# America's biggest sources of income **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563 "2005-04-03T20:45:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/1 "2005-04-03T20:45:05Z")
What are the US’s 50 biggest sources of income? As a nation? Maybe this is too broad a question… The topic was brought up at a political meeting last month; I promised to get the numbers, b/c we were curious as to what America is still the biggest producer and exporter of. I know we have the biggest biomedical firm in the world, Cargil, but besides that, I pointed out that it’s pretty bad if our biggest source of income is the entertainment industry. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/2 "2005-04-03T20:52:31Z")
I don’t know what you mean. Do you mean what is our biggest export, what we spend the most money on domestically, or what field most americans earn their money in? Healthcare is most likely no. 1. Transportation and education are probably no. 2 & 3. I have no idea beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/3 "2005-04-03T21:22:57Z")
What does American industry make the most money on? I guess in terms of the national economy? In billions of dollars? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/4 "2005-04-03T21:26:47Z")
[http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn2.htm](http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn2.htm) GDP by industry tables. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/5 "2005-04-03T21:44:52Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > [http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn2.htm](http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn2.htm) > > GDP by industry tables. From those tables, for 2003, here’s the top 50: ```auto Description 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Retail trade 874452 950715 1011113 1021032 1091394 1132670 Owner-occupied dwellings * 674831 711812 754269 813074 867675 913380 Wholesale trade 767762 818857 867160 851286 871668 909712 Real estate 634160 659059 721517 757335 825485 890501 Telecommunications 326915 375476 418086 452774 440088 447403 Monetary authorities and depository credit intermediation 303247 329963 349630 362939 395237 417529 Food services and drinking places 316658 332027 355345 370215 386835 413992 Hospitals 287998 305884 324807 351512 387787 410529 Offices of physicians, dentists, and other health practioners 288156 301419 321902 349055 375400 397445 Insurance carriers 276053 289468 311464 321499 330000 359602 Management of companies and enterprises 260470 276463 300609 290414 291452 304612 New residential 1-unit structures, nonfarm 185365 210860 224227 235491 251421 293614 Power generation and supply 229548 222713 240008 251732 254354 261397 Securities, commodity contracts, investments 228211 276251 341134 284682 242609 248495 Commercial and institutional buildings 199277 216588 237859 251580 239427 231169 Legal services 163726 173758 181392 193410 202685 220261 Petroleum refineries 114972 140828 211365 197981 186653 219524 Automobile and light truck manufacturing 210736 244954 220115 203378 205778 202068 Truck transportation 184085 198687 213173 205674 204050 196810 Nondepository credit intermediation andrelated activities 146635 164745 184206 192704 189621 194485 Architectural and engineering services 147085 159714 179596 188766 190026 193788 Motor vehicle parts manufacturing 180729 198887 200271 180973 191396 183667 Oil and gas extraction 66357 80080 137590 132219 111471 156010 Insurance agencies, brokerages, and related 102474 112098 116539 120010 126356 136143 Other State and local government enterprises 105754 111070 116335 122777 128887 135518 Other ambulatory health care services 85715 91775 98522 107777 117881 127670 Hotels and motels, including casino hotels 110417 117231 130521 123139 124548 127148 Nursing and residential care facilities 97194 99663 105155 112621 118949 125352 Management consulting services 82035 90903 99805 109337 115709 123900 Air transportation 106913 111679 121881 105972 101123 116811 All other miscellaneous professional and technical services 49750 59718 76492 98636 108304 116799 Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing 100891 107355 114309 127082 113705 114582 Cable networks and program distribution 62611 72646 85098 88658 97072 110825 Accounting and bookkeeping services 80673 87858 98382 103494 105554 109975 Services to buildings and dwellings 68400 77935 87256 93718 98030 104834 Software publishers 77031 87967 96562 99762 97881 101793 Employment services 103900 114531 120981 106757 107129 100967 Automotive repair and maintenance, except car washes 84116 87510 92233 96342 94447 96919 Scientific research and development services 64292 69517 77216 84787 93109 96831 Colleges, universities, and junior colleges 69710 73643 79711 86089 90432 94115 Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets 74794 84214 99096 100634 94169 93569 New residential additions and alterations, nonfarm 58515 67414 75808 75737 83080 89705 Natural gas distribution 55900 54805 72272 84308 67864 86561 Maintenance and repair of nonresidential buildings 59744 63861 68387 72772 77820 84140 Advertising and related services 65460 71460 79899 78542 75601 80788 Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles 62999 72839 86116 79837 72225 80756 Plastics plumbing fixtures and all other plastics products 69613 74309 76803 73480 77606 80605 Other new construction 68667 75209 82160 79834 76464 73691 Commercial printing 74920 76935 79162 77061 75216 72640 ``` ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/6 "2005-04-04T02:37:47Z")
Thanks a lot! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/7 "2005-04-04T11:33:58Z")
Cool table insert thingy. How did you do that? ---
**Author:** ![GreyWanderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@GreyWanderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreyWanderer)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/8 "2005-04-04T13:15:33Z")
I guess the answer would be very different depending on how you define the categories. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/9 "2005-04-04T16:09:26Z")
> [@drhess](#): > > Cool table insert thingy. How did you do that? That’s just what happens now if you use the “code” function (in brackets terminated by a forward slash like any other VB code). I wish I could take credit for it. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/10 "2005-04-04T16:30:39Z")
I have to wonder where the illegal drug trade falls in all of this? Isn’t it suppose to be (if you beleive the hype)as big or bigger than General Motors? What if you factored in the cost of the drug war? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/11 "2005-04-04T16:47:19Z")
There’s nothing in the chart about agriculture or food. For the first qaurter of FY2005, agricultural exports alone totaled 22.4 billion – and exports are only about 1/4 of all agricultural production. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/12 "2005-04-05T15:59:24Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > I know we have the biggest biomedical firm in the world, Cargil, … [Cargill](http://www.cargill.com/) is an argiculture-oriented corporation more than biomed. In any event, [ADM](http://www.admworld.com/) is still probably larger in that field. ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/13 "2005-04-05T18:52:11Z")
Where does religion fit into all this? I don’t mean to take this into GD territory, seriously, how much money do religious organizations take in, or at least, how do they fare comparatively? Or does that fall under “entertainment”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-biggest-sources-of-income/297563/14 "2005-04-06T00:22:41Z")
I believe what the OP is looking for is a list of the 50 biggest export sectors, not GDP per industry. Like, say, Saudi’s biggest export is oil, and fish is a big export sector for Chile. Does the list above only accounts for exports, or is it total GDP?