342	$2.2B	$88,716/yr
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	24,659	1,741	$510.1M	$20,687/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	24,021	1,345	$2.7B	$112,929/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	22,508	796	$1.0B	$44,431/yr
Couriers and Express Delivery Services NAICS 492110	21,812	216	N/A	N/A
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	21,222	2,922	$1.2B	$57,935/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	21,159	2,305	$653.0M	$30,862/yr

Breadth peers near Arizona's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (2,864,269 in Arizona), excluding AZ.

Minnesota 2,788,620 Tennessee 2,971,191 Washington 2,749,118 Missouri 2,611,057 Wisconsin 2,574,604 Indiana 2,573,310 Colorado 2,555,107 Maryland 2,458,634

Disclaimer: Arizona (AZ) 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 Arizona businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Arizona (AZ). See our methodology.

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