Analysis
NAICS 48839 is the 2022 NAICS industry for other support activities for water transportation, part of 4883 (Support Activities for Water Transportation).
It has only one more detailed code, 488390, which covers exactly the same activities; the definition, index entries and statistics are on that page.
County Business Patterns counts 759 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 7,786 people at an average annual payroll of $81,691 per employee (70th percentile of national industries). 63% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which marks it as a small-business industry.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 4% and employment rose 6%. 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 2nd of the 4 codes at this level within Support Activities for Water Transportation, with 28.8% of them.
Official definition
See industry description for 488390.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.