NAICS 311999, 311812 · California overview

Specialty Food Manufacturing in Sacramento County

Sacramento County had 11 Food Manufacturing establishments in 2023, ranking 12 of 25 California counties and accounting for 2.1% of the statewide total.

Establishments (2023)
11
Rank 12 of 25 counties
Employees
485
Mid-March employment
Annual payroll
$28M
All establishments
Per 10k residents
0.1
1,618,460 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
15
2026Q1
Employment
740
Quarter-end level
Average weekly wage
$1,217
Per covered worker
Quarterly trend
+7.1%
2025Q2 to 2026Q1
Concentration vs the national averageBLS, 2026Q1

1.04 location quotient. Food Manufacturing is about as concentrated in Sacramento County as it is nationally.

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 Food Manufacturing in Sacramento County.

EmployeesEstablishmentsShareDistribution
1-4436.4%

Establishment trend

Year-over-year establishment counts, County Business Patterns. Net decline of 26.7% since 2020.

YearEstablishmentsChange
202015n/a
202112-3
2022120
202311-1

How this market compares

Sacramento 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.

Thinly served0.1 per 10,000 residents, against a state median of 0.2

Well below the state median. Either a genuine gap in provision or a market served from somewhere nearby. Worth checking the neighbouring places below before drawing a conclusion.

Vs state median
-61%
Businesses per resident
Rank by count
#12
of 25 counties
Rank by density
#20
of 25 ranked
Since 2020
-27%
Change in establishments

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

Business size mix

Sacramento 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 establishmentsSacramentoCaliforniaDifference
Under 5 employeesOwner-operated, often no management layer36.4%30.5%+5.9%
5 to 49 employeesThe range most individual buyers target0.0%37.2%-37.2%
10 or more employeesPractical floor for acquisition financing0.0%35.0%-35.0%

What acquirers look at

Co-packing contracts and retail shelf placement are the durable assets. Food safety certification lapses are a frequent and expensive diligence surprise.

Cities in Sacramento

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

Other industries in Sacramento

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.