How many people are employed in California?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, California has 16,336,816 employees across 1,028,210 business establishments in 1312 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in California?

The largest industries in California by employment are Temporary Help Services (726,142), Full-Service Restaurants (628,541), and Limited-Service Restaurants (604,758).

What is the average payroll in California?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in California. The highest-paying tracked industry is Portfolio Management at $333,891/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in California?

California has 1,028,210 business establishments across 1312 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · CA · Census CBP 2023

California Industry Benchmarks

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

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.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

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).

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 private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

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.

CA breadth ledger · HHI 0.083
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 →

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
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	726,142	3,939	N/A	N/A
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	628,541	31,333	$20.8B	$33,101/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	604,758	34,527	$15.2B	$25,204/yr
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals NAICS 622110	583,361	600	$62.0B	$106,202/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	380,676	4,106	N/A	N/A
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	313,673	8,044	$11.9B	$38,008/yr
Software Publishers NAICS 511210	300,096	3,890	$73.7B	$245,608/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	231,960	29,615	$26.3B	$113,247/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	207,713	6,020	$9.9B	$47,787/yr
Custom Computer Programming Services NAICS 541511	182,743	10,962	$30.6B	$167,664/yr
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools NAICS 611310	171,846	540	$11.1B	$64,531/yr
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	165,621	13,412	$4.1B	$24,850/yr
Security Guards and Patrol Services NAICS 561612	157,154	2,173	$5.3B	$33,949/yr
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	148,867	22,821	$20.6B	$138,538/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	145,054	2,752	$8.5B	$58,501/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	144,870	4,324	$5.0B	$34,588/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	142,911	1,955	$7.1B	$49,683/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	142,822	22,757	$8.0B	$56,350/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	142,591	8,898	$17.9B	$125,296/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	138,278	5,577	$6.0B	$43,264/yr

Breadth peers near California's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (16,336,816 in California), excluding CA.

Texas 12,011,416 Florida 9,988,508 New York 8,766,053 Pennsylvania 5,684,514 Illinois 5,659,820 Ohio 4,867,738 Georgia 4,374,151 North Carolina 4,036,587

Disclaimer: California (CA) 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 California businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for California (CA). See our methodology.

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