How many people are employed in Mississippi?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Mississippi has 955,942 employees across 60,367 business establishments in 673 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Mississippi?

The largest industries in Mississippi by employment are General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (57,093), Limited-Service Restaurants (56,846), and Full-Service Restaurants (36,665).

What is the average payroll in Mississippi?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Mississippi. The highest-paying tracked industry is Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills at $110,708/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Mississippi?

Mississippi has 60,367 business establishments across 673 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · MS · Census CBP 2023

Mississippi Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 673 industries in Mississippi. Drill into any industry for a Mississippi-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

956K
Workers: 60K
Establishments: 673
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Mississippi

Mississippi employs 955,942 workers across 673 tracked industries, led by General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (57,093 workers).

No single sector dominates Mississippi (lead 18%; top-three 47%). Margins stay on national industry pages.

Mississippi sector employment mix

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

Mississippi private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Mississippi spreads employment across sectors: the largest, Health Care and Social Assistance, is only 18% of 955,942 private-sector workers (about the 31st percentile of states by employment). No single NAICS-2 block dominates the private labor market here.

MS breadth ledger · HHI 0.110
Sector	Workers	Share
Health Care and Social Assistance (62)	168,795	18%
Manufacturing (31)	146,261	15%
Retail Trade (44)	136,728	14%
Top-three cumulative 47% - 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 MS DISTRIBUTED · CBP

#35/51 · 955,942 workers · 60,367 firms

EMP 955,942
EST 60,367
RANK #35/51
PCT 31st pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 18% lead
BAND distributed
DENS 15.8 /firm
BOOK 673 NAICS
PHOTO Nebraska

Nearest employment-scale peer: Nebraska (897,981 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Mississippi ranks #35 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
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals NAICS 622110	57,093	97	$3.9B	$68,531/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	56,846	2,498	$914.7M	$16,091/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	36,665	1,752	$768.3M	$20,953/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	24,278	260	$721.3M	$29,710/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	18,689	1,459	$1.7B	$92,390/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	17,835	2,836	$384.6M	$21,562/yr
Casino Hotels NAICS 721120	17,720	27	$716.1M	$40,414/yr
Poultry Processing NAICS 311615	17,668	21	$683.4M	$38,679/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	16,309	405	$398.6M	$24,437/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	15,088	1,176	$1.1B	$75,677/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	14,697	197	$564.5M	$38,412/yr
General Warehousing and Storage NAICS 493110	13,412	157	$648.5M	$48,353/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	11,108	309	$229.0M	$20,619/yr
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores NAICS 447110	10,496	1,760	$239.5M	$22,819/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	9,884	808	$226.2M	$22,890/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	9,777	665	$201.9M	$20,649/yr
All Other General Merchandise Stores NAICS 452319	8,805	1,055	$172.7M	$19,614/yr
General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance, Truckload NAICS 484121	8,305	483	$476.5M	$57,373/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	8,285	215	$571.3M	$68,955/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	8,249	220	$256.7M	$31,119/yr

Breadth peers near Mississippi's private employment

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (955,942 in Mississippi), excluding MS.

Nebraska 897,981 Arkansas 1,072,827 Idaho 686,709 Kansas 1,248,825 New Mexico 628,423 Nevada 1,298,196 Iowa 1,306,260 Oklahoma 1,358,788

Disclaimer: Mississippi (MS) 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 Mississippi businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Mississippi (MS). See our methodology.

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