North Carolina · NAICS 48-49 · Annual, 2025

Transportation and Warehousing in North Carolina

Employment, establishments and average pay for NAICS 48-49 in North Carolina, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.

In 2025, Transportation and Warehousing (NAICS 48-49) employed about 207,200 people in North Carolina across roughly 11,075 establishments, with average annual pay of $63,240.

Employment in Transportation and Warehousing in North Carolina grew 14.1% from 2020 to 2025. Employment reached its 2004–2025 peak in 2025, at about 207,200. Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for North Carolina are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

  • 207,200Employment, 2025
  • 11,075Establishments
  • $63,240Avg. annual pay
  • 4.2%Share of North Carolina jobs
  • 0.86Location quotient

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all ownerships

Employment in Transportation and Warehousing in North Carolina, 2004–2025Line chart of annual employment from 2004 to 2025, from 135,000 to 207,200.0100K200K300K20042010201520202025

Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 135,000; 2005 136,500; 2006 138,500; 2007 140,000; 2008 135,700; 2009 125,300; 2010 122,300; 2011 125,600; 2012 127,300; 2013 128,400; 2014 132,600; 2015 139,000; 2016 142,800; 2017 150,000; 2018 156,500; 2019 166,000; 2020 181,500; 2021 199,800; 2022 204,900; 2023 205,100; 2024 207,100; 2025 207,200.

Last ten years

Annual · 10 years

YearEmploymentEstab.Avg. annual payChangeSource
2025207,18011,075$63,243 0.0%pub.
2024207,13811,363$61,141 1.0%pub.
2023205,06711,881$58,237 0.1%pub.
2022204,86810,781$55,629 2.5%pub.
2021199,8369,348$51,429 10.1%pub.
2020181,5328,455$50,371 9.4%est. · 1.00
2019165,9968,125$50,782 6.1%est. · 1.00
2018156,5107,735$50,521 4.3%est. · 1.00
2017150,0457,479$48,449 5.1%est. · 1.00
2016142,8057,348$47,314 2.8%est. · 1.00

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.

By subsector, 2025

3-digit NAICS · 11 shown

CodeSubsectorEmploymentShare of transportation and warehousingLQSource
481Air Transportation19,9279.6%1.10pub.
482Rail Transportation130.0%0.28est. · 0.58
483Water Transportation4960.2%0.22pub.
484Truck Transportation47,24222.8%1.01pub.
485Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation8,1213.9%0.30pub.
486Pipeline Transportation3600.2%0.20pub.
487Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation4230.2%0.43pub.
488Support Activities for Transportation22,12310.7%0.78pub.
491Postal Service20,3609.8%1.06est. · 1.00
492Couriers and Messengers33,45516.2%0.94pub.
493Warehousing and Storage54,65926.4%0.90pub.

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

Where these numbers come from

Reading these figures

The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Where QCEW withheld a value, the marked figure is an estimate that DTG produced under the constraints of the published record; suppression is a property of QCEW, not of DTG, and a withheld value is marked rather than silently omitted. Two things DTG itself holds back, and says so where it does: an estimate that cannot be given a reliability score is not shown, and average pay is not shown where fewer than three jobs are reported. The row is marked withheld, with the reason in a note beneath the table. The mark is on every row that carries a value: the headline, the yearly history, the subsectors and the other states. An estimated value that rounds below one is shown as less than one, not as zero. Quarterly figures, county figures and projected years are in the app.

How this figure was built

Employment is the average of the three monthly counts in each quarter, averaged across the year, and establishments are averaged across the year the same way. Average annual pay is the year’s total wages divided by that average employment. Each of these is DTG’s value: QCEW’s published figure where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate, marked, where it did not. How withheld values are estimated, and what the reliability score beside a figure means, are described on the industry data and disclosure and provenance pages.

Estimated by Data Tactical Group from BLS QCEW, with CES/SAE and projection inputs described in the methodology. Method: Disclosure, Industry.

Notes

Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.

Transportation and Warehousing in North Carolina, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows annual figures for transportation and warehousing in North Carolina. A free account shows every detailed industry beneath it, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.

County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.