The U.S. Census Bureau has released the main data set from the 2023 Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES), marking the first time that a single, comprehensive annual snapshot of U.S. employer businesses is available.
The AIES provides economic information such as business revenue, expenses, payroll, and employment across detailed geographic levels. Previously, many sectors only had national-level data available. The current release includes data at national, regional, and divisional levels, with some state-level estimates for selected sectors.
“This release of data represents a significant step forward in the Census Bureau’s efforts to adapt to our ever-changing economy and transform our business statistics,” said Lisa Donaldson, assistant director for Economic Programs. “By combining breadth of coverage with new geographic detail, the AIES provides insights that will shape decisions across the public and private sectors.”
The survey features sample statistics from each of the four census regions. These final estimates replace preliminary “First Look” data released in July 2025.
Key findings include:
– Automobile Dealers generated an estimated $278.2 billion in revenue and employed about 281,789 workers.
– Drugs and Druggists’ Sundries Merchant Wholesalers earned approximately $298.6 billion in sales.
– Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing employed about 78,565 workers with an annual payroll of $8.8 billion.
– Hospitals earned roughly $300.6 billion in revenue and had about 1,337,057 employees.
– Grocery Stores brought in an estimated $337.5 billion in revenue with an annual payroll of $32.1 billion.
– Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution employed around 202,720 workers with an annual payroll of $24.4 billion.
– Telecommunications earned about $155.9 billion in revenue with an annual payroll of $19.6 billion.
– Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services employed around 258,344 workers with an annual payroll of $30.4 billion.
The AIES covers domestic private sector nonfarm employer businesses operating at any point during 2023 within one of the fifty states or Washington D.C., employing paid staff and classified under nineteen sectors as defined by the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). About 385,000 businesses were sampled based on location and industry.
Estimates are not adjusted for inflation and may be affected by sampling variability or other sources of error. More information regarding methodology can be found at the Census Bureau’s official site for 2023 AIES Methodology.
The Census Bureau has reviewed these products to ensure confidentiality protection for source data.
