Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/what-are-the-top-ten-us-indust Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter What Are the Top U.S. Industries? Economy Dec 9, 2008 11:11 AM EDT Question/Comment: There’s been a lot of talk recently about saving the financial industry, the auto industry. What are the top U.S. industries, in terms of total dollar value, number of employees, etc? I tried Googling it, but did not use the right words or phrases and came up empty. Paul Solman: Ah, just what I’ve always longed for: a Google-off. Here’s the latest list I could find, from the U.S. Economic Census, 2002, using the North American Industry Classification System: Sales ($1,000) Payroll ($1,000) Employees Mining 182,911,093 21,173,895 477,840 Utilities 398,907,044 42,417,830 663,044 Construction 1,196,555,587 254,292,144 7,193,069 Manufacturing 3,916,136,712 576,170,541 14,699,536 Wholesale Trade 4,634,755,112 259,653,080 5,878,405 Retail Trade 3,056,421,997 302,113,581 14,647,675 Transportation & Warehousing 382,152,040 115,988,733 3,650,859 Information 891,845,956 194,670,163 3,736,061 Finance & Ins. 2,803,854,868 377,790,172 6,578,817 Real Estate 335,587,706 60,222,584 1,948,657 Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services 886,801,038 376,090,052 7,243,505 Management 107,064,264 178,996,060 2,605,292 Health Care & Social Assistance 1,207,299 495,845,829 15,052,255 Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation 141,904,109 45,169,117 1,848,674 Accommodation & Food Services 449,498,718 127,554,483 10,120,951 Order them any way you wish. My only warning is the date: 2002. “Finance and insurance” may well have since shrunk. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now
Question/Comment: There’s been a lot of talk recently about saving the financial industry, the auto industry. What are the top U.S. industries, in terms of total dollar value, number of employees, etc? I tried Googling it, but did not use the right words or phrases and came up empty. Paul Solman: Ah, just what I’ve always longed for: a Google-off. Here’s the latest list I could find, from the U.S. Economic Census, 2002, using the North American Industry Classification System: Sales ($1,000) Payroll ($1,000) Employees Mining 182,911,093 21,173,895 477,840 Utilities 398,907,044 42,417,830 663,044 Construction 1,196,555,587 254,292,144 7,193,069 Manufacturing 3,916,136,712 576,170,541 14,699,536 Wholesale Trade 4,634,755,112 259,653,080 5,878,405 Retail Trade 3,056,421,997 302,113,581 14,647,675 Transportation & Warehousing 382,152,040 115,988,733 3,650,859 Information 891,845,956 194,670,163 3,736,061 Finance & Ins. 2,803,854,868 377,790,172 6,578,817 Real Estate 335,587,706 60,222,584 1,948,657 Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services 886,801,038 376,090,052 7,243,505 Management 107,064,264 178,996,060 2,605,292 Health Care & Social Assistance 1,207,299 495,845,829 15,052,255 Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation 141,904,109 45,169,117 1,848,674 Accommodation & Food Services 449,498,718 127,554,483 10,120,951 Order them any way you wish. My only warning is the date: 2002. “Finance and insurance” may well have since shrunk. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now