How many people are employed in Massachusetts?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Massachusetts has 3,473,172 employees across 183,439 business establishments in 943 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Massachusetts?

The largest industries in Massachusetts by employment are Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (162,904), Full-Service Restaurants (133,020), and Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices (114,630).

What is the average payroll in Massachusetts?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Massachusetts. The highest-paying tracked industry is Portfolio Management at $345,846/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts has 183,439 business establishments across 943 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · MA · Census CBP 2023

Massachusetts Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 943 industries in Massachusetts. Drill into any industry for a Massachusetts-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

3.5M
Workers: 183K
Establishments: 943
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Massachusetts

Massachusetts employs 3,473,172 workers across 943 tracked industries, led by Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (162,904 workers).

No single sector dominates Massachusetts (lead 18%; top-three 39%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Massachusetts sector employment mix

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

Massachusetts private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Massachusetts spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 18% of 3,473,172 private-sector workers (about the 75th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

MA breadth ledger · HHI 0.088
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	618,482	18%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)	369,685	11%
Retail Trade (44)	357,807	10%
Top-three cumulative 39% - 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 MA DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#13/51 · 3,473,172 workers · 183,439 firms

EMP 3,473,172
EST 183,439
RANK #13/51
PCT 75th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 18% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 18.9 /firm
BOOK 943 NAICS
PHOTO Virginia

Nearest employment-scale peer: Virginia (3,566,772 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Massachusetts ranks #13 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
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools NAICS 611310	162,904	113	$9.6B	$59,205/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	133,020	6,558	$4.5B	$34,039/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	114,630	991	$16.5B	$143,915/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	86,775	1,348	$2.6B	$29,532/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	83,318	930	$3.9B	$46,564/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	72,008	5,337	$1.9B	$26,147/yr
Software Publishers NAICS 511210	57,916	756	$11.2B	$192,597/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	55,966	2,562	$8.0B	$143,189/yr
Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) NAICS 541715	53,999	907	N/A	N/A
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	41,799	898	$1.8B	$42,031/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	40,112	428	$2.1B	$52,058/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	36,174	1,463	$4.2B	$114,789/yr
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	36,086	2,667	$844.6M	$23,406/yr
Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) NAICS 541714	35,946	687	$8.1B	$225,664/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	35,241	538	$2.1B	$60,473/yr
Custom Computer Programming Services NAICS 541511	34,618	1,736	$5.6B	$163,158/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	32,471	2,309	$1.2B	$36,239/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	32,044	846	$1.3B	$39,048/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	31,472	1,418	$4.8B	$152,706/yr
Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services NAICS 541611	30,405	1,893	$4.8B	$157,904/yr

Breadth peers near Massachusetts's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (3,473,172 in Massachusetts), excluding MA.

Virginia 3,566,772 New Jersey 3,923,631 Tennessee 2,971,191 Michigan 4,012,577 North Carolina 4,036,587 Arizona 2,864,269 Minnesota 2,788,620 Washington 2,749,118

Disclaimer: Massachusetts (MA) 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 Massachusetts businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Massachusetts (MA). See our methodology.

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