An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services: NAICS 518

About the Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services subsector

The data processing, hosting, and related services subsector is part of the information sector.

Industries in the Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services subsector group establishments that provide the infrastructure for hosting and/or data processing services.

North American Industry Classification System

The data processing, hosting, and related services subsector consists of a single industry group, Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services: NAICS 5182.

NOTE: There was a change in the definition of this subsector between NAICS 2002 and NAICS 2007. The NAICS 2002 subsector Internet Service Providers, Web Search Portals, and Data Processing Services has been redefined in NAICS 2007 as Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services. Some of the data below reflect the 2002 definition and some reflect the 2007 definition. See the BLS implementation schedule for NAICS 2007 to find out which BLS programs have already implemented NAICS 2007.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in data processing, hosting, and related services. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment


Data series	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	493.6	494.9	(p)495.0	(p)497.4
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	389.6	388.2	(p)388.0
Unemployment
Unemployment rate
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2023
Computer programmers	4,310
Computer support specialists	21,040
Computer systems analysts	16,320
Software developers, applications
Software developers, systems software

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for data processing, hosting, and related services.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours are shown.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$53.75	$53.76	$53.75	(p)$55.35
Average weekly hours	37.8	37.6	37.4	(p)37.8
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$46.66	$46.52	$46.37	(p)$45.93
Average weekly hours	37.9	37.8	37.5	(p)37.7
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2023
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Computer programmers	47.51	56.81	98,810	118,160
Computer support specialists	28.59	30.85	59,460	64,160
Computer systems analysts	48.56	54.03	101,000	112,380
Software developers, applications
Software developers, systems software

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in data processing, hosting, and related services. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.


Data series	2022
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	0.3
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	0.1
Cases involving days away from work	0.1
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	(1)0.0
Footnotes (1) Rate rounded to zero
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in data processing, hosting, and related services.

Establishments


Data series	4th quarter 2022	1st quarter 2023	2nd quarter 2023	3rd quarter 2023
Number of establishments
Private industry	49,611	(p)51,130	(p)52,351	(p)53,460
Local government	99	(p)97	(p)98	(p)98
State government	19	(p)19	(p)19	(p)19
Federal government	1	(p)1	(p)1	(p)1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Data extracted on: April 17, 2024