10 industries where the smallest businesses pay the highest wages

It doesn’t take a big company to deliver a big paycheck. While people can command a lot of money at top roles at household-name global businesses, smaller companies often pay non-executives more in certain industries.

The nation’s 33.2 million small businesses employ 67.1 million workers, accounting for nearly half (46.4%) of private sector jobs, according to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. From 1995 to 2021, businesses with fewer than 500 workers created 62.7% of new jobs — and those jobs pay competitive wages.

We identified industries where small businesses paid the highest wages, using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. The analysis found that small businesses often pay more than their larger counterparts within the same industry for the same or equivalent positions — and not necessarily for jobs in the tech field. And the amounts by which the smaller firms exceed their bigger competitors’ pay is not always small: It can amount to hundreds of dollars per week.

This analysis identified the 10 industries where companies with fewer than five employees were the highest-paying. We ranked this list by the pay difference between these small companies and the largest companies within the same industry.

In all cases but one, companies with 1,000 or more employees were the largest size classified by the BLS. The exception was merchant wholesalers of nondurable goods (which include paper, food service products, and other disposable items), for which the largest size was 250 to 499 employees based on available data.

We considered only the 84 industries with data for companies with fewer than five employees. The industries that the BLS labeled as “unclassified” were excluded, as well as the rail transportation industry, due to limited data. Read on to see which types of small companies pay the most.

#10. Couriers and messengers

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $1,186
– $8 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#9. Primary metal manufacturing

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $2,234
– $11 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#8. Administrative and support services

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $1,241
– $123 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#7. Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $2,123
– $129 more than companies with 250 to 499 employees

#6. Nursing and residential care facilities

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $1,024
– $173 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#5. Paper manufacturing

Average weekly pay at industry’s smallest companies: $2,235
– $311 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#4. Plastics and rubber products manufacturing

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $1,843
– $346 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#3. Warehousing and storage

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $1,412
– $568 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#2. Electrical equipment, appliance and component manufacturing

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $2,174
– $618 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

#1. Hospitals

Average weekly pay at the industry’s smallest companies: $2,475
– $872 more than companies with 1,000 employees or more

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