Clothing & Accessories Stores — profit margin & cost structure (U.S.)

For the U.S. clothing & accessories stores industry, IRS tax data shows an estimated -2.8% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). That figure — what a self-employed owner keeps per sales dollar before paying themselves — is the number this page exists to report; read the note below on how it's measured.

-2.8%net margin · owner-operator basis

National as of tax year 2023 Moderate confidence source ↗

Owner-operator basis (IRS SOI sole proprietorships, TY2023): net income less deficit ÷ business receipts, at NAICS 448 (Clothing & Accessories Stores). Sole-proprietor labor is not expensed, so this overstates corporate-style profit.

Cost structure

National, from IRS Statistics of Income (weighted sample). Where a component is not separately reported, it is shown as insufficient data — never estimated.

Component	Value
Cost of goods sold (% of receipts)	46.8%	National source ↗
Labor / officer compensation (% of receipts)	5.0%	National source ↗

Business size distribution (national)

Share of U.S. clothing & accessories stores establishments by number of employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023). 36% have fewer than 5 employees.

1–4 emp44,213 (36%)

5–9 emp33,096 (27%)

10–19 emp25,270 (21%)

20–49 emp14,066 (12%)

50–99 emp4,846 (4%)

100+ emp669 (1%)

Where this industry operates — all 51 states

Establishment counts, employment, and wages are available for free elsewhere too (e.g. Data USA). States ordered by number of establishments — pick one for local context:

Full cost-structure breakdown by business-size class and side-by-side industry comparison are available to subscribers. This page shows the current-year national headline plus the multi-year establishment trend.

Frequently asked

What is the average profit margin for clothing & accessories stores businesses?

About -2.8% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, IRS SOI sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). This counts the owner's own labor as profit, so it overstates corporate-style margin — see the note above.

How many clothing & accessories stores businesses are there in the U.S.?

122,162 establishments with paid employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

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machine-readable JSON · NAICS 448

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