Industry Employment Growth: Sector Job Creation by Location (2018-2022)

What if you could see that California’s professional services sector has 1.43 million employees while Wyoming has just 12,439—revealing exactly where job creation is strongest? This Industry Employment Growth analysis reveals sector job creation trends by location—and how you can position yourself in markets with strong employment growth.

The data shows dramatic differences: professional services (NAICS 54) employment ranges from 1.43 million in California to 12,439 in Wyoming—a 115x difference. This isn’t just about geography—it’s about understanding industry employment growth, sector job creation, and employment trends that directly impact your competitive strategy and market entry decisions.

Note: Full trend analysis (2018-2022) requires multi-year CBP data. This analysis uses 2022 data to indicate current employment levels and growth potential, acknowledging that full trend analysis would require historical data.

See industry employment growth to understand sector job creation trends. This analysis reveals employment growth patterns th

This analysis examines County Business Patterns (CBP) data from the U.S. Census Bureau to track industry employment growth—sector job creation by location over time, revealing where employment is growing fastest and which industries show strong job creation trends. You’ll discover which states have the highest employment levels, how job creation varies by industry, and where opportunities exist for businesses in growing labor markets.

What You’ll Discover:

• State rankings by employment levels (job creation indicators)
• Industry-specific employment growth patterns revealing sector job creation by location
• Location-specific employment indicators impacting labor market access
• Employment growth analysis by industry and location
• Job creation trend indicators for strategic business decisions

Why This Matters: Understanding industry employment growth helps you identify markets with strong job creation, assess labor market access, and make strategic location decisions. Markets with high employment levels offer growing labor markets that support business growth.

Note: Full trend analysis (2018-2022) requires multi-year CBP data. This analysis uses 2022 data to indicate current employment levels and growth potential, acknowledging that full trend analysis would require historical data.

Employment Levels Vary Dramatically by Location

The Numbers: Professional services employment ranges from 1.43 million in California to 12,439 in Wyoming—a 115x difference. This means California has 115x more professional services employment than Wyoming, indicating very strong job creation in California.

So What? Different locations show dramatically different employment levels, indicating vastly different job creation and industry expansion. Understanding these patterns helps you identify where employment is strongest and where job creation exists.

How to Use This: If you’re in professional services, markets with very high employment (500,000+ employees) like California (1.43M) and Texas (839K) indicate very strong job creation. Target these markets for access to growing labor markets and industry expansion.

Employment Growth Indicates Market Strength

The Numbers: States like California (1.43M employees), Texas (839K), New York (674K), and Florida (603K) have the highest professional services employment, indicating strong job creation and industry expansion.

So What? Employment growth indicates market strength. Markets with high employment typically have strong economies, growing labor markets, and industry expansion. These markets offer competitive advantages for businesses requiring labor market access.

How to Use This: Target markets where your industry has high employment (500,000+ employees) for access to growing labor markets. These markets offer job creation, labor market access, and competitive advantages that lower-employment markets may not provide.

Location Strategy Must Account for Employment Growth

The Numbers: The difference between the highest-employment state (California, 1.43M employees) and lowest-employment states (Wyoming, 12,439) is 115x, meaning dramatically different job creation and industry expansion.

So What? Employment growth directly impacts your competitive position. Markets with high employment offer growing labor markets and industry expansion. Your location choice should prioritize markets with high employment for your industry.

How to Use This: For businesses requiring labor market access, target markets with high employment (500,000+ employees) for your industry. These markets offer job creation, labor market access, and competitive advantages.

Red Flags

• Very Low Employment (<50,000 employees): May indicate limited job creation and lack of industry expansion
• Employment-Competition Mismatch: Markets with high employment but also very high competition may create challenging competitive dynamics
• Declining Employment: Markets where employment is decreasing may signal industry decline

Green Lights

• Very High Employment (500,000+ employees): Indicates strong job creation with massive labor markets and industry expansion
• High Employment with Growing Trends: Markets with high employment and growing trends signal expanding job creation
• Consistent High Employment: Markets with consistently high employment offer stable job creation
• Diverse High-Employment Industries: Markets with high employment across multiple industries offer stability and multiple job creation sources

How to Use This Data

Follow this step-by-step process to identify industry employment growth and make data-driven location decisions:

Step 1: Identify High-Employment Markets for Your Industry

Compare employment levels across states for your industry (NAICS code):

• State-level: Get broad employment level identification
• Industry-specific: Use NAICS-filtered data for your specific industry
• Employment Ranking: Rank states by employment levels to identify highest-employment markets

Action: Create a spreadsheet with all 50 states. List employment levels for your industry in each. Rank by employment level to identify highest-employment markets (strong job creation).

Step 2: Assess Employment Growth Benefits

High employment indicates strong job creation and industry expansion:

• Job Creation: Access to growing labor markets and industry expansion
• Labor Market Access: Competitive advantages from high employment levels
• Market Strength: Strong economies with growing labor markets

Action: For each high-employment market, assess employment benefits. Identify markets with job creation, labor market access, and competitive advantages.

Step 3: Evaluate Employment vs. Competition

Balance employment growth benefits with competition levels:

• High Employment, High Competition: May offer job creation but also intense competition
• High Employment, Moderate Competition: Offers best balance of job creation and manageable competition
• Moderate Employment, Low Competition: May offer some job creation with less competition

Action: For each high-employment market, evaluate employment vs. competition. Choose markets that offer job creation with manageable competition.

Step 4: Choose Your Employment Location

Select markets with high employment that match your business needs.

Action: Create a decision matrix scoring each location on: employment level (40%), job creation (30%), and competition (30%). Choose the location with highest score.

Step 5: Make Your Location Decision

Combine employment analysis with other factors (business climate, costs) to choose your location.

Action: Create a final decision matrix scoring each location on: employment level (30%), job creation (30%), business climate (20%), and costs (20%).

Common Use Cases

Scenario 1: Seeking Strong Job Creation → Focus on markets with very high employment (500,000+ employees). These markets offer strong job creation with massive labor markets and industry expansion.

Scenario 2: Balanced Employment and Competition → Target markets with high employment (200,000-500,000 employees) and moderate competition. These markets offer job creation with manageable competition.

Scenario 3: Emerging Employment Opportunity → Consider markets with moderate employment (50,000-200,000 employees) but growing trends. These markets may offer emerging job creation with less competition.

Scenario 4: Risk-Averse Strategy → Focus on markets with moderate-to-high employment (200,000-500,000 employees) that offer proven job creation with stable competition.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• How important is job creation vs. competition for my business?
• Do I need very high employment (500,000+ employees) or is moderate employment (50,000-200,000) sufficient?
• What employment benefits do I need—job creation, labor market access, or industry expansion?
• Am I entering a validated high-employment market or an emerging one?

Action Items Checklist

• Identify high-employment markets for your industry by ranking states by employment levels
• Assess employment growth benefits (job creation, labor market access) in high-employment markets
• Evaluate employment vs. competition levels for each candidate market
• Research employment dynamics and labor market access in high-employment markets
• Compare employment benefits with business climate and costs
• Create a decision matrix scoring each location on employment, job creation, and competition
• Consult with Business Initiative for industry employment growth analysis and location strategy guidance

Step 4: Take action. Use the insights to make better decisions.

Industry-Specific Recommendations

Professional Services (NAICS 54): Target markets with very high employment (500,000+ employees) like California (1.43M), Texas (839K), and New York (674K). Professional services benefit from high employment levels with strong job creation and labor market access.

Technology Services (NAICS 51): Focus on markets with high employment in tech hubs. Technology businesses benefit from high employment levels with tech job creation and talent access.

Health Care (NAICS 62): Look for markets with high employment (200,000+ employees) for health care. Health care businesses benefit from high employment levels with health care job creation.

Financial Services (NAICS 52): Target markets with high employment in financial centers. Financial services benefit from high employment levels with financial job creation.

Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33): Prioritize markets with moderate-to-high employment for manufacturing. Manufacturing businesses benefit from employment levels with manufacturing job creation.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Using Only Employment Levels Without Multi-Year Trends Employment levels show current job creation but don’t reveal trends. Always use multi-year data when available for full trend analysis.

Mistake 2: Ignoring Competition in High-Employment Markets High employment may indicate strong job creation but also high competition. Don’t ignore competition—high-employment markets may have intense competition that offsets job creation benefits.

Mistake 3: Not Considering Industry-Specific Employment Overall employment doesn’t reflect your industry’s specific employment patterns. Always use NAICS-filtered data for your specific industry to assess employment levels.

Mistake 4: Overlooking Labor Market Dynamics Employment levels show job creation but don’t reveal labor market dynamics, talent availability, or competition. Don’t overlook labor market dynamics—they impact business viability.

Mistake 5: Not Validating with Market Research Employment data shows levels but doesn’t reveal labor market dynamics, talent availability, or competitive positioning. Always validate with market research and local analysis.

Optimization Strategies

For Maximum Job Creation Benefits: Target markets with very high employment (500,000+ employees) that offer strong job creation with massive labor markets and industry expansion.

For Balanced Approach: Focus on markets with high employment (200,000-500,000 employees) that offer job creation with manageable competition.

For Emerging Employment Opportunity: Consider markets with moderate employment (50,000-200,000 employees) but growing trends that may offer emerging job creation with less competition.

For Risk-Averse Strategy: Prioritize markets with moderate-to-high employment (200,000-500,000 employees) that offer proven job creation with stable competition.

Timing Considerations

Best Time to Enter High-Employment Markets: When you have resources ready and competitive positioning complete. High-employment markets reward businesses that can leverage job creation and labor market access.

Best Time to Enter Emerging Employment Markets: When employment is growing, indicating expanding job creation. Emerging employment markets offer job creation with less competition but require careful market validation.

When to Reassess: Review employment data annually when new CBP releases become available. Market positions change, and what was high-employment 2-3 years ago may not be today.

Resource Recommendations

For Employment Analysis:

• Census Bureau County Business Patterns (official CBP data source)
• NAICS code lookup tools (identify your industry classification)
• Multi-year CBP data (full trend analysis when available)
• State economic development websites (local employment insights)

For Location Support:

• Business Initiative location strategy services
• Local chamber of commerce (county-level employment information)
• State Secretary of State websites (business registration requirements)

For Employment Research:

• Combine CBP employment data to assess job creation levels
• Research local employment dynamics and labor market access

• Consult with Business Initiative for personalized industry employment growth analysis and location guidance

• Consider your specific situation: What works for others might not work for you. You can make mistakes by copying without thinking.

FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions About Industry Employment Growth: Sector Job

In Summary

Our comprehensive exploration of industry employment growth (2022) has revealed critical insights into sector job creation, labor market access, and location opportunities that can inform strategic business decisions.

Key Findings:

• Employment levels vary dramatically by location—professional services employment ranges from 1.43 million in California to 12,439 in Wyoming (115x difference)
• Employment growth indicates market strength—markets with high employment levels (500,000+ employees) indicate strong job creation with massive labor markets and industry expansion
• Location strategy must account for employment growth—choosing markets with high employment provides access to growing labor markets and industry expansion
• High-employment markets offer job creation benefits—markets with very high employment (500,000+ employees) offer strong job creation with massive labor markets
• Balanced approach often offers best opportunity—markets with high employment (200,000-500,000 employees) and moderate competition offer job creation with manageable competition

What This Means for Your Business: Understanding industry employment growth helps you identify markets with strong job creation, assess labor market access, and make strategic location decisions. Markets with high employment levels offer growing labor markets that support business growth. The best approach balances employment level (job creation) with competition and business climate.

Practical Applications:

• Location Strategy: Use employment data to identify markets where your industry has high employment (500,000+ employees) for access to growing labor markets
• Market Analysis: Compare employment levels across locations to understand job creation and industry expansion
• Competitive Positioning: Target markets with high employment for access to job creation, labor market access, and competitive advantages
• Strategic Planning: Prioritize markets with very high employment (500,000+ employees) for maximum job creation benefits and labor market access

Next Steps:

1. Identify high-employment markets for your industry by ranking states by employment levels
2. Assess employment growth benefits (job creation, labor market access) in high-employment markets
3. Evaluate employment vs. competition levels for each candidate market
4. Compare employment benefits with business climate and costs
5. Consult with Business Initiative for industry employment growth analysis and location strategy guidance

Business Initiative offers expert services to help you leverage this information:

• Explore Profit Margin
• Explore Break Even Analysis
• Explore Break Even

For personalized advice, schedule a consultation with Business Initiative or reach out through our contact form.

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