Contents
- U.S. bakery establishment counts
- Retail bakery establishments by employer size
- Legal forms among U.S. retail bakeries
- What these bakery establishment counts do and do not measure
- Historical bakery firm counts are a different measure
- Sources
U.S. bakery establishment counts
The United States had 9,219 employer establishments in the retail bakeries industry in 2023, according to County Business Patterns. This count covers establishments with paid employees classified in NAICS 311811. It describes retail bakeries in the United States, not every business that sells baked goods, and it does not count businesses without paid employees.
An establishment is a physical business location. A firm can operate more than one establishment, so the count should not be read as the number of independent bakery companies. The distinction matters when comparing these 2023 figures with older published counts of firms.
The headline total gives a national snapshot. The employer-size breakdown adds context: most counted locations were in the smaller employment bands, while comparatively few were in bands above 20 employees. This is a distribution of establishments by employee count; it does not show how many workers were employed overall or how many baked goods were produced.
Source: County Business Patterns, 2023, NAICS 311811.
Retail bakery establishments by employer size
Fewer than five employees was the largest reported size category: 4,432 establishments. Another 1,954 had 5 to 9 employees, and 1,581 had 10 to 19. Together, these three bands account for 7,967 of the 9,219 establishments, or about 86.4% of the total.
| Employees at establishment | Establishments | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 5 | 4,432 | 48.1% |
| 5–9 | 1,954 | 21.2% |
| 10–19 | 1,581 | 17.1% |
| 20–49 | 1,037 | 11.2% |
| 50–99 | 185 | 2.0% |
| 100–249 | 30 | 0.3% |
| Total | 9,219 | 100% |
The shares are calculated from the published counts and rounded to one decimal place. Nearly half of establishments were in the under-five category. The four reported categories from 20 to 249 employees together contained 1,252 locations, about 13.6% of the total.
These figures count locations, not individual firms. A company with multiple stores can contribute multiple establishments, potentially in different size bands. Employee-size categories also refer to the establishment, not the company-wide workforce. The table therefore describes the scale of individual employer locations in this industry classification.
Source: County Business Patterns, 2023, NAICS 311811, U.S. rows by employment-size class.
Legal forms among U.S. retail bakeries
The 2023 count also classifies retail bakery establishments by legal form. S-corporations were the largest of the listed categories, with 4,110 establishments. Partnerships accounted for 1,698, while 1,399 were C-corporations and other corporate legal forms.
| Legal form | Establishments | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| S-corporations | 4,110 | 44.6% |
| Partnerships | 1,698 | 18.4% |
| C-corporations and other corporate legal forms | 1,399 | 15.2% |
| Non-profit organizations | 22 | 0.2% |
These four reported categories sum to 7,229 establishments, leaving 1,990 outside the categories shown here. The listed rows do not provide a complete legal-form breakdown, so the remaining locations should not be assigned to a particular form based on this table alone.
Legal form is a classification of the organization, not a measure of size, ownership count, or business performance. The number of S-corporation establishments, for example, is not necessarily the number of S-corporation firms: a firm may operate multiple bakery locations.
Source: County Business Patterns, 2023, NAICS 311811, U.S. rows by legal form.
What these bakery establishment counts do and do not measure
The 9,219 figure is specific to employer establishments in the retail bakeries industry. It is not a count of all bakeries in the everyday sense. A grocery store bakery, for instance, may be classified under the store’s broader industry rather than as a retail bakery establishment. Conversely, the total does not distinguish among bakery products, service models, or whether a location sells primarily on-site or packaged goods.
The count also excludes businesses without paid employees from this employer-establishment scope. It should not be used on its own to estimate the number of home-based or owner-operated bakeries that have no paid staff. Nor does the total reveal openings, closures, sales, revenue, or employment trends: it is a count for reference year 2023, not a time series.
For comparisons, keep the industry code, geography, reference period, and unit aligned. A retail-bakery establishment count cannot be directly compared with a firm count, a count of all food retailers, or a manufacturing count without explaining those differences.
Historical bakery firm counts are a different measure
A 2018 Federal Register document reports firm counts drawn from the 2012 Economic Census. In its table on small firms affected by a proposed rule, it lists 6,423 retail bakery firms, of which 6,406 were classified as small and 17 as large under the table’s 500-employee size standard. The table reports 99.7% of the industry as small.
For commercial bakeries, the same historical table gives 2,321 firms: 2,263 small and 58 large, with 97.5% classified as small. It also lists 205 firms in frozen cakes, pies, and other pastries manufacturing, comprising 184 small and 21 large firms (89.8% small).
| Industry in the 2012 Economic Census table | Total firms | Small firms | Large firms | Industry classified as small |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail bakeries | 6,423 | 6,406 | 17 | 99.7% |
| Commercial bakeries | 2,321 | 2,263 | 58 | 97.5% |
| Frozen cakes, pies, and other pastries manufacturing | 205 | 184 | 21 | 89.8% |
These are firms, not physical locations, and they refer to 2012 data. They are not a later update to the 2023 establishment total. The categories also cover different activities: retail bakeries, commercial bakeries, and frozen pastry manufacturing. The table’s small/large labels follow its stated 500-employee standard, so they should not be treated as a current general definition of a small bakery.
The historical figures are useful for showing why counts can differ across sources: one source may count operating companies, another their locations, and each may use a different industry boundary and reference year. For a current snapshot of U.S. retail bakery locations with employees, the 2023 establishment count is the directly relevant measure.
Source: Federal Register, National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, May 4, 2018, Table 2, based on 2012 Economic Census data.