How many people are employed in West Virginia?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, West Virginia has 537,890 employees across 34,824 business establishments in 525 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in West Virginia?

The largest industries in West Virginia by employment are Limited-Service Restaurants (25,523), Full-Service Restaurants (23,777), and Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) (13,684).

What is the average payroll in West Virginia?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in West Virginia. The highest-paying tracked industry is Nonscheduled Air Transportation at $246,000/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in West Virginia?

West Virginia has 34,824 business establishments across 525 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · WV · Census CBP 2023

West Virginia Industry Benchmarks

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

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 525 industries in West Virginia. Drill into any industry for a West Virginia-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

538K
Workers: 35K
Establishments: 525
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · West Virginia

West Virginia employs 537,890 workers across 525 tracked industries, led by Limited-Service Restaurants (25,523 workers).

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors West Virginia; top-three cumulative share is 53%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

West Virginia sector employment mix

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

West Virginia private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in West Virginia (26% of 537,890 private-sector workers (about the 22nd 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

139,754 · 26%

#2 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

77,727 · 14%

#3 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

65,992 · 12%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.127 (moderate) · top-three 53% of West Virginia 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 WV ANCHORED · CBP

#40/51 · 537,890 workers · 34,824 firms

EMP 537,890
EST 34,824
RANK #40/51
PCT 22nd pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 26% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 15.4 /firm
BOOK 525 NAICS
PHOTO New Hampshire

Nearest employment-scale peer: New Hampshire (533,259 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, West Virginia ranks #40 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
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	25,523	1,292	$438.6M	$17,183/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	23,777	1,234	$485.2M	$20,406/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	13,684	916	N/A	N/A
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	12,704	236	$281.4M	$22,152/yr
Bituminous Coal Underground Mining NAICS 212112	9,504	48	N/A	N/A
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	9,432	260	$245.3M	$26,004/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	6,924	1,511	$152.3M	$21,990/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	6,913	117	$264.6M	$38,280/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	6,516	298	$145.9M	$22,385/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	5,988	160	$378.5M	$63,213/yr
Pharmacies and Drug Stores NAICS 446110	5,485	384	$239.6M	$43,690/yr
Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices NAICS 551114	5,255	173	$364.3M	$69,326/yr
Child Day Care Services NAICS 624410	5,031	407	$119.0M	$23,663/yr
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	4,733	775	$354.5M	$74,897/yr
Site Preparation Contractors NAICS 238910	4,631	385	$277.7M	$59,964/yr
All Other Outpatient Care Centers NAICS 621498	4,569	209	$371.0M	$81,210/yr
Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers NAICS 621420	4,296	152	$229.0M	$53,295/yr
Offices of Dentists NAICS 621210	4,036	473	$215.4M	$53,378/yr
Bituminous Coal and Lignite Surface Mining NAICS 212111	3,605	34	$396.8M	$110,075/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	3,468	126	$165.8M	$47,818/yr

Scale peers for West Virginia's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (537,890 in West Virginia), excluding WV.

New Hampshire 533,259 Maine 545,965 District of Columbia 520,480 New Mexico 628,423 Hawaii 437,405 Delaware 435,085 Montana 401,056 Rhode Island 394,740

Disclaimer: West Virginia (WV) 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 West Virginia businesses.

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

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

Data sourced from official public datasets for West Virginia (WV). See our methodology.

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