Retail Trade

Industry Sector

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Workforce Population

16.7M

2021

Average Employee Age

38.9

2021

Average Salary

$39,510

2021

Average Male Salary

$46,878

2021

Average Female Salary

$31,694

2021

About

The top three occupations in the Retail Trade Industry Sector are retail salespersons, firstline supervisors of retail sales workers, and cashiers. On average, full-time employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sector work 42.9 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $51,789. Part-time employees in the same industry work 22.2 hours and earn an average annual salary of $14,204.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sector are Benton County PUMA, AR, Johnson County PUMA, TX, and Genesee County (Central, Outside Flint City) PUMA, MI.

The workforce of Retail Trade Industry Sector in 2021 was 16,661,073 people, with 48.5% woman, and 51.5% men.

In 2021, 69.6% of the workforce in the Retail Trade Industry Sector was White (11,592,642 people), of which 48.1% were women and 51.9% men.

Photo by paul bica

Retail Trade

Employment & Salaries

A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

The workforce in Retail Trade Industry Sector was 16,661,073 people and is concentrated in California (1,819,149 workers). The average annual salary was $39,510, being $20,086 less than the national average salary, which was $59,596.

Monthly Employment

Showing data for the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities industry sector.

Start Year

Y-Axis

0.946%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 28.9M people employed in the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities industry. This represents a 0.946% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Trade, Transportation, and Utilities over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

Employment by Location

The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2021 were California (1.82M), Texas (1.46M), and Florida (1.17M).

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Yearly Wage Ranking

In 2021, Retail Trade Industry Sector had an average annual wage of $39,510, $20,086 less than the average national salary of $59,596.

The graph shows the position of Retail Trade Industry Sector in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

Wage Distribution

0.502

WAGE GINI

Retail Trade has a wage GINI of 0.502, which is more than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Retail Trade (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Retail Trade Industry Sector workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Occupations

A review of jobs and wages in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Retail salespersons are the most common position with 2,918,988 workers, but the Retail Trade Industry Sector employs a relatively high number of Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers and Cashiers.

The highest average salary in Retail Trade goes to Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.

Occupations Distribution

The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sector according to occupations. In 2021, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were retail salespersons (2,918,988 people), firstline supervisors of retail sales workers (2,681,996 people), and cashiers (2,123,398 people)

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$46,878

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$503

$31,694

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$343

On average, Male workers in the Retail Trade Industry Sector make 1.48 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Business

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Retail Trade Industry Sector. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

The Retail Trade Industry Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry.

California and Texas stand out as the states with the largest number of establishments in the Retail Trade Industry Sector.

Industrial Flow

Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Retail Trade Industry Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Retail Trade Industry Sector is Construction.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Intermediate Inputs

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

The Retail Trade Industry Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

Use of Output by Other Industries

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

The Construction Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Retail Trade Industry Sector in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Retail Trade Industry Sector for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

Establishments

States with more establishments in 2016

California
273,366
Texas
198,070
New York
193,144

The charts shows the distribution of establishments in the Retail Trade industry by states and the number of establishments according to size.

Median Earnings

States with the highest median earnings in 2021

Washington
$33,708
Rhode Island
$30,398
Hawaii
$30,286

The charts shows the median earnings of the Retail Trade industry by state and the annual evolution of the median earnings of the industry compared to the national level.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Retail Trade Industry Sector in the US.

Of the total workforce, 48.5% corresponds to women and 51.5% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $46,878 and $31,694.

76.5% of workers have a high school or equivalent, some college or bachelors degree.

Gender and Age

8,084,831

Women

48.5%

8,576,242

Men

51.5%

The workforce of Retail Trade industry in 2021 was 16,661,073 people, with 48.5% woman, and 51.5% men.

The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Retail Trade industry.

Races

In 2021, 69.6% of the workforce in the Retail Trade industry was White (11,592,642 people), of which 48.1% were women and 51.9% men.

Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black and Two or More Races.

Educational Levels

The main educational levels achieved by the Retail Trade workers in 2021 were high school or equivalent (5,489,572 people), some college (4,663,594 people), and bachelors degree (2,596,873 people).

The chart shows the Retail Trade workforce by gender and educational level.