Retail Trade · New York

Retail Trade in New York

NAICS 44 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Retail Trade in New York

Retail Trade (NAICS 44) in New York reports 862,844 workers across 71,941 establishments, with $35.9B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 5.4% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether New York is a primary labor market for this NAICS code or a smaller satellite. A share above 5% signals a meaningful regional cluster; below 1% usually means the state is not a structural fit for this industry at scale.

Wage benchmarking is where state-level data earns its keep. The average annual compensation for Retail Trade employees in New York is $41,560/yr, versus a national average of $37,746/yr. New York pays above the national average for this industry, which usually reflects higher skill concentration, union density, or regional cost of living.

Profitability data is only available at the national level because the IRS Statistics of Income program does not publish state-level margin breakdowns. The national net profit margin for Retail Trade is 4.2%, and while margins do vary by state, the direction of variance usually follows labor cost and establishment size — both shown above. For a complete picture, pair this state-industry view with the Retail Trade national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the New York overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

862,844

Establishments

71,941

Annual Payroll

$35.9B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$41,560/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

4.2% National

National avg — IRS SOI (no state-level profit data)

Avg Payroll/Employee

$41,560/yr New York
$37,746/yr National

New York vs National avg

Employment

862,844 New York
16,046,207 National

New York share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Retail Trade businesses are in New York?
There are 71,941 Retail Trade (NAICS 44) establishments in New York, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 862,844 workers.
What is the average payroll for Retail Trade in New York?
The average annual payroll per employee for Retail Trade in New York is $41,560/yr. The national average for this industry is $37,746/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does New York compare nationally for Retail Trade?
New York accounts for 5.4% of national employment in Retail Trade, with 862,844 of 16,046,207 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 4.2% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Retail Trade?
The national net profit margin for Retail Trade is 4.2%, based on IRS Statistics of Income data. Note that state-level profit margin data is not available from Census Bureau sources — this figure reflects the nationwide average across all business entities.
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 · NAICS 44 · NY

Related

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

Source: U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2025

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