State overview · CA · Census CBP 2023
California Industry Benchmarks
Employment, establishments, and payroll for 1312 industries in California. Drill into any industry for a California-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.
- 16.3M
- Workers
- 1.0M
- Establishments
- 1312
- Industries tracked
Data updated August 2026
The verdict · California
California employs 16,336,816 workers across 1312 tracked industries, led by Temporary Help Services (726,142 workers) among the 615 detailed industries with published employment.
No single sector dominates California (lead 14%; top-three 36%). Margins stay on national industry pages.
California sector employment mix
Share of private-sector employment by NAICS-2 sector (Census CBP 2023). Tile area = workers.
California spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 14% of 16,336,816 private-sector workers (about the 98th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.
Not ranked: 1 of 20 sectors has no published employment figure. Census County Business Patterns applies 2% or more noise to those cells, and PlainBizBench publishes only low-noise figures rather than estimating. Total employment, shares and the mix on this page sum only the sectors with a published figure. How we handle withheld data.
| Sector | Workers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Health Care and Social Assistance (62) | 2,347,305 | 14% |
| Accommodation and Food Services (72) | 1,788,988 | 11% |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services (56) | 1,738,165 | 11% |
| Top-three cumulative 36% - 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 CA DISTRIBUTED · CBP
#1/51 · 16,336,816 workers · 1,028,210 firms
- EMP 16,336,816
- EST 1,028,210
- RANK #1/51
- PCT 98th pct
- LEAD Health Care and Soci…
- SHARE 14% lead
- BAND distributed
- DENS 15.9 /firm
- BOOK 1312 NAICS
- PHOTO Texas
Nearest employment-scale peer: Texas (12,011,416 workers)
According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, California ranks #1 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 →
CA in the employment-scale neighbourhood
Top Industries by Employment
Not ranked: 334 of 949 detailed industries have no published employment figure. Census County Business Patterns applies 2% or more noise to those cells, and PlainBizBench publishes only low-noise figures rather than estimating. Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (18,435), Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses (9,266) and Motion Picture and Video Production (6,730) report more establishments than Temporary Help Services, so Temporary Help Services leads only among the 615 detailed industries with published employment. How we handle withheld data.
Breadth peers near California's private employment
Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (16,336,816 in California), excluding CA.
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · CA
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.