U.S. Census Bureau
Economic Census main page Industry Statistics Sampler:
NAICS 44-45
Retail trade
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See also 2002 Economic Census data.

 

2002 Economic Census Industry Series Reports

Complete list of reports for the sector


NAICS Hierarchy: 1997

Introductory text includes scope and methodology. For descriptions of column headings and rows (industries), click on the appropriate underlined element in the table.
Indus-
try
Detail
NAICS
code
NAICS Title
(and link to definition)
Estab-
lish-
ments
Sales
($1,000)
Annual
payroll
($1,000)
Paid
employees
  44-45 Retail trade 1,118,447 2,460,886,012 237,195,503 r 13,991,103
Go to industry detail 441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers 122,633 645,367,776 50,238,931 1,718,963
Go to industry detail 442 Furniture & home furnishings stores 64,725 71,690,813 9,959,441 482,845
Go to industry detail 443 Electronics & appliance stores 43,373 68,561,331 7,064,114 345,042
Go to industry detail 444 Building material & garden equipment & supplies dealers 93,117 227,566,101 25,608,856 1,117,912
Go to industry detail 445 Food & beverage stores 148,528 401,764,499 40,581,095 2,893,074
Go to industry detail 446 Health & personal care stores 82,941 117,700,863 15,190,635 903,694
Go to industry detail 447 Gasoline stations 126,889 198,165,786 11,482,092 922,062
Go to industry detail 448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores 156,601 136,397,645 16,597,371 1,280,153
Go to industry detail 451 Sporting goods, hobby, book, & music stores 69,149 62,010,926 7,113,235 560,839
Go to industry detail 452 General merchandise stores 36,171 330,444,460 30,870,965 2,507,540
Go to industry detail 453 Miscellaneous store retailers 129,838 78,109,161 10,165,424 752,986
Go to industry detail 454 Nonstore retailers 44,482 123,106,651 12,323,344 r 505,993

Table includes only establishments with payroll.

 

NAICS Sector: 44-45--Retail Trade .  

The Sector as a Whole

The Retail Trade sector comprises establishments engaged in retailing merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the sale of merchandise.

The retailing process is the final step in the distribution of merchandise; retailers are, therefore, organized to sell merchandise in small quantities to the general public. This sector comprises two main types of retailers: store and nonstore retailers.

Store retailers operate fixed point-of-sale locations, located and designed to attract a high volume of walk-in customers. In general, retail stores have extensive displays of merchandise and use mass-media advertising to attract customers. They typically sell merchandise to the general public for personal or household consumption, but some also serve business and institutional clients. These include establishments, such as office supply stores, computer and software stores, building materials dealers, plumbing supply stores, and electrical supply stores. Catalog showrooms, gasoline service stations, automotive dealers, and mobile home dealers are treated as store retailers.

In addition to retailing merchandise, some types of store retailers are also engaged in the provision of after-sales services, such as repair and installation. For example, new automobile dealers, electronic and appliance stores, and musical instrument and supply stores often provide repair services. As a general rule, establishments engaged in retailing merchandise and providing after-sales services are classified in this sector.

The first eleven subsectors of retail trade are store retailers. The establishments are grouped into industries and industry groups typically based on one or more of the following criteria:

The merchandise line or lines carried by the store; for example, specialty stores are distinguished from general-line stores.

The usual trade designation of the establishments. This criterion applies in cases where a store type is well recognized by the industry and the public, but difficult to define strictly in terms of commodity lines carried; for example, pharmacies, hardware stores, and department stores.

Capital requirements in terms of display equipment; for example, food stores have equipment requirements not found in other retail industries.

Human resource requirements in terms of expertise; for example, the staff of an automobile dealer requires knowledge in financing, registering, and licensing issues that are not necessary in other retail industries.

Nonstore retailers, like store retailers, are organized to serve the general public, but their retailing methods differ. The establishments of this subsector reach customers and market merchandise with methods, such as the broadcasting of "infomercials," the broadcasting and publishing of direct-response advertising, the publishing of paper and electronic catalogs, door-to-door solicitation, in-home demonstration, selling from portable stalls (street vendors, except food), and distribution through vending machines. Establishments engaged in the direct sale (nonstore) of products, such as home heating oil dealers and home delivery newspaper routes.

The buying of goods for resale is a characteristic of retail trade establishments that particularly distinguishes them from establishments in the agriculture, manufacturing, and construction industries. For example, farms that sell their products at or from the point of production are not classified in retail, but rather in agriculture. Similarly, establishments that both manufacture and sell their products to the general public are not classified in retail, but rather in manufacturing. However, establishments that engage in processing activities incidental to retailing are classified in retail. This includes establishments, such as optical goods stores that do in-store grinding of lenses, and meat and seafood markets.

Wholesalers also engage in the buying of goods for resale, but they are not usually organized to serve the general public. They typically operate from a warehouse or office and neither the design nor the location of these premises is intended to solicit a high volume of walk-in traffic. Wholesalers supply institutional, industrial, wholesale, and retail clients; their operations are, therefore, generally organized to purchase, sell, and deliver merchandise in larger quantities. However, dealers of durable nonconsumer goods, such as farm machinery and heavy duty trucks, are included in wholesale trade even if they often sell these products in single units.

 

Geographic Distribution -- Retail trade: 1997

Data for the Retail trade sector are published for the U.S., states, metropolitan areas, counties, places, and ZIP Codes.

For descriptions of column headings and rows (industries), click on the appropriate underlined element in the table.
Other
Indus-
tries
State Estab-
lish-
ments
Sales
($1,000)
Sales
% of
U.S.
Annual
payroll
($1,000)
Paid
employees
Go to industry detail United States 1,118,447 2,460,886,012 100.00 237,195,503 r 13,991,103
Go to industry detail California 106,357 263,118,346 10.69 26,362,691 1,354,797
Go to industry detail Texas 74,105 182,516,112 7.42 16,197,114 950,848
Go to industry detail Florida 66,643 151,191,241 6.14 14,169,511 841,814
Go to industry detail New York 75,241 139,303,944 5.66 14,329,825 805,208
Go to industry detail Pennsylvania 50,208 109,948,462 4.47 10,561,877 650,144
Go to industry detail Illinois 44,568 108,002,177 4.39 10,596,015 610,790
Go to industry detail Ohio 44,521 102,938,830 4.18 9,924,531 630,098
Go to industry detail Michigan 39,564 93,706,078 3.81 8,922,347 529,441
Go to industry detail New Jersey 34,837 79,914,892 3.25 7,926,020 420,724
Go to industry detail North Carolina 35,563 72,356,763 2.94 6,697,393 416,287
Go to industry detail Georgia 33,073 72,212,484 2.93 6,943,559 420,676
Go to industry detail Virginia 29,032 62,569,924 2.54 6,202,575 379,039
Go to industry detail Massachusetts 26,209 58,578,048 2.38 5,894,813 335,736
Go to industry detail Indiana 24,954 57,241,650 2.33 5,273,772 337,867
Go to industry detail Washington 22,841 52,472,866 2.13 5,385,915 283,653
Go to industry detail Missouri 24,181 51,269,881 2.08 4,945,014 297,556
Go to industry detail Tennessee 24,808 50,813,221 2.06 4,810,252 304,452
Go to industry detail Wisconsin 21,717 50,520,463 2.05 4,826,217 305,255
Go to industry detail Minnesota 20,888 48,097,982 1.95 4,528,536 r 282,413
Go to industry detail Maryland 19,798 46,428,206 1.89 4,913,952 274,260
Go to industry detail Arizona 16,283 43,960,933 1.79 4,223,879 232,050
Go to industry detail Colorado 18,299 40,536,034 1.65 4,163,312 225,647
Go to industry detail Alabama 20,163 36,623,327 1.49 3,381,730 231,665
Go to industry detail Louisiana 17,863 35,807,894 1.46 3,307,929 224,412
Go to industry detail Connecticut 14,574 34,938,893 1.42 3,634,321 186,935
Go to industry detail South Carolina 18,481 33,634,264 1.37 3,107,153 209,256
Go to industry detail Oregon 14,467 33,396,849 1.36 3,308,810 178,349
Go to industry detail Kentucky 17,369 33,332,675 1.35 3,128,099 212,189
Go to industry detail Oklahoma 14,352 27,065,555 1.10 2,406,936 161,613
Go to industry detail Iowa 14,695 26,723,822 1.09 2,633,445 175,694
Go to industry detail Kansas 12,271 22,571,918 0.92 2,191,057 140,412
Go to industry detail Arkansas 12,600 21,643,695 0.88 1,904,412 132,335
Go to industry detail Mississippi 12,791 20,774,508 0.84 1,935,338 138,372
Go to industry detail Utah 7,656 19,964,601 0.81 1,856,875 114,474
Go to industry detail Nevada 6,222 18,220,790 0.74 1,798,249 89,452
Go to industry detail Nebraska 8,295 16,529,333 0.67 1,554,621 102,684
Go to industry detail New Hampshire 6,645 15,812,027 0.64 1,421,994 84,170
Go to industry detail New Mexico 7,421 14,984,454 0.61 1,455,458 86,300
Go to industry detail West Virginia 8,082 14,057,933 0.57 1,309,316 90,087
Go to industry detail Maine 7,074 12,737,087 0.52 1,164,153 72,897
Go to industry detail South Dakota 4,311 11,707,133 0.48 689,586 45,867
Go to industry detail Idaho 5,848 11,649,609 0.47 1,079,700 63,732
Go to industry detail Hawaii 5,088 11,317,752 0.46 1,161,805 64,218
Go to industry detail Delaware 3,736 8,236,970 0.33 798,702 47,116
Go to industry detail Montana 5,042 7,779,112 0.32 746,459 48,337
Go to industry detail Rhode Island 4,169 7,505,754 0.31 752,150 45,747
Go to industry detail North Dakota 3,569 6,702,134 0.27 616,136 40,685
Go to industry detail Alaska 2,866 6,251,372 0.25 670,465 32,502
Go to industry detail Vermont 4,093 5,898,646 0.24 603,345 36,306
Go to industry detail Wyoming 2,939 4,530,537 0.18 426,666 26,934
Go to industry detail District of Columbia 2,075 2,788,831 0.11 351,473 19,608

D = Withheld to avoid disclosure; N = Not available


 

Other Data from the 1997 Economic Census

Hypertext
tables
Link
to pdf
Series number Title Contents
  link to PDF EC97R44S-LS Merchandise Line Sales ** Includes sales by industry by merchandise line for the U.S. AFF and CD-ROM include data for states and metropolitan areas.
  link to PDF EC97R44S-SZ Establishment and Firm Size Includes firms by sales size, employment size, legal form of organization, number of units, and concentration in the largest companies for the U.S. Also includes establishments by sales size and by employment size for the U.S.
  link to PDF EC97R44S-SB Miscellaneous Subjects Includes topics that vary from industry to industry
  link to PDF EC97R44S-SM Summary Republication of key tables from other reports
Link to Bridge tables  EC97X-CS3 Bridge Between NAICS and SIC (national only) Defines comparability of individual industries.
Link to Comparative Statistics  EC97X-CS2 Comparative Statistics (U.S. and states) 1997 and 1992 data side by side on a comparable SIC basis
Link to Nonemployer Statistics  EC97X-CS4 Nonemployer Statistics (U.S., states, counties, metros) Nonemployers account for 62 % of establishments and 2.7 % of receipts in this sector, but are excluded from the reports above.

 Down arrows link to tables in hypertext format for easy navigation. PDF explanation PDF symbols link to reports in Portable Document Format (PDF). In order to view these files, you will need the Adobe(R) Acrobat(R) Reader which is available free from the Adobe web site.

 

Data from the Other Census Bureau Programs

Hypertext Tables Title (with link to data) Frequency Smallest Geography Contents
  Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services Monthly U.S. Estimated monthly sales for retail and food services, adjusted and unadjusted for seasonal variations.
  Annual Capital Expenditures Survey Annual U.S. Capital expenditures for structures and equipment for companies with paid employees
  Annual Retail Trade Survey: 1992 to [latest year] Annual U.S. Sales by year, starting with 1992
  County Business Patterns Annual County, metro area, ZIP Employees; payroll; number of establishments by employment size of establishment
  Monthly Retail Trade Survey Monthly U.S. Monthly sales for retail and food services, adjusted and unadjusted for seasonal variations
  Monthly Retail Trade Survey: 1992 to [latest year] Annual U.S. Monthly sales for retail and food services back to 1992
  Monthly Trade Inventory and Sales Monthly U.S. Monthly ...
Link to hypertext     
table Nonemployer Statistics Annual State, metro area, county Number of establishments and sales of firms with no paid employees
  Quarterly Financial Report Quarterly U.S. Income, retained earnings, balance sheets, and related financial and operating ratios for the domestic operations of manufacturing corporations with assets over $250,000, and corporations in the mining and trade areas with over $50 million.
  Retail E-Commerce Sales Quarterly U.S. Total retail sales and e-commerce sales
Link to hypertext table Statistics of U.S. Businesses Annual State, metro area Number of firms, employees, payroll, and revenue by employment-size of the enterprise

 

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Source: 1997 Economic Census

Last revised: December 02 2004   Questions?