How many people are employed in Vermont?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Vermont has 248,351 employees across 20,235 business establishments in 513 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Vermont?

The largest industries in Vermont by employment are General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (13,856), Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels (11,110), and Full-Service Restaurants (10,085).

What is the average payroll in Vermont?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Vermont. The highest-paying tracked industry is Other Electronic Parts and Equipment Merchant Wholesalers at $223,420/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Vermont?

Vermont has 20,235 business establishments across 513 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · VT · Census CBP 2023

Vermont Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 513 industries in Vermont. Drill into any industry for a Vermont-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

248K
Workers: 20K
Establishments: 513
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Vermont

Vermont employs 248,351 workers across 513 tracked industries, led by General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (13,856 workers).

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors Vermont; top-three cumulative share is 48%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

Vermont sector employment mix

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

Vermont private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in Vermont (19% of 248,351 private-sector workers (about the 2nd 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

48,409 · 19%

#2 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

37,491 · 15%

#3 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

32,546 · 13%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.110 (open) · top-three 48% of Vermont 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 VT ANCHORED · CBP

#50/51 · 248,351 workers · 20,235 firms

EMP 248,351
EST 20,235
RANK #50/51
PCT 2nd pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 19% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 12.3 /firm
BOOK 513 NAICS
PHOTO Alaska

Nearest employment-scale peer: Alaska (263,002 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Vermont ranks #50 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
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals NAICS 622110	13,856	15	$1.1B	$81,607/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	11,110	220	$344.4M	$30,998/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	10,085	595	$277.3M	$27,497/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	8,853	221	$253.9M	$28,680/yr
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools NAICS 611310	8,332	20	N/A	N/A
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	5,451	435	$137.2M	$25,169/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	3,817	102	$178.5M	$46,764/yr
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores NAICS 447110	3,396	359	$102.2M	$30,105/yr
Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers NAICS 621420	3,237	88	$166.4M	$51,392/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	2,937	82	$211.0M	$71,852/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	2,780	272	$89.1M	$32,057/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	2,766	47	$126.7M	$45,821/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	2,493	104	$97.0M	$38,891/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	2,390	303	$162.1M	$67,833/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	2,390	58	$223.8M	$93,655/yr
All Other Outpatient Care Centers NAICS 621498	2,095	58	$148.2M	$70,723/yr
Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses NAICS 454110	2,043	140	N/A	N/A
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	2,025	324	$127.7M	$63,066/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	1,986	209	$148.7M	$74,858/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	1,918	235	$136.4M	$71,140/yr

Scale peers for Vermont's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (248,351 in Vermont), excluding VT.

Alaska 263,002 Wyoming 203,847 South Dakota 297,192 North Dakota 327,925 Rhode Island 394,740 Montana 401,056 Delaware 435,085 Hawaii 437,405

Disclaimer: Vermont (VT) 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 Vermont businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Vermont (VT). See our methodology.

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