Transportation and Warehousing · Colorado

Transportation and Warehousing in Colorado

NAICS 48 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Transportation and Warehousing in Colorado

Transportation and Warehousing (NAICS 48) in Colorado reports 111,004 workers across 4,336 establishments, with $7.5B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 1.7% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether Colorado 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 Transportation and Warehousing employees in Colorado is $67,814/yr, versus a national average of $61,391/yr. Colorado 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 Transportation and Warehousing is 6.0%, 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 Transportation and Warehousing national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the Colorado overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

111,004

Establishments

4,336

Annual Payroll

$7.5B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$67,814/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

6.0% National

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

Avg Payroll/Employee

$67,814/yr Colorado
$61,391/yr National

Colorado vs National avg

Employment

111,004 Colorado
6,548,924 National

Colorado share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Transportation and Warehousing businesses are in Colorado?
There are 4,336 Transportation and Warehousing (NAICS 48) establishments in Colorado, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 111,004 workers.
What is the average payroll for Transportation and Warehousing in Colorado?
The average annual payroll per employee for Transportation and Warehousing in Colorado is $67,814/yr. The national average for this industry is $61,391/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does Colorado compare nationally for Transportation and Warehousing?
Colorado accounts for 1.7% of national employment in Transportation and Warehousing, with 111,004 of 6,548,924 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 6.0% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Transportation and Warehousing?
The national net profit margin for Transportation and Warehousing is 6.0%, 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 48 · CO

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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