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Data Study · 6 min read

What Residents Do for a Living: Industry Mix Across the 50 Largest US Metros

Published October 10, 2026 by the Demografics team

The industries residents work in shape when they shop, what they spend on and how much they earn. A metro where many residents work in hospitality has different shopping hours and price sensitivity from one dominated by finance or technology. The ACS reports the industry of every employed resident aged 16 and over, which gives a consistent way to compare metros.

This is where residents work by industry, measured where they live. It is not the same as the jobs located in the metro, although for whole metro areas the two are usually close because most people live and work in the same metro.

How we measured

Shares come from ACS table C24050 (industry by occupation for the civilian employed population 16 years and over): employed residents in each industry divided by all employed residents.

Finance, insurance & real estate

Across the 50 metros the median share is 7.6%. The most concentrated are Jacksonville, FL (10.7%), Charlotte–Concord, NC-SC (10.7%) and Hartford–East Hartford, CT (10.3%).

Professional, scientific & admin services

Across the 50 metros the median share is 13.1%. The most concentrated are Washington–Arlington, DC-VA-MD-WV (22.1%), San Jose–Sunnyvale, CA (22.0%) and San Francisco–Oakland, CA (21.1%).

Education & health care

Across the 50 metros the median share is 22.2%. The most concentrated are Buffalo–Cheektowaga, NY (27.8%), Philadelphia–Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD (27.2%) and Boston–Cambridge, MA-NH (27.1%).

Arts, hospitality & food services

Across the 50 metros the median share is 8.5%. The most concentrated are Las Vegas–Henderson, NV (23.8%), Orlando–Kissimmee, FL (15.4%) and New Orleans–Metairie, LA (11.7%).

Manufacturing

Across the 50 metros the median share is 9.2%. The most concentrated are Detroit–Warren, MI (19.4%), Milwaukee–Waukesha, WI (16.8%) and San Jose–Sunnyvale, CA (16.2%).

Retail trade

Across the 50 metros the median share is 10.9%. The most concentrated are Riverside–San Bernardino, CA (12.4%), Oklahoma City, OK (12.1%) and Seattle–Tacoma, WA (12.1%).

The largest industry in every metro

Education and health care is the largest industry of employed residents in 47 of the 50 metros. The second-largest industry is where metros differ most, so it is often the more useful signal.

Using industry data in site selection

• Hospitality-heavy areas have many evening and weekend workers; daytime traffic patterns differ from office-heavy areas.
• Areas with many healthcare and education workers often have steady, shift-based demand near hospitals and campuses.
• Industry mix is a context signal. Combine it with income and age rather than using it on its own.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2018–2022 (tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B11001, B19001, B19013, B25003, C24050).
• U.S. Census Bureau, TIGERweb 2020 census tract boundaries (used to find the tracts inside each trade radius).

More data studies

• Who Lives Within 3 Miles of Downtown? Census Profiles of 25 Major US Cities
• 1, 3 or 5 Miles? How a Trade Radius Changes the Picture in 25 US Downtowns
• Is Downtown Richer or Poorer Than the Metro? Income in 25 US Cities Compared
• Where Young Adults Live: The 18–34 Share in the 50 Largest US Metros and 25 Downtowns