Count,Number,Year,What it counts,Source
Employer establishments (County Business Patterns),111207,2023,"Locations with paid employees, plumbing and HVAC combined",Census CBP
Employer firms (Statistics of U.S. Businesses),107004,2022,Companies with paid employees; a multi-location firm counts once,Census SUSB
Employer firms (Economic Census),112088,2022,"Companies with paid employees, census universe",Census EC2223BASIC
Employer establishments (Economic Census),114427,2022,"Locations with paid employees, census universe",Census EC2223BASIC
Private establishments (QCEW),123866,2025,"Unemployment-insurance worksites, annual average",BLS QCEW
Nonemployer businesses (NES),189085,2024,Tax filers with no payroll and receipts of $1 or more,Census NES
HVAC-weighted employer establishments (our estimate),48431,2023,CBP count x HVAC + refrigeration share of the trade's 2022 work,This report
"HVAC-weighted, including all mechanical work (our estimate)",68745,2023,CBP count x HVAC + refrigeration + mechanical share,This report
Vendor list count (context only),473086,2026,"Commercial database, SIC 1711 basis (also plumbing)",CompanyData.com (Tier 3)