State Overview · Census CBP 2023

Nevada Industries

Employment and payroll benchmarks for 839 industries in Nevada

Reading the Nevada Industry Picture

Nevada (NV) shows 4,855,024 workers employed across 332,127 business establishments, covering 839 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 program. That single-state footprint is a starting point for anyone benchmarking location strategy, evaluating a market for expansion, or simply understanding where jobs concentrate. The single largest employer-industry in Nevada is Accommodation and Food Services with 314,186 workers — a signal about what kind of labor market and supplier ecosystem the state actually supports.

Beyond the top employer, Retail Trade (164,986) and Accommodation and Food Services (151,182) fill out the top three, giving you a quick read on the state's economic base. Payroll dispersion is just as important as headcount: the highest-paying tracked industry (Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting) pays $167,000/yr per employee, while the lowest-paying (Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation) pays $15,526/yr. That gap tells you how the state's median wage is being pulled up or down by its industry composition — critical context for anyone comparing cost of labor across markets.

Census CBP data does not include profit margins (that comes from IRS Statistics of Income at the national level only), so a full benchmark on any specific NAICS code in Nevada requires combining this state page with the national industry page. Click any industry in the table below to drop into a Nevada-specific NAICS view showing employment, establishments, annual payroll, and average compensation for that exact combination — then cross-reference the national page for profitability, entity structure, and SBA lending activity in the same industry.

Total Employment

4,855,024

Total Establishments

332,127

Industries Tracked

839

Top Industries by Employment

Industry Employment
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 72

314,186
Retail Trade

NAICS 44

164,986
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 722

151,182
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 62

150,070
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 7225

131,732
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 72251

131,732
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 56

122,504
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 561

117,264
Construction

NAICS 23

102,903
Construction

NAICS 238

78,191
Transportation and Warehousing

NAICS 48

72,713
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

NAICS 54

70,876
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

NAICS 541

70,876
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 621

64,693
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 722511

64,372
Manufacturing

NAICS 31

64,363
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 722513

55,890
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 5613

47,761
Finance and Insurance

NAICS 52

47,413
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 622

43,954

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people are employed in Nevada?
According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Nevada has 4,855,024 employees across 332,127 business establishments in 839 tracked industries.
What are the largest industries in Nevada?
The largest industries in Nevada by employment are Accommodation and Food Services (314,186), Retail Trade (164,986), and Accommodation and Food Services (151,182).
What is the average payroll in Nevada?
Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Nevada. The highest-paying tracked industry is Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting at $167,000/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.
How many businesses operate in Nevada?
Nevada has 332,127 business establishments across 839 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.
Disclaimer: PlainBizBench provides publicly available IRS and Census data for informational purposes only. This is not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant or financial advisor for business-specific guidance.

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

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Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBizBench Editorial

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