Transportation and Warehousing · Wisconsin

Transportation and Warehousing in Wisconsin

NAICS 48 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Transportation and Warehousing in Wisconsin

Transportation and Warehousing (NAICS 48) in Wisconsin reports 121,545 workers across 5,848 establishments, with $6.7B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 1.9% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether Wisconsin 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 Transportation and Warehousing employees in Wisconsin is $55,221/yr, versus a national average of $61,391/yr. Wisconsin 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 Transportation and Warehousing is 6.0%, 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 Transportation and Warehousing national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the Wisconsin overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

121,545

Establishments

5,848

Annual Payroll

$6.7B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$55,221/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

6.0% National

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

Avg Payroll/Employee

$55,221/yr Wisconsin
$61,391/yr National

Wisconsin vs National avg

Employment

121,545 Wisconsin
6,548,924 National

Wisconsin share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Transportation and Warehousing businesses are in Wisconsin?
There are 5,848 Transportation and Warehousing (NAICS 48) establishments in Wisconsin, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 121,545 workers.
What is the average payroll for Transportation and Warehousing in Wisconsin?
The average annual payroll per employee for Transportation and Warehousing in Wisconsin is $55,221/yr. The national average for this industry is $61,391/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does Wisconsin compare nationally for Transportation and Warehousing?
Wisconsin accounts for 1.9% of national employment in Transportation and Warehousing, with 121,545 of 6,548,924 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 6.0% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Transportation and Warehousing?
The national net profit margin for Transportation and Warehousing is 6.0%, 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 48 · WI

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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