51/Information
US businesses, employees and payroll, 2017 to 2023
3.81M
employees, 2023
3.81M
employees, 2023
In 2023, 160,704 US Information business locations employed 3.81 million people and paid $568.3 billion in annual payroll, $149,198 per employee on average. Employment was up 4.8% from 2022. California had the most employees.
Updated Oct 9, 2026 · data year 2023
Business locations
160,704
-0.2% vs 2022
Employees
3,809,059
+4.8% vs 2022
Annual payroll
$568.3B
+10.2% vs 2022
Average pay
$149,198
+5.1% vs 2022
Over the years
United States, 2017 to 2023
Employees
Paid employees in mid-March
Business locations
Places with paid employees
By state
Employees of Information in each state, 2023
Employees by state
States with the most employees
Employees and the share of all the state's jobs
| State | Business locations | Employees | Average pay | Share of state jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 27,338 | 891,636 | $232,014 | 5.44% |
| New York | 12,089 | 328,460 | $157,751 | 3.75% |
| Texas | 11,777 | 293,377 | $117,710 | 2.44% |
| Florida | 10,336 | 175,767 | $102,977 | 1.76% |
| Washington | 4,036 | 163,445 | $245,097 | 5.35% |
| Massachusetts | 3,655 | 141,099 | $162,286 | 4.05% |
| Georgia | 5,030 | 133,617 | $120,422 | 3.03% |
| Illinois | 5,616 | 120,174 | $122,814 | 2.12% |
| Pennsylvania | 5,685 | 112,393 | $104,913 | 1.97% |
| Virginia | 4,006 | 111,454 | $139,665 | 3.11% |
| Colorado | 3,804 | 101,428 | $143,330 | 3.95% |
| North Carolina | 4,150 | 94,965 | $110,267 | 2.22% |
| Ohio | 4,391 | 93,136 | $82,888 | 1.83% |
| New Jersey | 3,802 | 88,523 | $130,150 | 2.24% |
| Minnesota | 2,631 | 62,246 | $110,228 | 2.22% |
The 15 states with the most employees. Download the CSV for all 51.
Top metro areas
Metro and micro areas with the most Information employees, 2023
Metro areas with the most employees
| Metro area | Locations | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 11,870 | 352,439 | $164,197 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 4,360 | 292,679 | $281,147 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 14,363 | 280,210 | $135,233 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 1,913 | 179,740 | $377,304 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 2,413 | 145,560 | $264,989 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 2,909 | 132,299 | $166,558 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 3,787 | 127,928 | $150,080 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 3,549 | 112,089 | $129,922 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 3,430 | 109,980 | $129,404 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 4,185 | 101,094 | $129,913 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 3,113 | 76,921 | $111,730 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 1,880 | 68,926 | $152,150 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 2,050 | 66,048 | $155,348 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 3,610 | 58,578 | $105,858 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 1,695 | 49,927 | $118,094 |
Business size
US Information business locations by number of employees, 2023
Locations by size
| Employees | Locations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5 | 93,862 | 58.4% |
| 5 to 9 | 24,366 | 15.2% |
| 10 to 19 | 18,101 | 11.3% |
| 20 to 49 | 12,585 | 7.8% |
| 50 to 99 | 5,510 | 3.4% |
| 100 to 249 | 3,799 | 2.4% |
| 250 to 499 | 1,405 | 0.9% |
| 500 to 999 | 689 | 0.4% |
| 1,000 or more | 387 | 0.2% |
Related industries
Information and the 6 industries directly below it
| Code | Industry | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 517 | Telecommunications | 912,645 | $91,984 |
| 518 | Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | 629,527 | $147,665 |
| 519 | Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services | 409,184 | $291,284 |
| 512 | Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries | 333,045 | $66,393 |
| 513 | Publishing Industries | Not yet published | - |
| 516 | Broadcasting and Content Providers | Not yet published | - |
Questions and answers
How many people work in Information in the US?
3.81 million people worked at 160,704 US Information business locations in 2023, up 4.8% from 2022. That is 2.72% of all US private-sector employees.
What is the average pay in Information?
$149,198 a year per employee in 2023, from $568.3 billion in annual payroll (up 5.1% from 2022). The average across all US industries was $68,342.
Which state has the most Information jobs?
California had the most, with 891,636 employees in 2023, followed by New York (328,460) and Texas (293,377).
Which metro areas have the most Information jobs?
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ (352,439), San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (292,679), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (280,210) had the most Information employees in 2023.
Are most Information businesses small?
84.8% of the 160,704 Information business locations had fewer than 20 employees in 2023, and 1,076 had 500 or more.
Official US government statistics, published once a year. Business locations are places with paid employees; employees are counted in mid-March; payroll covers the whole year. Covers most private employers, not the self-employed, most government workers or farm workers on farms. Changes from the year before are shown only when both years use the same edition of the industry codes.