State overview · MA · Census CBP 2023
Massachusetts Industry Benchmarks
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.
- 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) among the 418 detailed industries with published employment.
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 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.
Not ranked: 1 of 20 sectors has 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) | 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 →
MA in the employment-scale neighbourhood
Top Industries by Employment
Not ranked: 410 of 828 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. Masonry Contractors (629), Parking Lots and Garages (601), Veterinary Services (583) and 52 more report more establishments than Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools, so Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools leads only among the 418 detailed industries with published employment. How we handle withheld data.
Breadth peers near Massachusetts's private employment
Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (3,473,172 in Massachusetts), excluding MA.
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · MA
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.