The Industries That Power the U.S. Economy

If you were to ask the average American on the street to name the industries that power the national economy, they’ll likely reply “manufacturing” or “tech.” But the Bureau of Economic Analysis says otherwise. As Ooma’s study shows, real estate, rental, and leasing hold the biggest slice of the U.S. economy.

In 2024, the U.S. produced more than $29 trillion in economic output, which outstripped Germany, China, and Japan combined. Looking at how gross domestic product (GDP) breaks down by industry shows the value added by sector after subtracting the costs of the inputs that industry consumed. For example, a carmaker buys steel, rubber, and semiconductors. The value added is the difference between those purchases and the selling price of the finished car. Add up that gap, the value added across every industry in the country, and you arrive at the GDP.

Click below to zoom.

When Ooma ranked industries by their GDP, they found out that the money is concentrated in these industries:

Real estate, rental, and leasing – 13.8%: Real estate alone accounted for $3.68 trillion, the biggest of any sub-industry in the economy. Every mortgage payment, property tax bill, apartment lease, and commercial rent check pours into this sector. Rising home ownership costs over the past decade have pushed more citizens into renting, which has only inflated this industry.

Manufacturing – 9.8%: Factory employment has fallen for forty years due to automation and offshoring, but output hasn’t fallen. Chemical products created $554 billion, and computer and electronic products contributed $299.8 billion to the U.S. economy, helping keep the nation among the world’s top manufacturing nations despite a smaller workforce.

Professional, scientific, and technical services – 8.0%: This industry is made up of law firms, consultancies, engineering firms, and software developers. Legal services alone created $387.7 billion, and computer systems design added $552.2 billion to the American economy. This strongly shows how the American economy leans toward knowledge work.

Finance and insurance – 7.6%: Credit intermediation and Federal Reserve banks generated $1.01 trillion, insurance carriers contributed $791.8 billion, and securities and commodity contracts brought in $396.1 billion.

State and local government – 7.6%: Many rankings leave out these sectors, but government at the state and local level added $2.07 trillion, second only to real estate among all the sub-industries.

Health care and social assistance – 7.5%: Ambulatory care brought in $1.08 trillion and hospitals contributed $691.5 billion. This reflects genuine demand from an aging population and the fact that the U.S. spends more per capita on healthcare than any other developed nation.

Below these top-tier industries, retail trade, wholesale trade, information (Google, Meta, cloud providers, telecom), data processing, and internet publishing followed. Construction closed out the top ten industries at 4.5%, rising and falling in contributions with the real estate sector.

The largest components of American GDP aren’t the ones that produce a physical product. They’re the industries that manage property, deliver care, sell expertise, and move money.