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Nonprofits account for 12.3 million jobs, 10.2 percent of private sector employment, in 2016

August 31, 2018

There were nearly 12.3 million jobs in nonprofit organizations in 2016. That was 10.2 percent of total U.S. private sector employment. The District of Columbia had the highest percentage of nonprofit employment, 26.0 percent. Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island also had high shares of nonprofit employment. Nevada had the lowest share of nonprofit employment, 2.7 percent. Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina, each had less than 6.0 percent of private employment in nonprofit organizations in 2016.

Nonprofit employment as a percentage of total private employment, 2016
State Nonprofit employment as percent of total Total employment Nonprofit employment

Total

10.2% 120,504,622 12,292,228

District of Columbia

26.0 517,154 134,591

Vermont

18.8 254,999 48,014

Maine

18.0 508,104 91,369

New York

17.7 7,782,407 1,380,931

Massachusetts

17.7 3,065,883 542,279

Rhode Island

16.5 414,410 68,348

North Dakota

15.7 345,688 54,238

Pennsylvania

15.6 5,062,672 790,368

New Hampshire

14.8 562,809 83,453

Minnesota

14.8 2,438,627 360,461

Montana

14.7 370,994 54,388

South Dakota

14.6 347,497 50,842

Connecticut

14.6 1,435,521 209,356

West Virginia

14.0 546,617 76,432

Alaska

13.5 250,255 33,786

Maryland

12.8 2,141,805 273,355

Ohio

12.2 4,606,685 564,039

Oregon

12.2 1,556,370 190,124

Wisconsin

11.9 2,447,832 291,393

Delaware

11.9 376,028 44,707

Hawaii

11.6 525,124 61,057

Illinois

11.3 5,112,176 577,876

Iowa

11.3 1,302,244 146,935

Missouri

11.2 2,340,176 261,914

Michigan

10.8 3,686,126 397,128

Nebraska

10.7 807,525 86,431

Indiana

10.0 2,595,568 259,774

Washington

9.7 2,669,295 259,427

New Jersey

9.6 3,382,178 323,806

Kentucky

9.5 1,566,813 149,597

Arkansas

9.2 993,989 91,175

Virginia

9.0 3,095,185 277,787

Kansas

8.4 1,129,173 94,916

North Carolina

8.4 3,565,929 298,462

New Mexico

8.2 627,472 51,152

Arizona

8.1 2,294,353 186,258

Louisiana

8.0 1,599,363 128,721

Tennessee

8.0 2,478,737 199,487

California

7.8 14,288,358 1,112,268

Colorado

7.7 2,146,791 165,311

Georgia

7.4 3,619,899 268,612

Florida

7.2 7,262,168 521,840

Idaho

7.1 572,321 40,466

Oklahoma

6.7 1,252,645 84,335

Utah

6.7 1,165,414 78,235

Mississippi

6.4 888,986 56,883

Wyoming

6.1 205,040 12,527

South Carolina

5.4 1,651,309 89,729

Alabama

5.3 1,555,542 82,861

Texas

5.1 9,960,249 506,744

Nevada

2.7 1,132,119 30,943

Montour County, Pennsylvania, had 63.1 percent of private employment in nonprofit organizations in 2016. That was the highest share among all U.S. counties. Many of the counties with the highest shares of nonprofit employment had fewer than 50,000 private sector jobs in 2016. Several larger counties also had high shares of nonprofit employment, however, including Bronx County, New York; Baltimore City, Maryland; Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; and Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

Counties with the highest percentage of private employment in nonprofit organizations, 2016
County Nonprofit employment
as percent of total
Total employment Nonprofit employment

Montour County, Pennsylvania

63.1 13,881 8,764

Tompkins County, New York

47.1 44,332 20,888

Franklin County, New York

40.5 10,630 4,310

Otsego County, New York

37.3 19,133 7,143

Grafton County, New Hampshire

35.9 46,689 16,764

Bronx County, New York

34.7 238,210 82,616

Deer Lodge County, Montana

34.1 2,317 790

Yates County, New York

33.2 5,821 1,930

Sullivan County, New York

33.0 20,371 6,731

Baltimore City, Maryland

31.4 268,372 84,309

St. Lawrence County, New York

30.3 24,927 7,547

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

29.9 562,350 167,987

Addison County, Vermont

29.4 12,999 3,826

Suffolk County, Massachusetts

29.4 581,783 171,051

Madison County, New York

29.2 16,930 4,937

Rensselaer County, New York

28.5 40,689 11,581

Apache County, Arizona

27.9 7,154 1,993

Union County, Pennsylvania

27.7 14,441 4,003

Gallia County, Ohio

27.6 9,125 2,523

Polk County, North Carolina

27.2 4,157 1,131

St. Louis City, Missouri

26.9 195,307 52,525

Letcher County, Kentucky

26.2 3,185 834

District of Columbia

26.0 517,154 134,591

Hampshire County, Massachusetts

25.9 47,661 12,333

Clinton County, Missouri

25.6 2,938 751

St. Louis County, Minnesota

25.6 81,906 20,930

Berkshire County, Massachusetts

25.5 53,530 13,659

Durham County, North Carolina

25.1 175,316 44,031

Monongalia County, West Virginia

25.1 44,387 11,138

Essex County, New York

25.0 10,474 2,616

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages and Business Employment Dynamics program. For more information about employment in nonprofit organizations, see "Research Data on the Nonprofit Sector." These data focus only on nonprofit organizations in the 501(c)3 classification.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Nonprofits account for 12.3 million jobs, 10.2 percent of private sector employment, in 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/nonprofits-account-for-12-3-million-jobs-10-2-percent-of-private-sector-employment-in-2016.htm (visited March 18, 2024).

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