How many people are employed in Minnesota?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Minnesota has 2,788,620 employees across 154,084 business establishments in 912 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Minnesota?

The largest industries in Minnesota by employment are Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices (150,335), Full-Service Restaurants (87,230), and Limited-Service Restaurants (75,564).

What is the average payroll in Minnesota?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Minnesota. The highest-paying tracked industry is Sports Teams and Clubs at $420,948/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Minnesota?

Minnesota has 154,084 business establishments across 912 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · MN · Census CBP 2023

Minnesota Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 912 industries in Minnesota. Drill into any industry for a Minnesota-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

2.8M
Workers: 154K
Establishments: 912
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Minnesota

Minnesota employs 2,788,620 workers across 912 tracked industries, led by Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices (150,335 workers).

No single sector dominates Minnesota (lead 17%; top-three 40%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Minnesota sector employment mix

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

Minnesota private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Minnesota spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 17% of 2,788,620 private-sector workers (about the 69th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

MN breadth ledger · HHI 0.089
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	482,616	17%
Manufacturing (31)	325,317	12%
Retail Trade (44)	306,468	11%
Top-three cumulative 40% - 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 MN DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#16/51 · 2,788,620 workers · 154,084 firms

EMP 2,788,620
EST 154,084
RANK #16/51
PCT 69th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 17% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 18.1 /firm
BOOK 912 NAICS
PHOTO Washington

Nearest employment-scale peer: Washington (2,749,118 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Minnesota ranks #16 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
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	150,335	990	$17.0B	$113,024/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	87,230	3,879	$2.3B	$26,067/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	75,564	3,848	$1.6B	$20,641/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	57,241	658	$2.7B	$47,169/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	50,928	998	$1.3B	$26,327/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	50,807	1,276	$1.3B	$25,833/yr
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters NAICS 452311	47,719	192	N/A	N/A
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	45,549	1,655	$4.8B	$105,517/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	34,176	995	$1.1B	$33,431/yr
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools NAICS 611310	33,666	73	$1.2B	$36,812/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	32,939	4,035	$884.6M	$26,855/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	27,970	435	$1.2B	$42,232/yr
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores NAICS 447110	25,737	1,835	$671.7M	$26,097/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	23,358	925	$745.6M	$31,920/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	21,547	502	$901.2M	$41,823/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	21,395	421	$1.5B	$69,037/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	21,283	1,816	$1.8B	$84,396/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	20,373	1,473	$611.0M	$29,990/yr
Continuing Care Retirement Communities NAICS 623311	18,969	339	$733.3M	$38,659/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	18,708	887	$2.1B	$111,248/yr

Breadth peers near Minnesota's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (2,788,620 in Minnesota), excluding MN.

Washington 2,749,118 Arizona 2,864,269 Missouri 2,611,057 Tennessee 2,971,191 Wisconsin 2,574,604 Indiana 2,573,310 Colorado 2,555,107 Maryland 2,458,634

Disclaimer: Minnesota (MN) 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 Minnesota businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Minnesota (MN). See our methodology.

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