Industry Employment Share: Sector Employment Dominance by Location (2022)

What if you could see that health care employs 13.9% of all workers in California but only 6.2% in Wyoming? This Industry Employment Share analysis reveals exactly which industries dominate employment in each location—and how you can position yourself in markets where your sector thrives.

The data shows dramatic differences: health care and social assistance (NAICS 62) employs 2.22 million workers (13.9% of total) in California, while in Wyoming it employs just 33,592 workers (6.2% of total). This isn’t just about geography—it’s about understanding sector employment dominance, talent availability, and location opportunities that directly impact your hiring and market strategy.

See industry employment share by location to understand sector employment dominance. This tool reveals which industries employ

This analysis examines County Business Patterns (CBP) data from the U.S. Census Bureau to calculate industry employment share—the percentage of total employment represented by each industry—across all U.S. states and counties. You’ll discover which industries employ the most workers in each location, how employment distribution varies by geography, and where talent is concentrated by sector.

What You’ll Discover:

• State rankings by industry employment share
• Industry-specific employment patterns revealing sector dominance
• Location-specific employment distribution impacting talent availability
• Employment hub identification by industry and location
• Talent concentration indicators for hiring and location decisions

Why This Matters: Understanding industry employment share helps you identify where your sector thrives, assess talent availability, and make strategic location decisions. Markets where your industry has high employment share offer talent pools, industry clusters, and employment hubs that support business growth.

Industry Employment Share Varies Dramatically by Location

The Numbers: Health care represents 20.8% of all employment in New York but only 6.2% in some states—a 235% difference. This means New York has over 3x more health care employment concentration relative to its total workforce.

So What? High employment share states like New York (20.8%) and Pennsylvania (19.8%) offer strong industry clusters with talent density, established training programs, and employment hubs. However, high share also means more competition for talent. Low-share states may offer less competition but require careful talent assessment.

How to Use This: If you’re in health care, high employment share markets offer proven demand, large talent pools, and industry clustering advantages. Low-share markets may offer underserved opportunities but need careful market and talent validation.

Employment Share Reveals Talent Availability

The Numbers: States like New York (20.8%), Pennsylvania (19.8%), and Ohio (20.9%) have the highest health care employment share, indicating strong talent availability and industry presence.

So What? High employment share signals where your industry’s talent is concentrated. Operating in high-share markets provides access to larger talent pools, more experienced workers, and established industry networks that facilitate hiring.

How to Use This: Target markets where your industry has 12%+ employment share for proven talent availability and industry clustering. Consider markets with 6-10% share for balanced opportunity and talent access.

Location Strategy Must Account for Employment Patterns

The Numbers: The difference between the highest-share state (New York, 20.8%) and lower-share states (some states <7%) is nearly 200%—meaning New York has nearly 3x more health care employment concentration.

So What? Employment share directly impacts your ability to recruit and retain talent. High-share markets offer larger talent pools but also more competition for workers. Your location choice should match your talent needs and competitive capacity.

How to Use This: For businesses requiring specialized talent, high employment share markets offer larger talent pools. For businesses with general talent needs, moderate-share markets (10-15%) often offer the best balance of talent availability and manageable competition.

Red Flags

• Extremely High Share (25%+): May indicate over-reliance on single industry, making market vulnerable to sector downturns
• Rapid Share Increases: Markets with rapidly increasing employment share may be approaching saturation
• Share-Population Mismatch: Markets where employment share is high but population is declining may signal market contraction

Green Lights

• Moderate-to-High Share (12-18%): Balanced markets with strong industry presence and proven talent availability
• Growing Share with Total Growth: Markets where employment share is increasing alongside total employment growth signal expanding opportunity
• Diverse Employment Distribution: Markets with no single industry representing >25% of employment offer stability and multiple talent sources

How to Use This Data

Follow this step-by-step process to calculate industry employment share and make data-driven location and hiring decisions:

Step 1: Identify Your Industry and NAICS Code

For Industry-Specific Analysis: Determine your NAICS code. This allows you to filter CBP data to see exact employment share for your industry.

Action: Look up your NAICS code at census.gov/naics.

Step 2: Calculate Employment Share by Geography

Compare employment share across your candidate locations:

• State-level: Get broad employment share comparison
• County-level: Identify specific markets within states with varying employment share
• Metro-level: Analyze metropolitan areas for urban employment patterns

Action: Create a spreadsheet with your top 10 candidate locations. Calculate employment share (Industry Employment ÷ Total Employment × 100) for each. Rank by employment share level.

Step 3: Assess Talent Availability

Match employment share to talent expectations:

• High Share (12%+): Strong talent pools, industry clusters, established training programs
• Moderate Share (6-12%): Healthy talent availability, balanced talent access
• Low Share (<6%): Limited talent presence, require careful talent assessment

Action: For each candidate location, assess whether the employment share level matches your talent requirements and hiring needs.

Step 4: Compare Employment Share to Total Market Size

High employment share doesn’t always mean largest talent pool. Consider both share and total employment:

• High Share + Large Market: Maximum talent availability in large market
• High Share + Small Market: Strong concentration in smaller market
• Low Share + Large Market: Less concentration but large total talent pool
• Low Share + Small Market: Limited talent, verify availability

Action: Create a matrix scoring each location on employment share (talent concentration) and total employment (talent pool size). Rank by your strategic priorities.

Step 5: Make Your Location Decision

Combine employment share analysis with other factors (cost of living, business climate, personal preferences) to choose your location.

Action: Create a decision matrix scoring each location on: employment share (30%), total employment (30%), business climate (20%), and personal fit (20%).

Common Use Cases

Scenario 1: Hiring Specialized Talent → Focus on markets with high employment share (12%+) in your industry. These markets offer larger talent pools and industry expertise.

Scenario 2: Starting a New Business → Compare employment share across candidate locations. Target markets with 10-15% employment share for balanced talent availability and opportunity.

Scenario 3: Expanding Operations → Prioritize markets with high employment share (15%+) where your industry thrives. These markets offer talent density and industry infrastructure.

Scenario 4: Cost-Optimized Hiring → Consider markets with moderate employment share (8-12%) that offer talent availability with potentially lower wage competition.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• What matters more: talent pool size (total employment) or talent concentration (employment share)?
• Can I compete effectively for talent in a high-share market, or do I need lower competition?
• Does my business require specialized industry talent that benefits from high employment share?
• Am I entering an established market or creating new employment demand?
• What’s my risk tolerance: proven high-talent markets or emerging lower-talent markets?

Action Items Checklist

• Identify your NAICS code and calculate employment share for your industry in top 10 candidate states
• Analyze county-level employment share for specific markets within target states
• Assess talent availability levels (high/moderate/low share) for each location
• Compare employment share to total employment for each candidate location
• Research talent quality and training programs in high-share candidate markets
• Verify talent availability and quality for low-share candidate markets
• Assess wage competition levels in high-share markets
• Consult with Business Initiative for location and hiring strategy guidance

Step 3: Connect the dots. See how this data relates to your situation. You can find opportunities others miss.

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

Industry-Specific Recommendations

Health Care (NAICS 62): Target markets with 12-18% employment share. Health care benefits from industry clustering for talent and training programs while maintaining manageable competition.

Professional Services (NAICS 54): Focus on markets with 8-12% employment share. Professional services benefit from business density and talent availability.

Retail Trade (NAICS 44-45): Look for markets with 10-15% employment share combined with high population density. Retail needs customer density and workforce availability.

Accommodation and Food Services (NAICS 72): Target markets with 8-12% employment share in areas with tourism or high employment. Restaurant success depends on workforce availability and customer traffic.

Technology Services (NAICS 51): Prioritize markets with 5-10% employment share in tech hubs. Technology businesses benefit from talent pools and networking in established tech markets.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Ignoring County-Level Data Focusing only on state-level employment share misses critical local market differences. Always analyze your specific county.

Mistake 2: Choosing Based Solely on Employment Share High employment share doesn’t always mean largest talent pool. Consider both employment share (talent concentration) and total employment (talent pool size).

Mistake 3: Not Considering Industry-Specific Patterns Overall employment patterns don’t reflect your industry’s talent availability. Always use NAICS-filtered data for your specific industry.

Mistake 4: Overlooking Talent Quality High employment share indicates quantity but not necessarily quality. Assess talent quality, training programs, and industry expertise alongside employment share.

Mistake 5: Ignoring Wage Competition High employment share markets may have more talent but also higher wage competition. Consider both talent availability and compensation costs.

Optimization Strategies

For Maximum Talent Availability: Target markets with 15%+ employment share in your industry. These markets offer the largest talent pools and industry expertise.

For Balanced Approach: Focus on markets with 10-15% employment share. You get proven talent availability with manageable competition and expansion opportunity.

For Cost-Optimized Hiring: Consider markets with 8-12% employment share that offer talent availability with potentially lower wage competition.

For Industry Clustering: Prioritize markets where your industry represents a high percentage of total employment. Industry clusters provide talent networks and training advantages.

Timing Considerations

Best Time to Enter High-Share Markets: When you have competitive compensation and hiring capacity ready. High-share markets reward businesses with strong employer brands.

Best Time to Enter Growing Markets: Early in the growth cycle. You establish presence before markets become saturated and talent competition intensifies.

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

Resource Recommendations

For Market Research:

• Census Bureau County Business Patterns (official CBP data source)
• NAICS code lookup tools (identify your industry classification)
• State economic development websites (local market insights)
• Industry association reports (industry-specific employment data)

For Location Support:

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

For Talent Assessment:

• Combine CBP employment share data with BLS occupational data for complete talent picture
• Research local training programs and educational institutions
• Consult with Business Initiative for personalized location and hiring guidance

FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions About Industry Employment Share: Sector Employment

In Summary

Our comprehensive exploration of industry employment share by location (2022) has revealed critical insights into sector employment dominance, talent availability, and location opportunities that can inform strategic business decisions.

Key Findings:

• Industry employment share varies dramatically by location—health care represents 20.8% of employment in New York but only 6.2% in some states (235% difference)
• Employment share reveals talent availability—high-share markets offer larger talent pools, industry expertise, and established training programs
• Location strategy must account for employment patterns—high-share markets offer talent density but also more competition for workers
• County-level differences are even more dramatic—employment share can vary significantly within the same state
• Moderate-to-high share markets often offer the best balance—markets with 12-18% employment share provide proven talent availability with manageable competition

What This Means for Your Business: Understanding industry employment share helps you choose locations where your sector thrives and talent is concentrated. High employment share markets offer larger talent pools, industry clusters, and employment hubs that support business growth. However, high share also means more competition for talent. The best approach balances employment share (talent concentration) with total employment (talent pool size).

Practical Applications:

• Location Strategy: Use employment share to identify markets where your industry employs the most workers
• Hiring Strategy: Target high employment share markets for larger talent pools and industry expertise
• Market Analysis: Compare employment share across locations to assess sector importance and economic significance
• Expansion Planning: Prioritize markets with 12%+ employment share for proven talent availability and industry infrastructure

Next Steps:

1. Calculate employment share for your industry in top 10 candidate states
2. Analyze county-level employment share for specific markets within target states
3. Assess talent availability levels (high/moderate/low share) for each candidate location
4. Compare employment share to total employment to identify optimal talent markets
5. Consult with Business Initiative for personalized location and hiring strategy guidance

Ready to take action based on this data?

This data can help you make informed decisions about business location, talent acquisition, and market entry.

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

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

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