Drinking places (bars) in North Carolina 1,042 establishments · 9,135 employees · 2024

Firms (NC)
1,042
Employment
9,135
Avg Annual Pay
$25,226
State Rank
#12 of 51

How North Carolina compares to national

MetricNorth CarolinaNationalNorth Carolina vs. U.S.
Establishments1,04242,9112.4% of U.S. total
Avg annual pay$25,226$26,603-$1,377 (-5.2%)
Location quotient0.781.0022% less dense than national
Avg firm size (employees)8.89.5
Year-over-year firm growth+3.8%

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An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted. A firm with multiple locations counts as multiple establishments. "Avg pay" is wages and salaries per employee, including bonuses and tips — for proprietorships, the owner's take is largely outside this number. The location quotient (LQ) of 0.78 means drinking places (bars) are 22% under-represented in North Carolina's business mix relative to the U.S. average.

Top 10 states for drinking places (bars)

RankStateFirmsAvg Pay
1 New York 3,418 $34,881
2 Illinois 3,149 $25,010
3 California 3,025 $30,213
4 Texas 2,971 $26,081
5 Wisconsin 2,890 $17,294
6 Florida 2,117 $33,256
7 Pennsylvania 2,102 $21,306
8 Ohio 2,024 $21,460
9 Michigan 1,570 $24,878
10 Louisiana 1,081 $23,631
Source. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages — 2024 annual averages, private-ownership only, NAICS 722410. Establishment counts include any firm with at least one paid employee covered by state unemployment insurance.

SMB Density · firm counts, employment, and wages by industry × state · data from BLS QCEW 2024 annual (private ownership, state-level; mostly 6-digit NAICS, 3 specialty-trade industries at 5-digit aggregation) · data.json