State Overview · Census CBP 2023

Utah Industries

Employment and payroll benchmarks for 865 industries in Utah

Reading the Utah Industry Picture

Utah (UT) shows 5,920,523 workers employed across 409,297 business establishments, covering 865 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 Utah is Administrative and Support and Waste Management with 195,297 workers — a signal about what kind of labor market and supplier ecosystem the state actually supports.

Beyond the top employer, Administrative and Support and Waste Management (191,057) and Retail Trade (178,708) 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 (Manufacturing) pays $162,179/yr per employee, while the lowest-paying (Educational Services) pays $11,672/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 Utah requires combining this state page with the national industry page. Click any industry in the table below to drop into a Utah-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

5,920,523

Total Establishments

409,297

Industries Tracked

865

Top Industries by Employment

Industry Employment
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 56

195,297
Administrative and Support and Waste Management

NAICS 561

191,057
Retail Trade

NAICS 44

178,708
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 62

176,253
Manufacturing

NAICS 31

145,645
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 72

143,157
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 722

120,865
Construction

NAICS 23

117,792
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

NAICS 54

113,902
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

NAICS 541

113,902
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 7225

113,253
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 72251

113,253
Finance and Insurance

NAICS 52

85,525
Construction

NAICS 238

81,911
Transportation and Warehousing

NAICS 48

78,196
Health Care and Social Assistance

NAICS 621

75,742
Wholesale Trade

NAICS 42

63,715
Other Services (except Public Administration)

NAICS 81

60,737
Information

NAICS 51

59,792
Accommodation and Food Services

NAICS 722513

59,380

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people are employed in Utah?
According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Utah has 5,920,523 employees across 409,297 business establishments in 865 tracked industries.
What are the largest industries in Utah?
The largest industries in Utah by employment are Administrative and Support and Waste Management (195,297), Administrative and Support and Waste Management (191,057), and Retail Trade (178,708).
What is the average payroll in Utah?
Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Utah. The highest-paying tracked industry is Manufacturing at $162,179/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.
How many businesses operate in Utah?
Utah has 409,297 business establishments across 865 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 · UT

Related

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

Verify with IRS →