How many people are employed in Colorado?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Colorado has 2,555,107 employees across 182,035 business establishments in 891 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Colorado?

The largest industries in Colorado by employment are Full-Service Restaurants (111,442), Limited-Service Restaurants (96,000), and General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (87,946).

What is the average payroll in Colorado?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Colorado. The highest-paying tracked industry is Investment Banking and Securities Dealing at $266,018/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Colorado?

Colorado has 182,035 business establishments across 891 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · CO · Census CBP 2023

Colorado Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 891 industries in Colorado. Drill into any industry for a Colorado-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

2.6M
Workers: 182K
Establishments: 891
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Colorado

Colorado employs 2,555,107 workers across 891 tracked industries, led by Full-Service Restaurants (111,442 workers).

No single sector dominates Colorado (lead 14%; top-three 37%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Colorado sector employment mix

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

Colorado private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Colorado spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 14% of 2,555,107 private-sector workers (about the 59th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

CO breadth ledger · HHI 0.083
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	352,483	14%
Accommodation and Food Services (72)	304,455	12%
Retail Trade (44)	292,486	11%
Top-three cumulative 37% - 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 CO DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#21/51 · 2,555,107 workers · 182,035 firms

EMP 2,555,107
EST 182,035
RANK #21/51
PCT 59th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 14% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 14.0 /firm
BOOK 891 NAICS
PHOTO Indiana

Nearest employment-scale peer: Indiana (2,573,310 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Colorado ranks #21 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	111,442	5,074	$3.7B	$33,082/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	96,000	4,753	$2.3B	$23,539/yr
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals NAICS 622110	87,946	93	$7.3B	$82,936/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	66,417	850	$7.8B	$116,895/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	44,786	718	$2.4B	$53,048/yr
Professional Employer Organizations NAICS 561330	44,699	81	N/A	N/A
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	42,753	1,289	$1.7B	$40,711/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	40,828	2,375	$4.8B	$118,659/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	37,613	3,103	$4.3B	$113,821/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	32,780	2,850	$1.1B	$33,703/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	31,887	623	$1.3B	$40,226/yr
Software Publishers NAICS 511210	25,649	587	N/A	N/A
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	24,178	2,620	$1.7B	$71,914/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	23,355	641	$706.3M	$30,241/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	23,045	2,231	$1.6B	$70,805/yr
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	22,692	1,757	$498.1M	$21,951/yr
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	22,606	1,571	$684.3M	$30,269/yr
Couriers and Express Delivery Services NAICS 492110	21,975	227	$1.1B	$49,697/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	21,591	1,497	$2.1B	$97,848/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	21,001	2,957	$1.3B	$60,144/yr

Breadth peers near Colorado's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (2,555,107 in Colorado), excluding CO.

Indiana 2,573,310 Wisconsin 2,574,604 Missouri 2,611,057 Maryland 2,458,634 Washington 2,749,118 Minnesota 2,788,620 Arizona 2,864,269 Tennessee 2,971,191

Disclaimer: Colorado (CO) 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 Colorado businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Colorado (CO). See our methodology.

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