Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Washington

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in Washington

NAICS 541 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in Washington

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (NAICS 541) in Washington reports 242,493 workers across 23,574 establishments, with $27.5B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 2.3% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether Washington 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 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services employees in Washington is $113,574/yr, versus a national average of $107,141/yr. Washington 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 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services is not reported, 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 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the Washington overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

242,493

Establishments

23,574

Annual Payroll

$27.5B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$113,574/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

N/A National

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

Avg Payroll/Employee

$113,574/yr Washington
$107,141/yr National

Washington vs National avg

Employment

242,493 Washington
10,401,442 National

Washington share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services businesses are in Washington?
There are 23,574 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (NAICS 541) establishments in Washington, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 242,493 workers.
What is the average payroll for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in Washington?
The average annual payroll per employee for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in Washington is $113,574/yr. The national average for this industry is $107,141/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does Washington compare nationally for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services?
Washington accounts for 2.3% of national employment in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, with 242,493 of 10,401,442 total US workers in this industry.
What is the profit margin for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services?
Profit margin data for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services is not available in the current IRS SOI dataset.
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 541 · WA

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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