How many people are employed in New Mexico?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, New Mexico has 628,423 employees across 42,214 business establishments in 644 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in New Mexico?

The largest industries in New Mexico by employment are Limited-Service Restaurants (35,395), Full-Service Restaurants (31,295), and Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (17,491).

What is the average payroll in New Mexico?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in New Mexico. The highest-paying tracked industry is Crude Petroleum Extraction at $151,232/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in New Mexico?

New Mexico has 42,214 business establishments across 644 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · NM · Census CBP 2023

New Mexico Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 644 industries in New Mexico. Drill into any industry for a New Mexico-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

628K
Workers: 42K
Establishments: 644
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · New Mexico

New Mexico employs 628,423 workers across 644 tracked industries, led by Limited-Service Restaurants (35,395 workers).

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors New Mexico; top-three cumulative share is 51%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

New Mexico sector employment mix

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

New Mexico private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in New Mexico (20% of 628,423 private-sector workers (about the 25th 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

128,748 · 20%

#2 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

96,072 · 15%

#3 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

95,261 · 15%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.116 (open) · top-three 51% of New Mexico 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 NM ANCHORED · CBP

#38/51 · 628,423 workers · 42,214 firms

EMP 628,423
EST 42,214
RANK #38/51
PCT 25th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 20% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 14.9 /firm
BOOK 644 NAICS
PHOTO Idaho

Nearest employment-scale peer: Idaho (686,709 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, New Mexico ranks #38 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
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	35,395	1,651	$744.3M	$21,030/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	31,295	1,329	$785.1M	$25,086/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	17,491	273	$397.4M	$22,721/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	14,160	627	$416.8M	$29,435/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	10,408	226	$355.5M	$34,154/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	9,816	835	$916.7M	$93,388/yr
Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations NAICS 213112	8,495	405	$756.0M	$88,992/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	7,709	1,054	$205.8M	$26,699/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	7,126	383	$737.6M	$103,513/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	6,729	604	$478.1M	$71,051/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	6,612	691	$396.1M	$59,905/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	6,521	449	$208.5M	$31,971/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	5,632	684	$313.5M	$55,657/yr
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	5,355	485	$105.7M	$19,748/yr
Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers NAICS 561422	4,927	26	N/A	N/A
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	4,697	983	$430.8M	$91,708/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	4,592	118	$196.5M	$42,797/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	4,567	62	N/A	N/A
All Other Outpatient Care Centers NAICS 621498	4,029	211	$263.6M	$65,432/yr
Janitorial Services NAICS 561720	3,875	312	$91.3M	$23,555/yr

Scale peers for New Mexico's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (628,423 in New Mexico), excluding NM.

Idaho 686,709 Maine 545,965 West Virginia 537,890 New Hampshire 533,259 District of Columbia 520,480 Hawaii 437,405 Delaware 435,085 Montana 401,056

Disclaimer: New Mexico (NM) 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 New Mexico businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for New Mexico (NM). See our methodology.

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