42492

Analysis

NAICS 42492 is the 2022 NAICS industry for book, periodical, and newspaper merchant wholesalers, part of 4249 (Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers).

It has only one more detailed code, 424920, 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 28% and employment fell 47%. 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.

County Business Patterns counts 1,020 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 16,762 people at an average annual payroll of $54,207 per employee (23rd percentile of national industries). 60% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which marks it as a small-business industry.

By establishments it ranks 6th of the 6 codes at this level within Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers, with 3.5% of them.