NAICS 238910

Septic & Water Well Services in California

Site preparation contractors providing septic system installation and service and water well drilling. Reported within NAICS 238910.

Establishments (2023)
2,711
Statewide, California
Employees
36,627
Mid-March employment
Annual payroll
$3.4B
All establishments
Avg. establishment size
13.5
Employees per establishment

What acquirers look at

Regulated, permit-gated and essentially recession-proof in rural markets. Very high owner age and almost no institutional competition for deals.

Septic & Well by county

Ranked by establishment count, 2023 County Business Patterns. For the crowded-versus-underserved reading, see the saturation ranking, which ranks by establishments per resident instead.

#CountyEstablishmentsPer 10k residentsShare of state
1Los Angeles County3650.413.5%
2Riverside County2541.09.4%
3San Diego County2420.78.9%
4Orange County1930.67.1%
5San Bernardino County1610.75.9%
6Sonoma County1142.34.2%
7Alameda County890.53.3%
8Contra Costa County890.83.3%
9Sacramento County880.53.2%
10Ventura County881.13.2%
11Placer County801.83.0%
12Santa Clara County780.42.9%
13Fresno County640.62.4%
14San Luis Obispo County521.81.9%
15Kern County500.51.8%
16San Joaquin County490.61.8%
17Santa Barbara County461.01.7%
18El Dorado County442.31.6%
19San Mateo County420.61.5%
20Shasta County321.81.2%
21Butte County301.41.1%
22Stanislaus County300.51.1%
23Nevada County282.71.0%
24Napa County272.01.0%
25Monterey County260.61.0%

Counties in California

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.