US state and county rankings
30 ranked Top 10 lists built from US Census County Business Patterns 2022, US Census ACS 2023 5-year estimates, OIG LEIE, SAM.gov exclusions, and Palavir NewFilings (as of 2026-05-27). Universe: 51 states plus DC and 3,144 counties.
Every value traces back to a public source — methodology and as-of date are printed on each ranking page.
Industry size
Which states and counties have the biggest sector footprints.
- Top 10 states by construction industry size — #1 California (85,171)
- Top 10 states by healthcare industry size — #1 California (127,019)
- Top 10 states by manufacturing industry size — #1 California (35,936)
- Top 10 states by professional services industry size — #1 California (142,540)
- Top 10 states by retail industry size — #1 California (107,053)
- Top 10 counties with the most construction businesses — #1 Los Angeles County (17,404)
- Top 10 counties with the most healthcare establishments — #1 Los Angeles County (37,635)
Wages and payroll
Where each sector pays the most — average annual wage, total payroll, total employment.
- Top 10 highest-paying construction states — #1 Alaska ($92,599)
- Top 10 highest-paying healthcare states — #1 California ($72,470)
- Top 10 highest-paying manufacturing states — #1 California ($89,048)
- Top 10 highest-paying professional services states — #1 District of Columbia ($157,547)
- Top 10 highest-paying tech (naics 51) states — #1 Washington ($249,982)
- Top 10 states by manufacturing payroll — #1 California ($103.4B)
- Top 10 states by healthcare employment — #1 California (2,221,389)
Demographics
County and state rankings on income, home value, age, education, rent, unemployment, and population.
- Top 10 wealthiest counties (median household income) — #1 Loudoun County ($178,707)
- Top 10 lowest-income counties — #1 Randolph County ($25,425)
- Top 10 most populous counties — #1 Los Angeles County (9,848,406)
- Top 10 highest median home value counties — #1 San Mateo County ($1,494,500)
- Top 10 lowest median home value counties — #1 Todd County ($45,200)
- Top 10 most rural counties (lowest population) — #1 Kenedy County (52)
- Top 10 cheapest-rent states — #1 West Virginia ($866/mo)
- Top 10 most-expensive-rent states — #1 Hawaii ($2,057/mo)
- Top 10 oldest-population states — #1 Florida (42.2 yrs)
- Top 10 youngest-population states — #1 Utah (32.1 yrs)
- Top 10 most-educated states (% bachelor's+) — #1 Colorado (28.0%)
- Top 10 most-unemployed states — #1 Louisiana (6.9%)
Business climate
New business filings, HUBZone eligibility, federal contractor density.
- Top 10 states by new business filings (NewFilings index) — #1 New York (5,751,706)
- Top 10 most HUBZone-eligible states — #1 Texas (124 of 254)
- Top 10 most federal-contractor-friendly states — #1 California (142,540)
Risk and exclusions
Federal exclusion intensity per 10K establishments — LEIE plus SAM.
- Top 10 states by exclusion intensity (per 10K establishments) — #1 Mississippi (788.3)
Related
- Free County Rankings (Top 50) — wider lists, downloadable.
- Market Size tool — pull a state × NAICS estab/emp/payroll figure.
- Wage Benchmark — sector wage by state, vs. national.
- HUBZone Lookup — check whether any county qualifies.
- State markets directory — every state, every NAICS sector.
- State × NAICS PDF reports — one-page printable reports.
As of 2026-05-28 · ACS 2023 5-year, CBP 2022.