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We have used a list of pandemic-essential industries from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to count the number of workers in “essential industries” in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2019 the United States had an average annual private employment of 107.5 million in essential industries.
State | Phase 1a | Phase 1b | Phase 1c | Phases 1a-1c | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment in Essential Healthcare Industries | Percent of total private employment | Employment in Frontline Essential Industries | Percent of total private employment | Employment in Other Essential Industries | Percent of total private employment | All Essential Industries | Percent of total private employment | |
U.S. total[1] |
19,580,398 | 15.4% | 22,630,240 | 17.9% | 65,249,973 | 51.6% | 107,460,611 | 85.0% |
Alabama |
217,262 | 13.4 | 375,321 | 23.1 | 804,270 | 49.6 | 1,396,853 | 86.1 |
Alaska |
42,094 | 16.9 | 35,790 | 14.4 | 133,761 | 53.7 | 211,645 | 84.9 |
Arizona |
383,353 | 15.3 | 382,546 | 15.2 | 1,347,449 | 53.6 | 2,113,348 | 84.1 |
Arkansas |
167,417 | 16.4 | 243,237 | 23.8 | 492,307 | 48.2 | 902,961 | 88.3 |
California |
2,349,336 | 15.5 | 2,617,881 | 17.3 | 7,698,613 | 50.9 | 12,665,830 | 83.7 |
Colorado |
289,291 | 12.5 | 299,282 | 13.0 | 1,379,353 | 59.8 | 1,967,926 | 85.3 |
Connecticut |
257,779 | 17.8 | 298,751 | 20.7 | 661,838 | 45.8 | 1,218,368 | 84.3 |
Delaware |
68,635 | 17.6 | 51,277 | 13.2 | 209,325 | 53.8 | 329,237 | 84.6 |
District of Columbia |
60,726 | 11.3 | 60,989 | 11.3 | 260,236 | 48.2 | 381,951 | 70.8 |
Florida |
1,129,274 | 14.5 | 1,048,142 | 13.4 | 4,352,574 | 55.7 | 6,529,990 | 83.6 |
Georgia |
481,614 | 12.5 | 649,953 | 16.8 | 2,044,013 | 53.0 | 3,175,580 | 82.3 |
Hawaii |
65,440 | 12.2 | 56,426 | 10.5 | 306,383 | 57.1 | 428,249 | 79.8 |
Idaho |
94,037 | 14.9 | 132,465 | 21.0 | 323,447 | 51.2 | 549,949 | 87.1 |
Illinois |
761,659 | 14.6 | 960,074 | 18.4 | 2,595,277 | 49.8 | 4,317,010 | 82.8 |
Indiana |
402,388 | 15.0 | 706,838 | 26.3 | 1,212,555 | 45.2 | 2,321,781 | 86.5 |
Iowa |
179,942 | 13.7 | 337,423 | 25.7 | 638,489 | 48.7 | 1,155,854 | 88.1 |
Kansas |
179,180 | 15.6 | 242,060 | 21.1 | 572,991 | 49.9 | 994,231 | 86.7 |
Kentucky |
250,486 | 15.6 | 359,737 | 22.4 | 787,388 | 49.0 | 1,397,611 | 87.0 |
Louisiana |
270,709 | 16.8 | 269,009 | 16.7 | 876,701 | 54.4 | 1,416,419 | 87.8 |
Maine |
101,729 | 19.4 | 102,165 | 19.5 | 252,845 | 48.2 | 456,739 | 87.1 |
Maryland |
364,869 | 16.5 | 298,390 | 13.5 | 1,192,759 | 54.0 | 1,856,018 | 84.1 |
Massachusetts |
616,649 | 19.2 | 541,234 | 16.9 | 1,589,024 | 49.6 | 2,746,907 | 85.7 |
Michigan |
589,184 | 15.5 | 874,511 | 23.1 | 1,766,824 | 46.6 | 3,230,519 | 85.2 |
Minnesota |
459,924 | 18.3 | 493,222 | 19.6 | 1,208,460 | 48.0 | 2,161,606 | 85.9 |
Mississippi |
127,916 | 14.2 | 211,547 | 23.5 | 447,595 | 49.6 | 787,058 | 87.3 |
Missouri |
408,355 | 17.0 | 443,118 | 18.5 | 1,232,470 | 51.4 | 2,083,943 | 86.8 |
Montana |
64,654 | 16.7 | 54,380 | 14.1 | 213,175 | 55.1 | 332,209 | 85.9 |
Nebraska |
122,212 | 14.9 | 164,924 | 20.1 | 430,076 | 52.4 | 717,212 | 87.3 |
Nevada |
127,979 | 10.2 | 120,825 | 9.7 | 805,987 | 64.5 | 1,054,791 | 84.4 |
New Hampshire |
87,884 | 15.1 | 126,465 | 21.8 | 273,708 | 47.2 | 488,057 | 84.1 |
New Jersey |
570,932 | 16.3 | 498,136 | 14.2 | 1,813,708 | 51.7 | 2,882,776 | 82.1 |
New Mexico |
111,063 | 16.9 | 87,792 | 13.3 | 377,417 | 57.3 | 576,272 | 87.5 |
New York |
1,571,449 | 19.3 | 1,193,325 | 14.7 | 3,907,324 | 48.1 | 6,672,098 | 82.2 |
North Carolina |
499,236 | 13.2 | 722,610 | 19.0 | 1,959,426 | 51.7 | 3,181,272 | 83.9 |
North Dakota |
57,904 | 16.5 | 46,228 | 13.2 | 200,476 | 57.0 | 304,608 | 86.7 |
Ohio |
796,033 | 16.9 | 1,010,406 | 21.4 | 2,290,911 | 48.6 | 4,097,350 | 87.0 |
Oklahoma |
190,768 | 14.7 | 233,642 | 18.0 | 702,170 | 54.2 | 1,126,580 | 86.9 |
Oregon |
248,106 | 14.8 | 365,076 | 21.8 | 829,117 | 49.4 | 1,442,299 | 86.0 |
Pennsylvania |
1,023,127 | 19.5 | 1,034,018 | 19.7 | 2,485,959 | 47.4 | 4,543,104 | 86.5 |
Rhode Island |
66,781 | 15.7 | 74,244 | 17.5 | 197,378 | 46.5 | 338,403 | 79.7 |
South Carolina |
208,611 | 11.8 | 378,840 | 21.4 | 909,178 | 51.2 | 1,496,629 | 84.4 |
South Dakota |
59,444 | 16.7 | 73,067 | 20.6 | 180,778 | 50.9 | 313,289 | 88.1 |
Tennessee |
375,373 | 14.4 | 506,314 | 19.4 | 1,326,944 | 50.8 | 2,208,631 | 84.5 |
Texas |
1,455,574 | 13.6 | 1,632,114 | 15.3 | 6,109,466 | 57.1 | 9,197,154 | 86.0 |
Utah |
151,965 | 11.8 | 225,485 | 17.6 | 720,105 | 56.1 | 1,097,555 | 85.5 |
Vermont |
34,194 | 13.3 | 56,000 | 21.8 | 118,901 | 46.2 | 209,095 | 81.3 |
Virginia |
431,685 | 13.4 | 467,563 | 14.5 | 1,811,246 | 56.1 | 2,710,494 | 84.0 |
Washington |
401,849 | 14.0 | 570,550 | 19.9 | 1,497,702 | 52.2 | 2,470,101 | 86.0 |
West Virginia |
118,597 | 21.4 | 83,825 | 15.1 | 282,493 | 51.0 | 484,915 | 87.6 |
Wisconsin |
387,037 | 15.4 | 628,456 | 25.1 | 1,158,980 | 46.2 | 2,174,473 | 86.7 |
Wyoming |
17,454 | 8.2 | 26,300 | 12.4 | 138,455 | 65.4 | 182,209 | 86.1 |
Puerto Rico |
92,889 | 13.7 | 147,894 | 21.8 | 327,168 | 48.2 | 567,951 | 83.7 |
U.S. Virgin Islands |
561 | 2.0 | 3,354 | 12.0 | 16,283 | 58.2 | 20,198 | 72.2 |
[1] U.S. totals exclude Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. |
In 2019, 19.6 million people worked in essential industries falling under Phase 1a of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommended vaccination roll-out plan. These essential healthcare industries accounted for 15.5 percent of private employment in 2019. Another 22.6 million people (17.9 percent of private employment) worked in Phase 1b, frontline essential industries. There were 65.2 million people (51.6 percent) who worked in Phase 1c, other essential industries.
West Virginia had the highest rate of private industry essential healthcare (Phase 1a) employment at 21.4 percent, while the U.S. Virgin Islands had the lowest at 2.0 percent. Arkansas had the highest rate of private employment across all essential industries (Phase 1a, 1b, and 1c industries combined) at 88.3 percent, while the District of Columbia had the lowest at 70.8 percent.
These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Note that an essential industry differs from an essential occupation. Data presented in this article refer to the number of private sector employees in pandemic-essential industries. However, within any industry, different workers may be more or less “essential” based on their occupation.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 107.5 million private sector workers in pandemic-essential industries in 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/107-5-million-private-sector-workers-in-pandemic-essential-industries-in-2019.htm (visited November 10, 2024).