How many people are employed in Delaware?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Delaware has 435,085 employees across 28,148 business establishments in 584 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Delaware?

The largest industries in Delaware by employment are General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (22,894), Full-Service Restaurants (22,174), and Limited-Service Restaurants (13,608).

What is the average payroll in Delaware?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Delaware. The highest-paying tracked industry is Commodity Contracts Brokerage at $229,200/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Delaware?

Delaware has 28,148 business establishments across 584 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · DE · Census CBP 2023

Delaware Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 584 industries in Delaware. Drill into any industry for a Delaware-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

435K
Workers: 28K
Establishments: 584
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Delaware

Delaware employs 435,085 workers across 584 tracked industries, led by General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (22,894 workers).

No single sector dominates Delaware (lead 18%; top-three 43%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Delaware sector employment mix

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

Delaware private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Delaware spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 18% of 435,085 private-sector workers (about the 14th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

DE breadth ledger · HHI 0.101
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	76,784	18%
Retail Trade (44)	62,102	14%
Accommodation and Food Services (72)	46,106	11%
Top-three cumulative 43% - 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 DE DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#44/51 · 435,085 workers · 28,148 firms

EMP 435,085
EST 28,148
RANK #44/51
PCT 14th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 18% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 15.5 /firm
BOOK 584 NAICS
PHOTO Hawaii

Nearest employment-scale peer: Hawaii (437,405 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Delaware ranks #44 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
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals NAICS 622110	22,894	11	$2.1B	$93,557/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	22,174	899	$614.6M	$27,717/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	13,608	846	$284.9M	$20,937/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	9,520	572	$983.2M	$103,279/yr
Poultry Processing NAICS 311615	8,439	7	$364.9M	$43,240/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	8,338	174	$248.2M	$29,768/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	6,162	134	$873.3M	$141,727/yr
Custom Computer Programming Services NAICS 541511	5,925	765	$819.6M	$138,333/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	5,484	59	$253.2M	$46,172/yr
Software Publishers NAICS 511210	5,041	346	$764.1M	$151,575/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	4,928	349	$138.9M	$28,193/yr
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	4,914	430	$834.3M	$169,782/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	4,719	344	$338.1M	$71,640/yr
Landscaping Services NAICS 561730	4,285	456	$221.4M	$51,659/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	4,124	82	$306.7M	$74,377/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	3,872	185	$115.6M	$29,867/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	3,656	563	$108.1M	$29,565/yr
Credit Card Issuing NAICS 522210	3,455	19	N/A	N/A
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	3,437	283	$263.9M	$76,778/yr
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	3,437	279	$87.0M	$25,310/yr

Breadth peers near Delaware's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (435,085 in Delaware), excluding DE.

Hawaii 437,405 Montana 401,056 Rhode Island 394,740 District of Columbia 520,480 New Hampshire 533,259 West Virginia 537,890 North Dakota 327,925 Maine 545,965

Disclaimer: Delaware (DE) 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 Delaware businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Delaware (DE). See our methodology.

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