State Overview · Census CBP 2023

Florida Industries

Employment and payroll benchmarks for 1207 industries in Florida

Reading the Florida Industry Picture

Florida (FL) shows 45,404,628 workers employed across 2,954,940 business establishments, covering 1207 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 program. That single-state footprint is a starting point for anyone benchmarking location strategy, evaluating a market for expansion, or simply understanding where jobs concentrate. The single largest employer-industry in Florida is Administrative and Support and Waste Management with 2,373,309 workers — a signal about what kind of labor market and supplier ecosystem the state actually supports.

Beyond the top employer, Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,338,093) and Administrative and Support and Waste Management (1,918,405) fill out the top three, giving you a quick read on the state's economic base. Payroll dispersion is just as important as headcount: the highest-paying tracked industry (Finance and Insurance) pays $293,222/yr per employee, while the lowest-paying (Information) pays $14,830/yr. That gap tells you how the state's median wage is being pulled up or down by its industry composition — critical context for anyone comparing cost of labor across markets.

Census CBP data does not include profit margins (that comes from IRS Statistics of Income at the national level only), so a full benchmark on any specific NAICS code in Florida requires combining this state page with the national industry page. Click any industry in the table below to drop into a Florida-specific NAICS view showing employment, establishments, annual payroll, and average compensation for that exact combination — then cross-reference the national page for profitability, entity structure, and SBA lending activity in the same industry.

Total Employment

45,404,628

Total Establishments

2,954,940

Industries Tracked

1207

Top Industries by Employment

Industry Employment
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 56

2,373,309
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 561

2,338,093
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 5613

1,918,405
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 56133

1,684,968
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 561330

1,684,968
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 62

1,286,330
Retail Trade

NAICS 44

1,146,619
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 72

1,048,633
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 722

873,724
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 7225

798,469
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 72251

798,469
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

NAICS 54

614,527
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

NAICS 541

614,527
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 621

587,301
Construction

NAICS 23

561,420
Finance and Insurance

NAICS 52

472,606
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 722511

444,025
Construction

NAICS 238

386,498
Transportation and Warehousing

NAICS 48

376,370
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 622

369,683

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people are employed in Florida?
According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Florida has 45,404,628 employees across 2,954,940 business establishments in 1207 tracked industries.
What are the largest industries in Florida?
The largest industries in Florida by employment are Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,373,309), Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,338,093), and Administrative and Support and Waste Management (1,918,405).
What is the average payroll in Florida?
Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Florida. The highest-paying tracked industry is Finance and Insurance at $293,222/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.
How many businesses operate in Florida?
Florida has 2,954,940 business establishments across 1207 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.
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 · FL

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

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