On tap: a look at statewide employment per brewery

As we near Oktoberfest, with its traditional Bavarian food, games, and beer, we look at employment per brewery to see which states are more likely to have larger breweries than smaller ones.

States with higher employment per brewery are likely home to some larger breweries. With March 2017 employment of 2,819 in 50 breweries during the first quarter of 2017, Missouri averaged 56.4 employees per brewery, the highest among all states. Following Missouri were Wisconsin (41.9), Georgia (34.9), and Pennsylvania (27.2). Employment per brewery in New Hampshire was 25.0, with employment of 599 and 24 breweries.

States with low employment per brewery are where smaller, or microbreweries, are mostly found. With March 2017 employment of 30 in 6 breweries during the first quarter of 2017, South Dakota had the lowest employment per establishment among all states, with 5.0. Following South Dakota were Rhode Island (6.5), Mississippi and Nevada (6.7 each), West Virginia (6.9), and the District of Columbia (7.0). Employment per brewery in Washington was 10.3, with employment of 2,105 and 204 breweries.

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. For more location quotient and employment data, visit the QCEW data retrieval tool.