How many people are employed in Connecticut?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Connecticut has 1,527,746 employees across 88,984 business establishments in 806 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Connecticut?

The largest industries in Connecticut by employment are Full-Service Restaurants (58,365), General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (50,520), and Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) (50,259).

What is the average payroll in Connecticut?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Connecticut. The highest-paying tracked industry is Commodity Contracts Dealing at $738,172/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Connecticut?

Connecticut has 88,984 business establishments across 806 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · CT · Census CBP 2023

Connecticut Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 806 industries in Connecticut. Drill into any industry for a Connecticut-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

1.5M
Workers: 89K
Establishments: 806
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Connecticut

Connecticut employs 1,527,746 workers across 806 tracked industries, led by Full-Service Restaurants (58,365 workers).

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors Connecticut; top-three cumulative share is 41%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

Connecticut sector employment mix

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

Connecticut private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in Connecticut (19% of 1,527,746 private-sector workers (about the 45th percentile of states by employment)), but sibling sectors still take meaningful shares. Read the treemap as an anchor-plus-breadth economy rather than a one-sector state.

#1 · NAICS 62

Health Care and Social Assistance

292,377 · 19%

#2 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

181,494 · 12%

#3 · NAICS 31

Manufacturing

158,521 · 10%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.095 (open) · top-three 41% of Connecticut private payroll.

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 CT ANCHORED · CBP

#28/51 · 1,527,746 workers · 88,984 firms

EMP 1,527,746
EST 88,984
RANK #28/51
PCT 45th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 19% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 17.2 /firm
BOOK 806 NAICS
PHOTO Utah

Nearest employment-scale peer: Utah (1,512,504 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Connecticut ranks #28 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	58,365	3,484	$1.8B	$30,347/yr
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals NAICS 622110	50,520	31	$4.0B	$79,502/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	50,259	2,648	$5.3B	$105,492/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	37,321	2,883	$859.3M	$23,023/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	36,416	767	$1.2B	$31,614/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	29,814	603	$4.4B	$148,951/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	28,433	235	$1.3B	$47,024/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	24,524	685	$733.6M	$29,913/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	22,644	402	$1.2B	$51,523/yr
Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers NAICS 524114	18,695	68	$2.0B	$105,899/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	17,916	272	$1.1B	$61,441/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	16,532	948	$516.0M	$31,214/yr
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	16,179	663	$422.1M	$26,088/yr
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters NAICS 452311	15,701	77	N/A	N/A
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	14,998	1,158	$309.2M	$20,617/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	13,503	279	$639.2M	$47,335/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	12,853	303	$1.1B	$82,084/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	12,507	1,625	$783.9M	$62,673/yr
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	11,903	1,953	$1.3B	$106,078/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	11,875	844	$1.5B	$130,436/yr

Scale peers for Connecticut's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (1,527,746 in Connecticut), excluding CT.

Utah 1,512,504 Oregon 1,635,645 Louisiana 1,658,849 Kentucky 1,674,114 Oklahoma 1,358,788 Alabama 1,727,530 Iowa 1,306,260 Nevada 1,298,196

Disclaimer: Connecticut (CT) 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 Connecticut businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Connecticut (CT). See our methodology.

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