State overview · IL · Census CBP 2023
Illinois Industry Benchmarks
Employment, establishments, and payroll for 1117 industries in Illinois. Drill into any industry for a Illinois-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.
- 5.7M
- Workers
- 322K
- Establishments
- 1117
- Industries tracked
Data updated August 2026
The verdict · Illinois
Illinois employs 5,659,820 workers across 1117 tracked industries, led by Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices (225,210 workers) among the 514 detailed industries with published employment.
No single sector dominates Illinois (lead 15%; top-three 35%). Margins stay on national industry pages.
Illinois sector employment mix
Share of private-sector employment by NAICS-2 sector (Census CBP 2023). Tile area = workers.
Illinois spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 15% of 5,659,820 private-sector workers (about the 88th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.
Not ranked: 2 of 20 sectors have no published employment figure. Census County Business Patterns applies 2% or more noise to those cells, and PlainBizBench publishes only low-noise figures rather than estimating. Total employment, shares and the mix on this page sum only the sectors with a published figure. How we handle withheld data.
| Sector | Workers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Health Care and Social Assistance (62) | 857,043 | 15% |
| Retail Trade (44) | 571,091 | 10% |
| Manufacturing (31) | 544,438 | 10% |
| Top-three cumulative 35% - 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 IL DISTRIBUTED · CBP
#6/51 · 5,659,820 workers · 321,887 firms
- EMP 5,659,820
- EST 321,887
- RANK #6/51
- PCT 88th pct
- LEAD Health Care and Soci…
- SHARE 15% lead
- BAND distributed
- DENS 17.6 /firm
- BOOK 1117 NAICS
- PHOTO Pennsylvania
Nearest employment-scale peer: Pennsylvania (5,684,514 workers)
According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Illinois ranks #6 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 →
IL in the employment-scale neighbourhood
Top Industries by Employment
Not ranked: 388 of 902 detailed industries have no published employment figure. Census County Business Patterns applies 2% or more noise to those cells, and PlainBizBench publishes only low-noise figures rather than estimating. Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores (2,647) and Portfolio Management (2,144) report more establishments than Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices, so Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices leads only among the 514 detailed industries with published employment. How we handle withheld data.
Breadth peers near Illinois's private employment
Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (5,659,820 in Illinois), excluding IL.
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · IL
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.