Employer establishments: retail trade in United States

Employer establishments: retail trade in the United States was 1.04 million in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 0.2% from 2022.

2023, count1,043,373

Change on 2022-0.2%

Series high1,070,2092015

Series low1,036,8212020

Employer establishments: retail trade in United States, 2012 to 2023

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2025-06-26.

All 12 values

Period	count
2023	1,043,373
2022	1,045,890
2021	1,036,879
2020	1,036,821
2019	1,044,957
2018	1,050,175
2017	1,064,449
2016	1,069,096
2015	1,070,209
2014	1,065,368
2013	1,063,616
2012	1,063,842

Rankings

US states by employer establishments: retail trade 51 places

Definition

Number of establishments with paid employees in retail trade (NAICS 44-45), from the U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns.

County Business Patterns: establishments (single physical locations, not firms) with paid employees during the pay period including 12 March. Excludes the self-employed and businesses without employees (nonemployer_establishments_*), government employers, crop and animal production, rail transportation, the Postal Service and private households. Establishment counts are not perturbed; the noise Census adds since 2017 applies to employment and payroll, which are not served here. Published about 18 months after the reference year.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms (Employer establishments: retail trade, United States, 2012 to 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/

MLA 9

County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms, Employer establishments: retail trade, United States, 2012 to 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 26 June 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-establishments-retail-trade/united-states. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Employer establishments: retail trade, United States, 2012 to 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-establishments-retail-trade/united-states.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms, Employer establishments: retail trade, United States, 2012 to 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/employer-establishments-retail-trade/united-states (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_employer_establishments_retail_trade_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms: Employer establishments: retail trade, United States, 2012 to 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-establishments-retail-trade/united-states. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms: Employer establishments: retail trade, United States, 2012 to 2023
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/06/26
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/employer-establishments-retail-trade/united-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-establishments-retail-trade/united-states.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

What is the employer establishments: retail trade in United States?

Employer establishments: retail trade in the United States was 1.04 million in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 0.2% from 2022.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Census Bureau. County Business Patterns, state and US files: establishments (EST), retail trade (NAICS 44-45), all legal forms. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest employer establishments: retail trade in United States?

1.07 million in 2015, the highest value since 2012 in this series.

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