NAICS 54

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Industry: 2026 Market Survival & Risk Analysis

Legal, accounting, architecture, engineering, consulting, research

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: 1,728,191 Establishments Nationwide

1,728,191
Total Establishments
10,781,509
Total Employment
$111,674
Average Annual Wage
40.5
Average Entry Risk Score

What Drives Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Risk

Professional services firms are talent-intensive with low capital requirements relative to other sectors. At $111,674, average wages are nearly double the all-industry mean. Firm survival depends on client access and talent retention. Dense metro markets have high saturation but also the largest client pools. Less competitive states like Alabama and Iowa rank among the lowest-risk markets.

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services vs. All-Industry Average

How this sector compares to the average across all ten tracked industries.

Avg Entry Risk
40.5 This sector
43.1 All sectors
Avg Annual Wage
$111,674 This sector
$73,293 All sectors
Total Employment
10.8M This sector
9.6M Avg per sector

State Leaderboards for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

Lowest Entry Risk

Best overall market conditions

  1. Alabama 29.4
  2. Iowa 31.1
  3. Nebraska 31.6
  4. South Dakota 32.9
  5. Mississippi 33.4

Highest Entry Risk

Most competitive markets

  1. New Mexico 59.3
  2. Indiana 56.7
  3. New York 52.4
  4. California 51.2
  5. Minnesota 49.2

Best for Firm Retention

Highest 5-year firm survival rates

  1. West Virginia 100%
  2. South Dakota 98.04%
  3. District of Columbia 96.08%
  4. Nebraska 94.12%
  5. Rhode Island 92.16%

Highest Growth Momentum

Fastest new firm formation

  1. Wyoming 100
  2. Delaware 89.89
  3. Utah 75.08
  4. Nevada 70.61
  5. Arizona 64.17

Top Metro Markets for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

Best and worst metro areas out of 261 with professional, scientific, and technical services data.

Most Favorable Metros

Lowest Metro Market Score

  1. Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI 7.8
  2. Morristown, TN 9.2
  3. El Centro, CA 10.5
  4. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 13.5
  5. Jonesboro, AR 16.1

Most Challenging Metros

Highest Metro Market Score

  1. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 84.7
  2. Boulder, CO 84.0
  3. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT 84.0
  4. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 81.7
  5. Ann Arbor, MI 81.1

Entry Risk by State

Geographic distribution of market entry risk for professional, scientific, and technical services. Click any state for detailed analysis.

Entry Risk by State Alaska — 38.0 · #21 Alabama — 29.4 · #1 Arkansas — 37.3 · #18 Arizona — 41.2 · #28 California — 51.2 · #48 Colorado — 46.4 · #46 Connecticut — 45.1 · #41 District of Columbia — 44.8 · #40 Delaware — 38.9 · #24 Florida — 38.2 · #22 Georgia — 43.5 · #38 Hawaii — 33.8 · #7 Iowa — 31.1 · #2 Idaho — 34.9 · #11 Illinois — 42.6 · #33 Indiana — 56.7 · #50 Kansas — 44.7 · #39 Kentucky — 35.7 · #14 Louisiana — 36.4 · #15 Massachusetts — 41.5 · #29 Maryland — 38.4 · #23 Maine — 40.2 · #26 Michigan — 41.2 · #27 Minnesota — 49.2 · #47 Missouri — 45.5 · #45 Mississippi — 33.4 · #5 Montana — 43.4 · #37 North Carolina — 37.8 · #20 North Dakota — 34.8 · #10 Nebraska — 31.6 · #3 New Hampshire — 37.5 · #19 New Jersey — 45.4 · #44 New Mexico — 59.3 · #51 Nevada — 42.6 · #34 New York — 52.4 · #49 Ohio — 36.9 · #17 Oklahoma — 45.4 · #43 Oregon — 45.2 · #42 Pennsylvania — 33.7 · #6 Rhode Island — 35.3 · #13 South Carolina — 34.7 · #9 South Dakota — 32.9 · #4 Tennessee — 39.4 · #25 Texas — 42.2 · #30 Utah — 42.2 · #31 Virginia — 42.3 · #32 Vermont — 43.0 · #35 Washington — 43.3 · #36 Wisconsin — 35.0 · #12 West Virginia — 34.4 · #8 Wyoming — 36.5 · #16
Low Moderate Elevated High

Tap a state to view details

All 51 States Ranked for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Entry Risk

Complete ranking of all 51 states by Entry Risk Score for professional, scientific, and technical services. Lower score indicates better market conditions for new entrants.

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Entry Risk by State

Rank State Risk Score Classification
#1 Alabama 29.4 low
#2 Iowa 31.1 moderate
#3 Nebraska 31.6 moderate
#4 South Dakota 32.9 moderate
#5 Mississippi 33.4 moderate
#6 Pennsylvania 33.7 moderate
#7 Hawaii 33.8 moderate
#8 West Virginia 34.4 moderate
#9 South Carolina 34.7 moderate
#10 North Dakota 34.8 moderate
#11 Idaho 34.9 moderate
#12 Wisconsin 35.0 moderate
#13 Rhode Island 35.3 moderate
#14 Kentucky 35.7 moderate
#15 Louisiana 36.4 moderate
#16 Wyoming 36.5 moderate
#17 Ohio 36.9 moderate
#18 Arkansas 37.3 moderate
#19 New Hampshire 37.5 moderate
#20 North Carolina 37.8 moderate
#21 Alaska 38.0 moderate
#22 Florida 38.2 moderate
#23 Maryland 38.4 moderate
#24 Delaware 38.9 moderate
#25 Tennessee 39.4 moderate
#26 Maine 40.2 moderate
#27 Michigan 41.2 moderate
#28 Arizona 41.2 moderate
#29 Massachusetts 41.5 moderate
#30 Texas 42.2 elevated
#31 Utah 42.2 elevated
#32 Virginia 42.3 elevated
#33 Illinois 42.6 elevated
#34 Nevada 42.6 elevated
#35 Vermont 43.0 elevated
#36 Washington 43.3 elevated
#37 Montana 43.4 elevated
#38 Georgia 43.5 elevated
#39 Kansas 44.7 elevated
#40 District of Columbia 44.8 elevated
#41 Connecticut 45.1 elevated
#42 Oregon 45.2 elevated
#43 Oklahoma 45.4 elevated
#44 New Jersey 45.4 elevated
#45 Missouri 45.5 elevated
#46 Colorado 46.4 elevated
#47 Minnesota 49.2 elevated
#48 California 51.2 elevated
#49 New York 52.4 elevated
#50 Indiana 56.7 high
#51 New Mexico 59.3 high

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: Frequently Asked Questions

2026 sector data answers to common entry-decision questions.

Which state has the lowest professional, scientific, and technical services entry risk in 2026?

Alabama ranks #1 with an entry risk score of 29.4, 11.1 points below the 40.5 national average for the professional, scientific, and technical services sector.

Which state is the most challenging market for new professional, scientific, and technical services businesses?

New Mexico sits at the bottom of the 51-state ranking with an entry risk score of 59.3. New professional, scientific, and technical services firms here face structural headwinds across retention, growth momentum, and wage pressure.

How many professional, scientific, and technical services establishments operate in the United States?

1,728,191 professional, scientific, and technical services establishments are tracked across the 51 U.S. state markets, employing 10,781,509 workers at an average annual wage of $111,674.

Which state has the highest 5-year firm retention for professional, scientific, and technical services?

West Virginia leads on firm retention with a 100% 5-year survival percentile. New professional, scientific, and technical services establishments in this state clear the 5-year mark at higher rates than 100% of all states.

What is the average entry risk score for professional, scientific, and technical services across all U.S. states?

The 51-state average entry risk for professional, scientific, and technical services is 40.5. Scores range from 29.4 (Alabama) to 59.3 (New Mexico), a spread of 29.8 points. Lower scores indicate more favorable conditions for new businesses.

Not in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services?

Compare entry conditions across other sectors.

NAICS 23 Construction NAICS 62 Healthcare and Social Assistance NAICS 44-45 Retail Trade NAICS 72 Accommodation and Food Services NAICS 52 Finance and Insurance NAICS 53 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing NAICS 56 Administrative and Support Services NAICS 51 Information NAICS 81 Other Services

How We Calculate Entry Risk

Entry Risk Score combines five normalized metrics: firm retention rates, growth momentum, market volatility, establishment density, and wage pressure. All indices are scaled 0-100 for consistency.

Read full methodology →