The entire forestry & logging industry in the U.S. has 6% of Google’s revenue and about 50% of Salesforce’s revenue. That’s how important it is to choose the right market for a new business. Big markets give a new business unbounded room to grow, and small niches within big markets have all the advantages of small markets but without the growth limitation.
This means, for example, that it would probably be a much better idea to create a company that sells life insurance to loggers than to create a logging company. The former could expand into other types of life insurance and/or other types of insurance — a HUGE industry. The latter would be capped in potential even if you took over the entire logging industry. You could of course always expand from logging into construction, but the two are not as similar as life insurance for loggers and life insurance for non-loggers. Plus, even the construction industry isn’t as big as the insurance industry.
Total revenue is one way to measure the size of an industry, but GDP is arguably a better way. The table below summarizes the GDP of 17 industry segments in the U.S. economy in 2022.
| Industry | Examples of Included Business Types | Number of Distinct Companies with at Least 1 Employee (Sole Proprietorships & Single-Member LLCs Aren’t Counted) | GDP | |
| 1 | Professional and business services NAICS 54-56 | – Law firms – Accounting (CPA, tax prep, payroll) – Building inspection – Geophysical surveying – Testing labs – Photographers – Software development agencies – Design firms – Veterinarians – Management consulting – Environmental consulting – PR agencies – Media buying agencies – Facilities management – Recruiting companies – Temp agencies – Professional employer organizations – Call centers – Collection agencies | 1,206,689 | $3.33 Trillion |
| 2 | Real estate and rental and leasing NAICS 53 | – Owner-lessors of buildings & other real estate properties – Real estate agencies & brokerages – Property management companies – Car rental companies – Equipment rental companies – Consumer goods rental companies – Formal wear & costume rental companies – Industrial & construction machinery rentals – Oil royalty leasing – Patent leasing – Performance rights leasing – Trademark & brand name licensing | 327,773 | $3.14 Trillion |
| 3 | Federal, state, and local governments | N/A | N/A | $2.96 Trillion |
| 4 | Manufacturing (including oil & gas refining) NAICS 31-33 | – Animal & human food manufacturing – Textile mills – Clothing & footwear manufacturing – Pulp & paper mills – Printing companies – Oil refineries – Chemical manufacturing – Plastics & rubber manufacturing – Cement manufacturing – Iron & steel mills – Machinery manufacturing – Battery manufacturing – Consumer goods manufacturing – Vehicle manufacturing | 243,687 | $2.79 Trillion |
| 5 | Finance and insurance NAICS 52 | – Commercial banks – Investment banks – Credit unions – Credit card issuing companies – Lending companies – Mortgage brokers – Securities dealers – Commodity dealers – Investment advisers – Health insurance carriers – Life insurance carriers – Property & casualty insurance carriers – Title insurance carriers – Insurance agencies – Insurance claims adjusting companies | 238,268 | $2.00 Trillion |
| 6 | Healthcare & social assistance NAICS 62 | – Doctors’ offices – Dentists’ offices – Chiropractors – Therapists – Family planning centers – Outpatient mental health & substance abuse centers – Medical & diagnostic labs – Hospitals – Assisted living facilities for the elderly – Child day care services | 665,331 | $1.85 Trillion |
| 7 | Wholesale trade NAICS 42 | – Vehicle part wholesalers – Furniture merchant wholesalers – Lumber merchant wholesalers – Office equipment merchant wholesalers – Appliance wholesalers – Industrial machinery & equipment wholesalers – Drug merchant wholesalers – Food merchant wholesalers – Livestock merchant wholesalers – Oil bulk stations & terminals – Beer merchant wholesalers – B2B electronic wholesale markets – Wholesale trade brokers | 287,385 | $1.61 Trillion |
| 8 | Retail trade NAICS 44-45 | – Car dealers – RV dealers – Boat dealers – Auto part stores – Furniture stores – Electronics & appliance stores – Hardware stores – Lawn & garden stores – Farm supply stores – Grocery stores – Convenience stores – Meat markets – Wine & liquor stores – Pharmacies – Gas stations – Clothing stores – Sporting good stores – Pet stores – Art dealers – Vending machine companies – E-commerce companies | 636,560 | $1.47 Trillion |
| 9 | Information NAICS 51 | – Newspapers – Book publishers – Software publishers – Greeting card publishers – Movie production companies – Movie theaters – Music publishers – Recording studios – TV broadcasting – Wireless phone service carriers – Cloud computing – Data hosting | 82,998 | $1.39 Trillion |
| 10 | Construction NAICS 23 | – Residential building construction – Industrial building construction – Utility system construction – Oil and gas pipeline construction – Highway and bridge construction – Framing contractors – Masonry contractors – Glass contractors – Roofing contractors – Siding contractors – Plumbers – HVAC companies – Drywall contractors – Painters – Concrete contractors | 730,589 | $1.01 Trillion |
| 11 | Transportation & warehousing NAICS 48-49 | – Airlines – Shipping companies – Trucking companies | 197,326 | $815 Billion |
| 12 | Accommodation and food services NAICS 72 | – Hotels – Motels – Casino hotels – Bed and breakfast inns – Lodges – RV parks – Campgrounds – Dormitories – Caterers – Restaurants – Bars | 553,714 | $791 Billion |
| 13 | Mining (including oil & gas extraction) NAICS 21 | – Crude oil extraction – Natural gas extraction – Coal mining – Iron & other metal ore mining – Stone mining & quarrying – Industrial sand mining | 18,630 | $484 Billion |
| 14 | Utilities NAICS 22 | – Electric power generation, transmission & distribution – Natural gas distribution – Water & sewage utilities | 6,096 | $440 Billion |
| 15 | Educational services NAICS 61 | – Elementary and secondary schools – Colleges – Universities – Trade schools – Professional development programs – Flight training – Language schools – Exam prep – Driving schools – Other instructional businesses | 97,128 | $291 Billion |
| 16 | Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting NAICS 11 | – Logging – Fishing – Soil preparation, planting, and cultivating – Farm management services | 22,135 | $289 Billion |
| 17 | Arts, entertainment, and recreation NAICS 71 | – Performing arts companies – Dance companies – Musicians – Professional sports teams – Racetracks – Managers for artists and entertainers – Museums – Historical sites – Zoos – Botanical gardens – Nature parks – Amusement parks – Golf courses – Marinas – Ski resorts – Gyms – Bowling alleys | 137,779 | $272 Billion |
| Other services | $522 Billion | |||
| Total U.S. Economy | $25.46 Trillion |
References
[1] Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates of GDP by industry