How many people are employed in Missouri?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Missouri has 2,611,057 employees across 150,407 business establishments in 879 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Missouri?

The largest industries in Missouri by employment are Full-Service Restaurants (101,104), Limited-Service Restaurants (98,624), and Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices (84,517).

What is the average payroll in Missouri?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Missouri. The highest-paying tracked industry is Sports Teams and Clubs at $243,218/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Missouri?

Missouri has 150,407 business establishments across 879 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · MO · Census CBP 2023

Missouri Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 879 industries in Missouri. Drill into any industry for a Missouri-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

2.6M
Workers: 150K
Establishments: 879
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Missouri

Missouri employs 2,611,057 workers across 879 tracked industries, led by Full-Service Restaurants (101,104 workers).

No single sector dominates Missouri (lead 16%; top-three 39%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Missouri sector employment mix

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

Missouri private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Missouri spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 16% of 2,611,057 private-sector workers (about the 65th percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

MO breadth ledger · HHI 0.089
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	427,714	16%
Retail Trade (44)	314,186	12%
Manufacturing (31)	283,563	11%
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 MO DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#18/51 · 2,611,057 workers · 150,407 firms

EMP 2,611,057
EST 150,407
RANK #18/51
PCT 65th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 16% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 17.4 /firm
BOOK 879 NAICS
PHOTO Wisconsin

Nearest employment-scale peer: Wisconsin (2,574,604 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Missouri ranks #18 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
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	101,104	4,522	$2.5B	$24,806/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	98,624	4,814	$1.9B	$19,516/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	84,517	1,214	$10.4B	$122,586/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	45,068	955	$1.1B	$24,078/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	41,527	4,764	$1.1B	$27,075/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	40,939	3,042	$5.0B	$121,934/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	35,933	547	$1.4B	$39,325/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	29,360	3,454	$816.2M	$27,800/yr
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores NAICS 447110	24,658	2,344	$726.3M	$29,454/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	23,861	1,452	$844.5M	$35,394/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	23,628	1,915	$1.8B	$75,349/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	23,287	824	N/A	N/A
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	23,120	1,194	$589.7M	$25,504/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	22,402	482	$1.6B	$72,850/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	22,280	1,073	$707.8M	$31,770/yr
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages NAICS 524210	19,059	3,330	$1.6B	$83,298/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	18,768	1,463	$523.7M	$27,906/yr
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	18,479	2,759	$2.0B	$108,582/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	18,264	1,282	$1.4B	$79,151/yr
Custom Computer Programming Services NAICS 541511	17,120	733	$1.9B	$110,115/yr

Breadth peers near Missouri's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (2,611,057 in Missouri), excluding MO.

Wisconsin 2,574,604 Indiana 2,573,310 Colorado 2,555,107 Washington 2,749,118 Maryland 2,458,634 Minnesota 2,788,620 Arizona 2,864,269 Tennessee 2,971,191

Disclaimer: Missouri (MO) 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 Missouri businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Missouri (MO). See our methodology.

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