Last updated September 29, 2026 · TRDC Designs
U.S. Jewelry Store Statistics: Retail Benchmarks
A small collection of citable U.S. jewelry-store benchmarks for retailers, writers, and researchers. Every figure below is dated and linked to its original public source.
At a glance
These figures cover the U.S. jewelry-store industry and jewelry-making occupation, not the entire jewelry market. Census classifies online-only jewelry sellers and costume-jewelry stores separately, so the numbers are best used as a benchmark for physical jewelry-store businesses.
Key statistics
Five useful jewelry-store benchmarks
19,897
U.S. jewelry-store employer establishments
The latest Census County Business Patterns profile counted 19,897 employer establishments in the jewelry-store industry in 2023.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 202310,917
Jewelry stores with fewer than five employees
In 2022, 10,917 of 19,348 U.S. jewelry-store employer establishments had fewer than five employees. That is about 56% of the industry count for that year.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2022$5.29B
Annual payroll at U.S. jewelry stores
U.S. jewelry stores reported $5.289 billion in annual payroll in 2022 across the industry’s employer establishments.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 202223,420
Jewelers and precious-stone and metal workers
National employment in this occupation was estimated at 23,420 in May 2024.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024$55,030
Mean annual wage for jewelers and precious-stone and metal workers
The national mean annual wage for this occupation was $55,030 in May 2024, equal to a mean hourly wage of $26.46.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024How to use these figures
A retail category built around small teams.
The 2022 Census breakdown is the most practical takeaway for independent retailers: more than half of the industry’s employer establishments had fewer than five employees. That does not describe every jewelry seller, but it is a useful reminder that buying, merchandising, fitting, and customer conversation often happen in the same small team.
For an independent store, that makes the basics matter. An assortment needs to be easy to explain, display, try on, and replenish. TRDC Designs supports that retail reality with starter assortments, display and sizing supplies, and both fitted and adjustable toe rings.
Methodology and sources
How this page is kept useful.
This page uses public U.S. government datasets and links directly to the underlying source for every statistic. The Census figures use the jewelry-store industry classification, while the BLS figures use the national occupation for jewelers and precious-stone and metal workers. Figures are reported as published, except the 56% share, which is calculated from the 2022 Census establishment counts shown above.
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023: Jewelry stores
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2022: Jewelry stores by employment size
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024
Last reviewed: September 29, 2026. TRDC Designs will refresh this reference when a newer primary source materially changes a figure.