How many people are employed in North Dakota?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, North Dakota has 327,925 employees across 24,190 business establishments in 492 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in North Dakota?

The largest industries in North Dakota by employment are General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (19,951), Full-Service Restaurants (12,006), and Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations (10,155).

What is the average payroll in North Dakota?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in North Dakota. The highest-paying tracked industry is Crude Petroleum Extraction at $181,531/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in North Dakota?

North Dakota has 24,190 business establishments across 492 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · ND · Census CBP 2023

North Dakota Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 492 industries in North Dakota. Drill into any industry for a North Dakota-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

328K
Workers: 24K
Establishments: 492
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · North Dakota

North Dakota employs 327,925 workers across 492 tracked industries, led by General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (19,951 workers).

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors North Dakota; top-three cumulative share is 44%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

North Dakota sector employment mix

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

North Dakota private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in North Dakota (20% of 327,925 private-sector workers (about the 8th percentile of states by employment)), but sibling sectors still take meaningful shares. Read the treemap as an anchor-plus-breadth economy rather than a one-sector state.

#1 · NAICS 62

Health Care and Social Assistance

64,188 · 20%

#2 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

45,791 · 14%

#3 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

34,052 · 10%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.102 (open) · top-three 44% of North Dakota private payroll.

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 ND ANCHORED · CBP

#47/51 · 327,925 workers · 24,190 firms

EMP 327,925
EST 24,190
RANK #47/51
PCT 8th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 20% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 13.6 /firm
BOOK 492 NAICS
PHOTO South Dakota

Nearest employment-scale peer: South Dakota (297,192 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, North Dakota ranks #47 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	19,951	47	$1.6B	$78,794/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	12,006	582	$293.3M	$24,429/yr
Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations NAICS 213112	10,155	384	$1.2B	$117,120/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	9,354	510	$195.0M	$20,849/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	6,949	69	$287.8M	$41,409/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	6,899	401	$552.5M	$80,089/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	5,754	168	$139.6M	$24,269/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	5,263	166	$557.8M	$105,977/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	4,896	289	$120.2M	$24,545/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	4,350	712	$113.3M	$26,057/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	4,121	371	$385.5M	$93,546/yr
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores NAICS 447110	4,044	314	$124.7M	$30,838/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	4,018	83	$284.8M	$70,890/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	3,915	374	$91.1M	$23,282/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	3,368	336	$239.5M	$71,104/yr
All Other Outpatient Care Centers NAICS 621498	3,344	73	$239.6M	$71,647/yr
Farm and Garden Machinery and Equipment Merchant Wholesalers NAICS 423820	3,123	174	$272.9M	$87,386/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	3,098	282	$226.0M	$72,943/yr
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) NAICS 722410	3,042	376	$53.7M	$17,641/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	3,008	193	$266.1M	$88,477/yr

Scale peers for North Dakota's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (327,925 in North Dakota), excluding ND.

South Dakota 297,192 Alaska 263,002 Rhode Island 394,740 Montana 401,056 Vermont 248,351 Delaware 435,085 Hawaii 437,405 Wyoming 203,847

Disclaimer: North Dakota (ND) 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 North Dakota businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for North Dakota (ND). See our methodology.

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