Analysis
NAICS 54181 is the 2022 NAICS industry for advertising agencies, part of 5418 (Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services).
It has only one more detailed code, 541810, which covers exactly the same activities; the definition, index entries and statistics are on that page.
County Business Patterns counts 15,512 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 200,465 people at an average annual payroll of $106,841 per employee (87th percentile of national industries). 68% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which marks it as a small-business industry.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments grew 13% and employment rose 7%. 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 1st of the 8 codes at this level within Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services, with 39.9% of them.
Official definition
See industry description for 541810.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.