Wholesale Trade

Workforce

A snapshot of jobs, wages, and opportunities in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector. Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing are the most common position, but the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector employs a relatively high number of Buyers & purchasing agents, farm products, compared to other industries.

The highest average salary in Wholesale Trade goes to Physicians.

Monthly Employment

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

Start Year

Y-Axis

9.62%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between May 2020 and May 2021

As of May 2021, there are 27.4M people employed in the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities industry. This represents a 9.62% increase in employment when compared to May 2020.

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

Occupations by Share

5.9M

Workforce (BLS Estimate)

ACS Estimate: 3.84M

−1.37%

1 Year Growth

± 1.77%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there were 5.9M people employed in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector in 2019.

According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector has been declining at a rate of −1.37%, , from 3.9M people in 2019 to 3.84M people in 2020.

The following graphic shows the share of employment in Wholesale Trade by various occupations according to ACS estimates. Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing represent the largest share of positions held in Wholesale Trade at 19.4%, followed by Firstline supervisors of nonretail sales workers with 11.7% and Driver/sales workers & truck drivers with 8.42%.

Most Common

The most common occupations in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector, by number of employees, are Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing, Firstline supervisors of nonretail sales workers, Driver/sales workers & truck drivers, Laborers & freight, stock, & material movers, hand, and Customer service representatives.

Most Specialized

Compared to other Industry Sectors, Wholesale Trade employs an unusually high number of Buyers & purchasing agents, farm products, Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing, and Firstline supervisors of nonretail sales workers.

Highest Paid

The highest paid occupations in Wholesale Trade, by average wage, are Physicians, Cardiovascular technologists and technicians, and Economists.

Average Salary

$66,428

AVERAGE WAGE

± $900

On average, employees in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector make $66,428 per year. This number makes Wholesale Trade the 5 highest paying Industry Sector in the United States out of a total of 14 Industry Sectors.

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUBLIC USE MICRODATA AREA

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows which public use microdata areas (PUMAs) pay the highest average salary to employees in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector.

Wage Distribution

0.44

WAGE GINI

Wholesale Trade has a wage GINI of 0.44, which is less than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Wholesale Trade (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

Spatial Concentration

Public Use Microdata Areas with RCA

This map shows the PUMAs in the United States that have revealed comparative advantage in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector.

These are locations that employ more people in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector than expected given both the size of that location's overall labor pool and the national size of the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector in the US. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $71,394 and $70,167. So too tend to earn more than other races and ethnicities in this industry.

Composition by Sex

1.15M

FEMALE WORKFORCE

±26.3k

2.69M

MALE WORKFORCE

±39.9k

70% of workers in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector are Male, making them the more common sex in the workforce. This chart shows the sex breakdown of the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector.

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$71,394

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$1,146

$70,167

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$1,129

On average, Male workers in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector make 1.02 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector.

Wage by Race & Ethnicity in Common Jobs

RACE OR ETHNICITY WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARY

White
Asian
Two or More Races

On average, White employees in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector earn 1.07 times more than other races and ethnicities. This chart shows the race and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector.

Input/Output

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Wholesale 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. Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Wholesale Trade Industry Sector is Manufacturing.

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.

Industrial Flow

Intermediate Inputs

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

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

Projections

Growth projections of the Wholesale Trade industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 7.66% in the next ten years. The Wholesale Trade industry has a lower projected workforce growth at −1.73%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (29.4%) is higher than the projected national growth in output (24.2%).

Job Growth

−1.73%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

7.66%

National Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Wholesale Trade. This industry is expected to grow less than than 7.66%, the average rate of national job growth.

Output Growth

29.4%

Estimate Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in output of the Wholesale Trade industry.

Professional, Scientific & Management, and Administrative & Waste Management Services

Industry Sector

About

Workforce

Monthly Employment

Occupations by Share

Most Common

Most Specialized

Highest Paid

Average Salary

Wage by Location

Wage Distribution

Spatial Concentration

Diversity

Composition by Sex

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

Wage by Race & Ethnicity in Common Jobs

Input/Output

Industrial Flow

Intermediate Inputs

Use of Output by Other Industries

Projections

Job Growth

Output Growth

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Workforce

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Input/Output

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