Retail Trade

Add Comparison

Workforce

16.8M

2018 ACS Estimate

Average Employee Age

38.9

Average Salary

$35,747

Average Male Salary

$42,621

Average Female Salary

$28,675

About

The top three occupations in the Retail Trade Industry Group are Retail salespersons, Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers, Cashiers, Stockers and order fillers, and Customer service representatives. On average, full-time employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector work 42.9 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $47,123. Part-time employees in the same industry work 22.3 hours and earn an average annual salary of $12,863.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector are Queen Anne & Magnolia PUMA, WA, Johnson County PUMA, TX, and Benton County PUMA, AR. The industry that purchases the most products or services from the Hospitals Industry Group is Retail Trade.

Photo by paul bica

Retail Trade Retail Trade

Workforce

A snapshot of jobs, wages, and opportunities in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector. Retail salespersons are the most common position, but the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector employs a relatively high number of Retail salespersons, compared to other industries.

The highest average salary in Retail Trade goes to Architectural & engineering managers.

Occupations

Occupations by Share

16.8M

Workforce (ACS Estimate)

± 94.8k

0.387%

1 Year Growth

± 0.796%

According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector has been growing at a rate of 0.387%, , from 16.7M people in 2017 to 16.8M people in 2018.

The following graphic shows the share of employment in Retail Trade by various occupations according to ACS estimates. Retail salespersons represent the largest share of positions held in Retail Trade at 18.2%, followed by Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers with 16.5% and Cashiers with 13.2%.

Most Common

The most common occupations in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector, by number of employees, are Retail salespersons, Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers, Cashiers, Stockers and order fillers, and Customer service representatives.

Most Specialized

Compared to other Industry Sub-Sectors, Retail Trade employs an unusually high number of Retail salespersons, Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers, and Floral designers.

Highest Paid

The highest paid occupations in Retail Trade, by average wage, are Architectural & engineering managers, Real estate brokers & sales agents, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.

Wages

Average Salary

$35,747

AVERAGE WAGE

± $277

On average, employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector make $35,747 per year. This number makes Retail Trade the 12 highest paying Industry Sub-Sector in the United States out of a total of 21 Industry Sub-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 Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector.

Wage Distribution

0.499

WAGE GINI

Retail Trade has a wage GINI of 0.499, which is more than than the national average of 0.479. 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).

Opportunities

Spatial Concentration

Public Use Microdata Areas with RCA

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

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

Diversity

Demographic information on the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector in the US. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $42,621 and $28,675. So too tend to earn more than other races and ethnicities in this industry.

Gender Composition

8.28M

FEMALE WORKFORCE

±68.7k

8.52M

MALE WORKFORCE

±69.6k

50.7% of workers in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector are Male, making them the more common gender in the workforce. This chart shows the gender breakdown of the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector.

Wage by Gender in Common Jobs

$42,621

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$456

$28,675

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$298

On average, Male workers in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector make 1.49 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the gender-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector.

Wage by Race & Ethnicity in Common Jobs

RACE OR ETHNICITY WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARY

Asian
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
White

On average, Asian employees in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector earn 1.27 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 Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector.

Input/Output

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Retail Trade Industry Sub-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 Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Retail Trade Industry Sub-Sector is Construction.

In this visualization, click on a category to expand or collapse it. 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

The closest comparable data for Retail Trade is from Retail Trade.

Intermediate Inputs

The closest comparable data for Retail Trade is from Retail Trade.

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

The Retail Trade Industry Sub-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

The closest comparable data for Retail Trade is from Retail Trade.

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

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

Keep Exploring

Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Accommodation & Food Services

Industry Sector

Construction

Industry Sector

Other Services, Except Public Administration

Industry Sector

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, and Mining

Industry Sector