42431

Analysis

NAICS 42431 is the 2022 NAICS industry for piece goods, notions, and other dry goods merchant wholesalers, part of 4243 (Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers).

It has only one more detailed code, 424310, which covers exactly the same activities; the definition, index entries and statistics are on that page.

County Business Patterns counts 2,844 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 21,231 people at an average annual payroll of $63,460 per employee (40th percentile of national industries). 67% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which marks it as a small-business industry.

By establishments it ranks 1st of the 2 codes at this level within Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers, with 21.4% of them.

Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 3% and employment fell 13%. The 2018 count used NAICS 2017, so part of a large move can come from codes being redefined rather than from businesses opening or closing.