Wholesale Trade · Ohio

Wholesale Trade in Ohio

NAICS 42 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Wholesale Trade in Ohio

Wholesale Trade (NAICS 42) in Ohio reports 232,316 workers across 12,323 establishments, with $18.1B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 3.7% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether Ohio 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 Wholesale Trade employees in Ohio is $77,973/yr, versus a national average of $90,505/yr. Ohio pays below the national average for this industry — common in lower cost-of-living states or where the industry has a smaller, less specialized local workforce.

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 Wholesale Trade is 4.1%, 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 Wholesale Trade national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the Ohio overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

232,316

Establishments

12,323

Annual Payroll

$18.1B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$77,973/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

4.1% National

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

Avg Payroll/Employee

$77,973/yr Ohio
$90,505/yr National

Ohio vs National avg

Employment

232,316 Ohio
6,236,357 National

Ohio share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Wholesale Trade businesses are in Ohio?
There are 12,323 Wholesale Trade (NAICS 42) establishments in Ohio, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 232,316 workers.
What is the average payroll for Wholesale Trade in Ohio?
The average annual payroll per employee for Wholesale Trade in Ohio is $77,973/yr. The national average for this industry is $90,505/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does Ohio compare nationally for Wholesale Trade?
Ohio accounts for 3.7% of national employment in Wholesale Trade, with 232,316 of 6,236,357 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 4.1% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Wholesale Trade?
The national net profit margin for Wholesale Trade is 4.1%, 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 42 · OH

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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