How many people are employed in Washington?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Washington has 2,749,118 employees across 196,753 business establishments in 924 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Washington?

The largest industries in Washington by employment among the 413 detailed industries with published employment are General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (121,384), Full-Service Restaurants (110,404), and Limited-Service Restaurants (90,955).

What is the average payroll in Washington?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Washington. The highest-paying tracked industry is Miscellaneous Intermediation at $255,740/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Washington?

Washington has 196,753 business establishments across 924 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · WA · Census CBP 2023

Washington Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 924 industries in Washington. Drill into any industry for a Washington-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

2.7M
Workers: 197K
Establishments: 924
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Washington

Washington employs 2,749,118 workers across 924 tracked industries, led by General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (121,384 workers) among the 413 detailed industries with published employment.

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors Washington; top-three cumulative share is 42%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

Washington sector employment mix

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

Washington private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in Washington (18% of 2,749,118 private-sector workers (about the 67th 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.

Not ranked: 3 of 20 sectors have no published employment figure. Census County Business Patterns applies 2% or more noise to those cells, and PlainBizBench publishes only low-noise figures rather than estimating. Total employment, shares and the mix on this page sum only the sectors with a published figure. How we handle withheld data.

#1 · NAICS 62

Health Care and Social Assistance

499,464 · 18%

#2 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

340,694 · 12%

#3 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

306,631 · 11%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.098 (open) · top-three 42% of Washington 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 WA ANCHORED · CBP

#17/51 · 2,749,118 workers · 196,753 firms

EMP 2,749,118
EST 196,753
RANK #17/51
PCT 67th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 18% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 14.0 /firm
BOOK 924 NAICS
PHOTO Minnesota

Nearest employment-scale peer: Minnesota (2,788,620 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Washington ranks #17 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	121,384	105	$11.6B	$95,318/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	110,404	6,724	$3.9B	$35,223/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	90,955	5,168	$2.3B	$25,717/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	48,818	721	$2.5B	$51,492/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	34,507	1,701	N/A	N/A
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	33,600	758	N/A	N/A
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars NAICS 722515	33,561	3,088	$858.6M	$25,584/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	33,200	1,211	$1.4B	$42,624/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	33,116	2,242	$3.0B	$89,508/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	32,863	3,570	$1.1B	$32,507/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	32,617	3,633	$2.0B	$61,700/yr
Custom Computer Programming Services NAICS 541511	28,204	1,585	$3.8B	$135,656/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	26,650	2,142	$2.4B	$91,152/yr
Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services NAICS 541611	23,151	2,300	$3.2B	$140,001/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	22,898	2,386	$806.5M	$35,223/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	22,281	488	$1.9B	$84,742/yr
Commercial Banking NAICS 522110	21,929	1,694	$2.2B	$101,072/yr
Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly NAICS 623312	21,682	1,824	$867.9M	$40,029/yr
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	21,105	3,489	$2.7B	$129,881/yr
Landscaping Services NAICS 561730	19,278	3,194	$1.0B	$52,617/yr

Not ranked: 433 of 846 detailed industries have no published employment figure. Census County Business Patterns applies 2% or more noise to those cells, and PlainBizBench publishes only low-noise figures rather than estimating. Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) (2,880), Computer Systems Design Services (1,643), Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores (1,587) and 76 more report more establishments than General Medical and Surgical Hospitals, so General Medical and Surgical Hospitals leads only among the 413 detailed industries with published employment. How we handle withheld data.

Scale peers for Washington's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (2,749,118 in Washington), excluding WA.

Minnesota 2,788,620 Arizona 2,864,269 Missouri 2,611,057 Wisconsin 2,574,604 Indiana 2,573,310 Colorado 2,555,107 Tennessee 2,971,191 Maryland 2,458,634

Disclaimer: Washington (WA) 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 Washington businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for Washington (WA). See our methodology.

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