Analysis
NAICS 42444 is the 2022 NAICS industry for poultry and poultry product merchant wholesalers, part of 4244 (Grocery and Related Product Merchant Wholesalers).
It has only one more detailed code, 424440, which covers exactly the same activities; the definition, index entries and statistics are on that page.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 18% and employment fell 15%. 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.
By establishments it ranks 9th of the 9 codes at this level within Grocery and Related Product Merchant Wholesalers, with 1.2% of them.
County Business Patterns counts 407 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 8,296 people at an average annual payroll of $64,189 per employee (41st percentile of national industries). 43% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which is close to the national mix.
Official definition
See industry description for 424440.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.