NAICS 541110 · California overview

Law Offices in Nevada County

Nevada County had 55 Law Firm establishments in 2023, ranking 28 of 53 California counties and accounting for 0.2% of the statewide total.

Establishments (2023)
55
Rank 28 of 53 counties
Employees
169
Mid-March employment
Annual payroll
$17M
All establishments
Per 10k residents
5.4
101,911 residents

More recent reading

BLS QCEW, 2026Q1

The figures above are County Business Patterns, which carries the size distribution but runs about two years behind. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes quarterly, so this is the same industry roughly 3 years later. The two count different universes, Census counts establishments with paid employees in the March pay period and BLS counts worksites covered by unemployment insurance during the quarter, so the numbers are not directly comparable and either can be the larger.

Establishments
54
2026Q1
Employment
158
Quarter-end level
Average weekly wage
$2,225
Per covered worker
Quarterly trend
+5.9%
2025Q2 to 2026Q1
Concentration vs the national averageBLS, 2026Q1

0.62 location quotient. Law Firm employment in Nevada County is about 1.6 times less concentrated than in the United States as a whole.

Computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not derived here. Above 1.0 means the industry is a larger share of local employment than of national employment.

Establishments by size

Employee-count distribution for Law Firm in Nevada County. 3 of 55 establishments (5%) employ 10 or more people, the practical floor for most acquisition financing.

EmployeesEstablishmentsShareDistribution
1-44683.6%
5-9610.9%
10-1935.5%

Establishment trend

Year-over-year establishment counts, County Business Patterns. Net growth of 14.6% since 2020.

YearEstablishmentsChange
202048n/a
2021480
202251+3
202355+4

How this market compares

Nevada County against every other county in California on the same measure. The median excludes places under 2,000 residents, where per-capita figures are arithmetically true but analytically useless.

Densely served5.4 per 10,000 residents, against a state median of 2.8

Well above the state median for this industry. A crowded market: expect established competitors and price pressure, but also a deeper pool of businesses to buy.

Vs state median
+96%
Businesses per resident
Rank by count
#28
of 53 counties
Rank by density
#9
of 53 ranked
Since 2020
+15%
Change in establishments

Density compares law offices provision per resident. It does not measure revenue, profitability or whether a market is worth entering.

Business size mix

Nevada is more fragmented than California as a whole: a larger share of very small operators. Fragmented markets are where roll-ups are assembled, and where an owner nearing retirement has no obvious internal buyer.

Share of establishmentsNevadaCaliforniaDifference
Under 5 employeesOwner-operated, often no management layer83.6%72.4%+11.2%
5 to 49 employeesThe range most individual buyers target16.4%25.5%-9.1%
10 or more employeesPractical floor for acquisition financing5.5%13.4%-8.0%

What acquirers look at

Ownership is restricted to licensed attorneys in California. Relevant to the index as a succession signal and a referral source rather than as an acquisition target.

Cities in Nevada

The figures above cover the county as a whole. These are the places within it.

Other industries in Nevada

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns. Establishment counts, employment and annual payroll by NAICS. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2026Q1). Quarterly establishment counts and employment for employers covered by unemployment insurance. Retrieved 2026-09-08.