Information · California

Information in California

NAICS 51 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Information in California

Information (NAICS 51) in California reports 891,636 workers across 27,338 establishments, with $206.9B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 23.4% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether California is a primary labor market for this NAICS code or a smaller satellite. A share above 5% signals a meaningful regional cluster; below 1% usually means the state is not a structural fit for this industry at scale.

Wage benchmarking is where state-level data earns its keep. The average annual compensation for Information employees in California is $232,014/yr, versus a national average of $149,198/yr. California pays above the national average for this industry, which usually reflects higher skill concentration, union density, or regional cost of living.

Profitability data is only available at the national level because the IRS Statistics of Income program does not publish state-level margin breakdowns. The national net profit margin for Information is 9.1%, and while margins do vary by state, the direction of variance usually follows labor cost and establishment size — both shown above. For a complete picture, pair this state-industry view with the Information national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the California overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

891,636

Establishments

27,338

Annual Payroll

$206.9B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$232,014/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

9.1% National

National avg — IRS SOI (no state-level profit data)

Avg Payroll/Employee

$232,014/yr California
$149,198/yr National

California vs National avg

Employment

891,636 California
3,809,059 National

California share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Information businesses are in California?
There are 27,338 Information (NAICS 51) establishments in California, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 891,636 workers.
What is the average payroll for Information in California?
The average annual payroll per employee for Information in California is $232,014/yr. The national average for this industry is $149,198/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does California compare nationally for Information?
California accounts for 23.4% of national employment in Information, with 891,636 of 3,809,059 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 9.1% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Information?
The national net profit margin for Information is 9.1%, based on IRS Statistics of Income data. Note that state-level profit margin data is not available from Census Bureau sources — this figure reflects the nationwide average across all business entities.
Disclaimer: PlainBizBench provides publicly available IRS and Census data for informational purposes only. This is not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant or financial advisor for business-specific guidance.
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · NAICS 51 · CA

Related

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

Source: U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2025

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