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2022 Economic Census / NAICS 42

Wholesale trade

The four largest firms in Wholesale trade accounted for 6.7% of the industry's 2022 sales, value of shipments, or revenue, and its concentration (HHI 27) ranks 7 of 17 sectors in the Economic Census. What is HHI?

National employer-firm concentration for this sector, measured from sales, value of shipments, or revenue. Census categories are statistical groupings, not necessarily antitrust markets.

SectorWholesale tradeMiddle half

Revenue-based HHI

26.8

42
03,500
Same-level median 2365th percentile

National rank

#7

of 17 published

Sector rank

N/A

of 55 published

Largest 4 firms

6.7%

Share of industry revenue

Revenue

$11.9T

Sales, shipments, or revenue

Employer firms

265.5K

265,472

Employment

6.2M

6,219,107

Four source-bounded systems

Sector evidence passport

Open sector atlas

The passport juxtaposes four source-bounded sector signals for navigation. Each cell retains its own period, denominator, source, and rank universe; the cells are not combined into a sector score, merger rate, legal market, causal estimate, or assessment of competitive harm.

Industry profileWholesale tradeSector · HHI 26.8 · CR4 6.7%

  • GeographyUnited StatesNational firm totals
  • UniverseEmployer firmsFirms with payroll
  • MeasurementRevenue concentrationSales, shipments, or revenue
  • Permitted useScreening onlyNot a legal market definition

Longitudinal sector pulse

How typical detailed industries changed inside Wholesale trade

Compare six strict-match medians, their publication coverage, and each sector's position among 17 economy-wide rows.

NAICS 42

Median HHI-point change across strict six-digit matches

+17.5 pts#2 highest change of 17 sectors

Economy median

+1.6 ptsAcross sector medians
2017 paired median
324.8
2022 paired median
322
Published pairs
44 of 67
Direction mix
30 up / 14 down

Interpretation

The typical published detailed-industry HHI moved +17.5 pts. This distribution statistic is separate from the official broad-sector HHI row.

Classification boundary: 1 changed and 1 new detailed rows remain outside strict deltas.

Open economy sector atlas Detailed change JSONDetailed change CSV
Sector rows summarize strict six-digit NAICS matches. Their medians are not sector HHI values, legal antitrust markets, liability findings, or causal estimates. Vintage medians and the median of row-level changes are distinct distribution statistics and need not reconcile. Publication coverage varies by metric, and revenue changes are nominal.

Census formation and sector context

Monthly formation signals beside annual sector structure

60 monthly observations for the exact NAICS 42 broad-sector contract.
Direct broad-sector join
Business Applications
9,704
Jul 2026 monthly count
Application annual change
+5.8%
Same month one year earlier
U.S. application share
1.7%
Share of national applications
High-propensity mix
24.9%
2,414 applications
Projected formations
493
Modeled four-quarter source projection
Establishment entry rate
6.7%
2023 annual BDS rate

Monthly source trajectory

Applications and high-propensity applications

Aug 2021 to Jul 2026
Business ApplicationsHigh-Propensity Business Applications
Sixty-month business application trajectory for Wholesale tradeBusiness Applications and the high-propensity subset share one count axis. The chapter describes the selected broad sector.20K15K10K5K0Aug 2021Nov 2022Feb 2024May 2025Jul 2026
111,965 applications / latest 12 months27,942 high-propensity / latest 12 months

Source clocks

Four releases, three measurement systems

Business Formation Statistics
2026-07
monthly applications and projected formations
Business Dynamics Statistics
2023
annual employer-establishment flows
Economic Census structure
2022
median across detailed-industry HHI rows
Strict concentration history
2017-2022
same-code and same-label detailed pairs
Source custody
Exact broad-sector boundary

NAICS 42 is the exact broad-sector contract used by this chapter. This atlas joins only exact broad-sector NAICS contracts across three separate Census systems: monthly Business Formation Statistics, annual Business Dynamics Statistics, and Economic Census industry structure. The release clocks, populations, denominators, and measures remain distinct. Positions are descriptive context, not composite competition scores, causal estimates, legal antitrust markets, or evidence that applications, entry, concentration, and competitive effects are interchangeable.

BLS labor and payroll context

Trade + transport signals across linked sectors

4 Census sectors share these BLS source-group readings; none is allocated a separate value.
Shared BLS group
Job openings
4.4%
Jun 2026 JOLTS rate
Hires
3.9%
Jun 2026 JOLTS rate
Quits
2.5%
Jun 2026 JOLTS rate
Layoffs + discharges
1.1%
Jun 2026 JOLTS rate
All employees
28.7M
28,708 thousand payroll jobs
Weekly hours
34.1
0.0 hrs from year earlier
Hourly earnings
$32.00
+3.2% from year earlier

JOLTS worker flows

Openings and quits on native rate scales

Jul 2021 to Jun 2026
Job openings rateQuits rate
Sixty-month JOLTS openings and quits ratesJob openings and quits rates for the mapped Trade, transportation, and utilities source group. The measures keep their published denominators and are not a labor-market power score.8.0%6.0%4.0%2.0%0.0%Jul 2021Oct 2022Jan 2024Apr 2025Jun 2026
+0.9 pp openings / year earlier+0.2 pp quits / year earlier

CES payroll context

Payroll jobs and nominal earnings, indexed

Aug 2021 = 100
Payroll jobsHourly earnings
Sixty-month CES payroll jobs and hourly earnings indexesPayroll jobs and nominal average hourly earnings for the mapped Trade, transportation, and utilities source group, each independently indexed to 100 in the first displayed month. Native levels remain in the readouts.12511811010395Aug 2021Nov 2022Feb 2024May 2025Jul 2026
-0.1% payroll jobs / year earlier+3.2% nominal earnings / year earlier

Declared classification bridge

One profile, two source-owned industry groups

Selected Census parent
NAICS 42
Wholesale trade
JOLTS group
400000
Trade, transportation, and utilities
CES supersector
40
Trade, transportation, and utilities
Mapped Census sectors
4
22, 42, 44-45, 48-49

Independent release clocks

Two monthly systems, no merged series

JOLTS worker flows
2026-06
60 displayed months · latest preliminary
CES payroll context
2026-07
60 displayed months · latest preliminary
Source custody
Shared-group boundary

The selected Wholesale trade sector (NAICS 42) is one of 4 Census-sector contexts attached to the broader Trade, transportation, and utilities JOLTS and Trade, transportation, and utilities CES groups. Their published values cannot be allocated to this sector alone. JOLTS industry rates describe national labor demand and worker-flow activity in broad BLS industry groups. They do not measure employer concentration, monopsony power, wages, bargaining power, job quality, local labor-market conditions, worker substitutability, a legal labor market, or the competitive cause of a change. The job openings rate uses employment plus openings as its denominator. Hires, quits, and layoffs and discharges use employment. Rates may be compared across published industry groups within the same measure, but different measures must not be added together or treated as a common flow balance. CES employment, hours, and earnings describe national payroll jobs and establishment averages in broad private-industry groups. They do not measure unique workers, vacancies, employer concentration, monopsony power, bargaining power, job quality, a local or occupational labor market, a legal antitrust market, or the competitive cause of a change. All-employee hourly earnings are current-dollar averages and are not adjusted for inflation. Changes can reflect shifts in industry and worker composition. Employment is reported in thousands of payroll jobs, so multiple jobholders may be counted more than once. Compare industries only within the same published measure; do not add or ratio the three measures into a common score. The two releases remain separate and are not combined into a labor-market, monopsony, competition, welfare, or causal score.

BEA industry output context

Wholesale in the U.S. value-added map

Exact broad-sector bridge from Census NAICS 42 to BEA line 34.
Exact sector context
GDP share
6.2%
2025 current-dollar composition
Real growth
-5.4%
2026-Q1 annualized BEA convention
Growth contribution
-0.35 pp
2026-Q1 contribution to real GDP growth
Real quantity index
100.8
2026-Q1 / 2017=100
Current value added
$2.04T
2026-Q1 seasonally adjusted annual rate

Annual composition trajectory

Share of current-dollar GDP

1997-2025
Wholesale annual share of current-dollar GDPBEA value-added share from 1997 through 2025. This is an accounting composition measure, not a market share.7.0%6.5%6.0%5.5%5.0%19972004201120182025
6.2%19970.0 pplong-run shift6.2%2025
Source custodyU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis / 2026-06-25GDP by Industry, value-added tablesOfficial BEA releaseAccess reviewed 2026-08-15
Exact broad-sector boundary

BEA line 34 and Census NAICS 42 share the declared broad-sector classification used by this profile. BEA value added measures an industry's contribution to GDP. It is not sales, gross output, profit, a markup, market share, concentration, a legal antitrust market, or evidence of competitive harm or causation. Current-dollar value-added shares reflect both prices and quantities. Real value added uses chained 2017 dollars and is suitable for growth comparisons, but chained-dollar industry components are not additive. Quarterly levels are seasonally adjusted at annual rates, and quarterly growth and contribution measures retain BEA's published annualized convention. The BEA table contains nested industries, cross-industry aggregates, and addenda. Only the 20 major-industry rows form the composition view; summing those rows with their children, parent aggregates, or addenda would double count activity.

BEA domestic production requirements

Wholesale trade in the U.S. production network

Exact published code bridge from Census NAICS 42 to BEA summary industry 42.
Exact 71-industry line
BEA lines in scope
1
one exact published industry
Annual matrices
28
1997-2024
Raw matrix cells
1,988
retained without aggregation
Net requirement
1.6669
domestic output per $1 final use
Own requirement
1.0410
diagonal direct + indirect

Strongest external requirements

Suppliers required by Wholesale trade

Other real estateORE / Real estate0.0741Miscellaneous professional, scientific, and technical services5412OP / Professional services0.0740Management of companies and enterprises55 / Company management0.0629Administrative and support services561 / Administrative services0.0510Insurance carriers and related activities524 / Finance0.0402Other transportation and support activities487OS / Transportation0.0343Federal Reserve banks, credit intermediation, and related activities521CI / Finance0.0308Rental and leasing services and lessors of intangible assets532RL / Real estate0.0245
Source custodyU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis / 2025-09-25Input-Output Accounts, domestic requirements tablesOfficial BEA tablesAccess reviewed 2026-08-15
Exact accounting line

Census NAICS 42 and BEA summary industry 42 share the exact published code used by this profile. A domestic total-requirements coefficient reports the U.S. output required from the supplier-row industry, directly and indirectly, per dollar of output delivered to final use by the buyer-column industry. It is not observed spending, a contract, a firm supplier link, market share, concentration, a legal antitrust market, competitive harm, or causation. Rows are supplying industries and columns are buyer industries delivering output to final use. Reading down a buyer column traces upstream requirements; reading across a supplier row traces the industries whose final-use output requires that supplier. BEA requirements tables use fixed input structures, constant returns to scale, and no input substitution. Coefficients are average, ex-post industry relationships; domestic import adjustments are estimated and do not identify firm-specific sourcing. Diagonal values include an industry's own direct and indirect requirements. Published negative coefficients are retained as accounting adjustments and must not be ranked as positive supply requirements.

Longitudinal sector profile

Business formation and job flows since 1978

46 annual BDS records compare Wholesale trade with the national series while preserving the BDS universe.
Wholesale trade
6.719%
2023 sector rate
United States
10.608%
2023 national rate
Sector gap
-3.889 pp
Below U.S. rate
Joined-sector rank
#16
of 17 by magnitude

Establishment entry rate

Wholesale trade and the United States

Entering establishments as a share of the Census BDS establishment denominator.
Wholesale tradeUnited States
2023Wholesale trade6.719%United States10.608%Gap -3.889 pp
1978: United States 15.146%; Wholesale trade 12.803%1979: United States 13.970%; Wholesale trade 11.260%1980: United States 12.806%; Wholesale trade 10.808%1981: United States 12.797%; Wholesale trade 11.670%1982: United States 12.464%; Wholesale trade 11.260%1983: United States 13.389%; Wholesale trade 11.110%1984: United States 14.534%; Wholesale trade 11.510%1985: United States 13.810%; Wholesale trade 11.540%1986: United States 14.095%; Wholesale trade 11.899%1987: United States 14.325%; Wholesale trade 12.188%1988: United States 13.959%; Wholesale trade 11.895%1989: United States 13.368%; Wholesale trade 11.411%1990: United States 12.683%; Wholesale trade 11.059%1991: United States 12.358%; Wholesale trade 11.146%1992: United States 11.577%; Wholesale trade 10.423%1993: United States 11.509%; Wholesale trade 10.471%1994: United States 11.885%; Wholesale trade 10.617%1995: United States 12.058%; Wholesale trade 10.815%1996: United States 11.795%; Wholesale trade 11.038%1997: United States 12.200%; Wholesale trade 10.540%1998: United States 11.438%; Wholesale trade 10.008%1999: United States 11.115%; Wholesale trade 9.092%2000: United States 10.848%; Wholesale trade 9.480%2001: United States 10.990%; Wholesale trade 9.797%2002: United States 11.911%; Wholesale trade 9.593%2003: United States 11.425%; Wholesale trade 9.347%2004: United States 11.511%; Wholesale trade 9.446%2005: United States 11.615%; Wholesale trade 8.901%2006: United States 12.495%; Wholesale trade 9.732%2007: United States 11.761%; Wholesale trade 9.066%2008: United States 10.307%; Wholesale trade 8.657%2009: United States 9.281%; Wholesale trade 7.534%2010: United States 9.495%; Wholesale trade 7.958%2011: United States 9.886%; Wholesale trade 8.329%2012: United States 10.018%; Wholesale trade 8.029%2013: United States 9.807%; Wholesale trade 8.021%2014: United States 9.906%; Wholesale trade 7.640%2015: United States 10.025%; Wholesale trade 7.551%2016: United States 10.194%; Wholesale trade 7.442%2017: United States 9.675%; Wholesale trade 7.192%2018: United States 9.414%; Wholesale trade 6.714%2019: United States 9.613%; Wholesale trade 6.664%2020: United States 9.637%; Wholesale trade 6.416%2021: United States 10.845%; Wholesale trade 7.234%2022: United States 11.651%; Wholesale trade 7.828%2023: United States 10.608%; Wholesale trade 6.719%
1978
12.803%
-6.084 pp to latest
2018
6.714%
Higher than 2018
Series high / 1978
12.803%
Highest published rate
Series low / 2020
6.416%
Lowest published rate

Exact annual series

Sector and national values

2023 back to 1978
Establishment entry rate for Wholesale trade and the United States, with the sector-minus-national gap.
Year42United StatesGap
20236.719%10.608%-3.889 pp
20227.828%11.651%-3.823 pp
20217.234%10.845%-3.611 pp
20206.416%9.637%-3.221 pp
20196.664%9.613%-2.949 pp
20186.714%9.414%-2.7 pp
20177.192%9.675%-2.483 pp
20167.442%10.194%-2.752 pp
20157.551%10.025%-2.474 pp
20147.64%9.906%-2.266 pp
20138.021%9.807%-1.786 pp
20128.029%10.018%-1.989 pp
20118.329%9.886%-1.557 pp
20107.958%9.495%-1.537 pp
20097.534%9.281%-1.747 pp
20088.657%10.307%-1.65 pp
20079.066%11.761%-2.695 pp
20069.732%12.495%-2.763 pp
20058.901%11.615%-2.714 pp
20049.446%11.511%-2.065 pp
20039.347%11.425%-2.078 pp
20029.593%11.911%-2.318 pp
20019.797%10.99%-1.193 pp
20009.48%10.848%-1.368 pp
19999.092%11.115%-2.023 pp
199810.008%11.438%-1.43 pp
199710.54%12.2%-1.66 pp
199611.038%11.795%-0.757 pp
199510.815%12.058%-1.243 pp
199410.617%11.885%-1.268 pp
199310.471%11.509%-1.038 pp
199210.423%11.577%-1.154 pp
199111.146%12.358%-1.212 pp
199011.059%12.683%-1.624 pp
198911.411%13.368%-1.957 pp
198811.895%13.959%-2.064 pp
198712.188%14.325%-2.137 pp
198611.899%14.095%-2.196 pp
198511.54%13.81%-2.27 pp
198411.51%14.534%-3.024 pp
198311.11%13.389%-2.279 pp
198211.26%12.464%-1.204 pp
198111.67%12.797%-1.127 pp
198010.808%12.806%-1.998 pp
197911.26%13.97%-2.71 pp
197812.803%15.146%-2.343 pp

Sector structure lab

Map concentration inside Wholesale trade

Each bubble is one six-digit industry. Horizontal position is revenue-based HHI, vertical position is CR4, and bubble area follows the selected economic scale.

Detailed industries69Six-digit rows
Median HHI360.855 published
Median CR429.9%69 published
HHI 2,500+0Detailed rows
Published weight84.0%Revenue in chart

Bubble area = revenue

55 rows have both HHI and CR4 / 14 HHI values withheld

Top-five revenue share / 40.2%
NAICS 424710: Petroleum bulk stations and terminals; HHI 579.5; CR4 40.5%; Revenue $1.1T; 9.28% of sectorNAICS 424720: Petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers (except bulk stations and terminals); HHI 454.7; CR4 33.2%; Revenue $832.6B; 7.01% of sectorNAICS 423110: Automobile and other motor vehicle merchant wholesalers; HHI 755.8; CR4 51.1%; Revenue $768.3B; 6.47% of sectorNAICS 423690: Other electronic parts and equipment merchant wholesalers; HHI 688.3; CR4 45.4%; Revenue $535.8B; 4.51% of sectorNAICS 424490: Other grocery and related products merchant wholesalers; HHI 164.5; CR4 17.9%; Revenue $418.8B; 3.53% of sectorNAICS 423430: Computer and computer peripheral equipment and software merchant wholesalers; HHI 462.3; CR4 33.8%; Revenue $331.3B; 2.79% of sectorNAICS 423450: Medical, dental, and hospital equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 273.9; CR4 23.9%; Revenue $311.5B; 2.62% of sectorNAICS 423510: Metal service centers and other metal merchant wholesalers; HHI 122; CR4 16.8%; Revenue $305.3B; 2.57% of sectorNAICS 423830: Industrial machinery and equipment merchant wholesalers; HHI 34.7; CR4 8.3%; Revenue $282.3B; 2.38% of sectorNAICS 424510: Grain and field bean merchant wholesalers; HHI 360.8; CR4 30.2%; Revenue $278.6B; 2.35% of sectorNAICS 424410: General line grocery merchant wholesalers; HHI 706.9; CR4 41.4%; Revenue $265.5B; 2.24% of sectorNAICS 424690: Other chemical and allied products merchant wholesalers; HHI 165.3; CR4 17.5%; Revenue $259.9B; 2.19% of sectorNAICS 423610: Electrical apparatus and equipment, wiring supplies, and related equipment merchant wholesalers; HHI 162.5; CR4 18.6%; Revenue $219.4B; 1.85% of sectorNAICS 423120: Motor vehicle supplies and new parts merchant wholesalers; HHI 137.1; CR4 16.5%; Revenue $217.9B; 1.84% of sectorNAICS 424910: Farm supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 221; CR4 22.8%; Revenue $207B; 1.74% of sectorNAICS 423310: Lumber, plywood, millwork, and wood panel merchant wholesalers; HHI 209.6; CR4 22.3%; Revenue $173B; 1.46% of sectorNAICS 424940: Tobacco product and electronic cigarette merchant wholesalers; HHI 1,017.7; CR4 56.2%; Revenue $143.6B; 1.21% of sectorNAICS 424350: Clothing and clothing accessories merchant wholesalers; HHI 56.3; CR4 10.0%; Revenue $124.9B; 1.05% of sectorNAICS 424130: Industrial and personal service paper merchant wholesalers; HHI 422.7; CR4 35.1%; Revenue $122.1B; 1.03% of sectorNAICS 424470: Meat and meat product merchant wholesalers; HHI 374; CR4 33.1%; Revenue $113.2B; 0.95% of sectorNAICS 423930: Recyclable material merchant wholesalers; HHI 183.5; CR4 22.1%; Revenue $107.7B; 0.91% of sectorNAICS 423730: Warm air heating and air-conditioning equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 374; CR4 35.4%; Revenue $96.6B; 0.81% of sectorNAICS 423840: Industrial supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 139.2; CR4 19.7%; Revenue $94.6B; 0.80% of sectorNAICS 423710: Hardware merchant wholesalers; HHI 363.3; CR4 34.8%; Revenue $94.2B; 0.79% of sectorNAICS 424430: Dairy product (except dried or canned) merchant wholesalers; HHI 345.4; CR4 29.9%; Revenue $87.1B; 0.73% of sectorNAICS 423220: Home furnishing merchant wholesalers; HHI 148.2; CR4 21.6%; Revenue $86.4B; 0.73% of sectorNAICS 424810: Beer and ale merchant wholesalers; HHI 203.5; CR4 23.3%; Revenue $83.1B; 0.70% of sectorNAICS 424450: Confectionery merchant wholesalers; HHI 1,182.9; CR4 58.8%; Revenue $77.2B; 0.65% of sectorNAICS 423940: Jewelry, watch, precious stone, and precious metal merchant wholesalers; HHI 254.9; CR4 28.2%; Revenue $76.2B; 0.64% of sectorNAICS 423130: Tire and tube merchant wholesalers; HHI 612.1; CR4 43.3%; Revenue $76B; 0.64% of sectorNAICS 423330: Roofing, siding, and insulation material merchant wholesalers; HHI 915.9; CR4 51.3%; Revenue $74.7B; 0.63% of sectorNAICS 423910: Sporting and recreational goods and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 130.3; CR4 16.8%; Revenue $67.9B; 0.57% of sectorNAICS 423210: Furniture merchant wholesalers; HHI 94.8; CR4 16.2%; Revenue $63.3B; 0.53% of sectorNAICS 424610: Plastics materials and basic forms and shapes merchant wholesalers; HHI 154.7; CR4 19.4%; Revenue $56.3B; 0.47% of sectorNAICS 424990: Other miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers; HHI 54.4; CR4 10.4%; Revenue $55.7B; 0.47% of sectorNAICS 423860: Transportation equipment and supplies (except motor vehicle) merchant wholesalers; HHI 307.7; CR4 29.3%; Revenue $48.8B; 0.41% of sectorNAICS 423920: Toy and hobby goods and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 298.6; CR4 27.4%; Revenue $46.4B; 0.39% of sectorNAICS 423320: Brick, stone, and related construction material merchant wholesalers; HHI 289.8; CR4 29.5%; Revenue $37.5B; 0.32% of sectorNAICS 424120: Stationery and office supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 604.9; CR4 40.0%; Revenue $36.2B; 0.30% of sectorNAICS 423490: Other professional equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 517.3; CR4 37.5%; Revenue $35.2B; 0.30% of sectorNAICS 423420: Office equipment merchant wholesalers; HHI 581.9; CR4 40.5%; Revenue $33.3B; 0.28% of sectorNAICS 423440: Other commercial equipment merchant wholesalers; HHI 151.3; CR4 19.3%; Revenue $33B; 0.28% of sectorNAICS 423850: Service establishment equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 154.6; CR4 19.5%; Revenue $28.6B; 0.24% of sectorNAICS 423520: Coal and other mineral and ore merchant wholesalers; HHI 776.6; CR4 47.8%; Revenue $24B; 0.20% of sectorNAICS 424460: Fish and seafood merchant wholesalers; HHI 58.1; CR4 10.5%; Revenue $23.1B; 0.19% of sectorNAICS 424590: Other farm product raw material merchant wholesalers; HHI 493.2; CR4 37.4%; Revenue $22.7B; 0.19% of sectorNAICS 424950: Paint, varnish, and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 769.9; CR4 48.5%; Revenue $22.4B; 0.19% of sectorNAICS 424110: Printing and writing paper merchant wholesalers; HHI 639.4; CR4 43.3%; Revenue $18.5B; 0.16% of sectorNAICS 424440: Poultry and poultry product merchant wholesalers; HHI 209.1; CR4 22.1%; Revenue $14.2B; 0.12% of sectorNAICS 423460: Ophthalmic goods merchant wholesalers; HHI 457.5; CR4 37.0%; Revenue $12.7B; 0.11% of sectorNAICS 424920: Book, periodical, and newspaper merchant wholesalers; HHI 831; CR4 49.5%; Revenue $10.3B; 0.09% of sectorNAICS 423140: Motor vehicle parts (used) merchant wholesalers; HHI 861.4; CR4 50.0%; Revenue $10.1B; 0.09% of sectorNAICS 423410: Photographic equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers; HHI 763.2; CR4 50.3%; Revenue $9.5B; 0.08% of sectorNAICS 424520: Livestock merchant wholesalers; HHI 382.9; CR4 29.9%; Revenue $8.6B; 0.07% of sectorNAICS 424210: Drugs and druggists' sundries merchant wholesalers; HHI 805.7; CR4 50.3%; Revenue $1.3T; 10.79% of sector
0-499500-9991,000-1,4991,500-2,4992,500+Withheld

Disclosure lane

Rows missing HHI or CR4 stay outside the numerical plane.

14 rows / 16.0% of revenue
425120Wholesale trade agents and brokers$785.9B / 6.62%424420Packaged frozen food merchant wholesalers$185.1B / 1.56%423820Farm and garden machinery and equipment merchant wholesalers$143.3B / 1.21%423620Household appliances, electric housewares, and consumer electronics merchant wholesalers$140.1B / 1.18%

Active detailed industry

Drugs and druggists' sundries merchant wholesalersNAICS 424210
HHI805.7
CR450.3%
Revenue$1.3T#1 / 10.79% of sector
Open evidence profile

Largest by revenue

Hover or focus to inspect

Top 8
01Drugs and druggists' sundries merchant wholesalers424210$1.3T10.8%02Petroleum bulk stations and terminals424710$1.1T9.3%03Petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers (except bulk stations and terminals)424720$832.6B7.0%04Wholesale trade agents and brokers425120$785.9B6.6%05Automobile and other motor vehicle merchant wholesalers423110$768.3B6.5%06Other electronic parts and equipment merchant wholesalers423690$535.8B4.5%07Other grocery and related products merchant wholesalers424490$418.8B3.5%08Computer and computer peripheral equipment and software merchant wholesalers423430$331.3B2.8%

Continue analysis

Compare top fourCurrent revenue leadersSector JSON69 detailed rowsSector CSVNotebook-ready packet

Bubble size describes economic weight inside this NAICS sector. HHI and CR4 remain national statistical screens, not product-market definitions or findings of market power.

Sector intelligence dossier

From industry structure to antitrust evidence

Join the Census screen for Wholesale trade to descendant curated markets, public enforcement records, research outputs, and the next evidence queue.

Observatory coverage

Research coverage gap

NAICS 42 / national sector screen

Detailed industries

69

55 HHI published

Curated markets

0

0 exact NAICS crosswalks

Policy actions

0

0 linked reports

Evidence sources

0

0 Census HHI at 2,500+

Explicit research gap

No descendant market dossier is curated yet

The sector remains fully available as a Census structure screen. Product boundaries, geographic scope, and market-specific public sources still need to be assembled before a legal-market bridge can be published.

Market-definition protocol

Start with published Census signals

424450Confectionery merchant wholesalers1,182.9424940Tobacco product and electronic cigarette merchant wholesalers1,017.7423330Roofing, siding, and insulation material merchant wholesalers915.9

Descendant NAICS codes provide a research crosswalk only. They do not make a curated product and geographic market equivalent to its Census industry, and market metrics are never aggregated into a sector score.

Review method

Firm concentration ladder

How much revenue the largest firms hold

Each rung widens the group of largest firms included in the Census concentration ratio.

CR4Four largest firms6.7%
CR8Eight largest firms11%
CR20Twenty largest firms20.1%
CR50Fifty largest firms30.5%

Same-level benchmark

Position in the hierarchy

MeasureThis rowMedian
HHI26.823
CR46.7%6.9%
Revenue$11.9T$1.3T
Firms265.5K265.5K

HHI distance from median

+3.8

NAICS hierarchy

Move up or down the classification tree

Level 2 of 6
42 Wholesale trade

Direct child categories

423Merchant wholesalers, durable goods424Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods425Wholesale trade agents and brokers

Federal merger-review composition

Where NAICS 42 appears in HSR review releases

Each release aggregates its own published acquired-entity 3-digit rows. Volume, review stages, labels, denominators, and source custody remain separate from the Census concentration screen.

Open filtered HSR atlas

FY2023 sector aggregate

Wholesale trade

3 published 3-digit rows

Exact code + normalized label
188adjusted transactionsRank 3 of 19classified HSR sectors
Published share
10.8%
of adjusted release transactions
Agency clearances
17
9.2% of release / rank 4
Second Requests
5
13.5% of release / rank 2
Intra-industry flags
8
10.1% of release / rank 4

FY2024 sector aggregate

Wholesale trade

3 published 3-digit rows

Exact code + normalized label
182adjusted transactionsRank 4 of 19classified HSR sectors
Published share
9.2%
of adjusted release transactions
Agency clearances
10
5.4% of release / rank 7
Second Requests
5
8.5% of release / rank 3
Intra-industry flags
5
6.3% of release / rank 6

Adjacent-release shift

Stable HSR sector code and label

FY2023 to FY2024

Exact HSR sector code 42 is published in FY2023 and FY2024 with a stable source label. The deltas compare adjacent release aggregates without recoding their 3-digit rows.

Transactions
-6
Published share
-1.6 pp
Clearances
-7
Second Requests
0
Intra-industry
-3
Published rows
0

Interpretation boundary

This bridge joins only the exact broad-sector NAICS code published by both sources. The 2022 Economic Census sector row measures economy-wide employer-firm structure, while each HSR sector aggregate sums the release's published acquired-entity 3-digit rows. The shared code does not define a legal antitrust market, measure a sector merger rate, establish competitive harm, or score agency performance.

Intra-industry field

An intra-industry transaction means the acquiring and acquired persons both reported revenue in the same 3-digit NAICS code. It does not establish a horizontal overlap, relevant antitrust market, or competitive effect.

Nearest structural neighbors

Comparable fingerprints across the economy

Smallest mean national-percentile gaps across HHI, CR4, CR8, revenue, employment, and employer firms, using the same published dimensions as this row.

Evidence access

Reuse this exact row

Filtered JSONNAICS 42Download CSVOne-row data packetCensus source archiveEC2200SIZECONCEN

Source citation

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, EC2200SIZECONCEN: Selected Sectors - Concentration of Largest Firms for the United States, released April 2025.

Industry screen, not market conclusion

A NAICS industry is a statistical classification, not a legally defined antitrust market. Use these national revenue concentration measures to screen where deeper product and geographic market analysis may be warranted, not to infer market power or liability.

Market definition method
Wholesale trade industry concentration (NAICS 42) | Antitrust Radar