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Strong sales talent can make or break a company in an economy where consumers have unlimited options.
Sales workers are among the most common in the country, with 8.8% of workers nationally employed in sales and related occupations. In six states, sales workers comprise more than 1 in 10 jobs. Sales jobs encompass a wide range of professions, including cashiers, street vendors, telemarketers, and corporate business-to-business sales representatives.
Xactly utilized Bureau of Labor Statistics data to identify areas with the highest concentrations of workers in sales and related occupations in 2023, delving into their economies and major areas of employment.
Florida has the country's highest number of sales professionals: 10.8% of Florida's workforce is in sales and related occupations, leading the national average by 2 percentage points. Tourism, a bedrock of Florida's economy, and real estate, the largest industry in Florida by gross domestic product, are crucial to the state economy. Real estate agents and brokers, along with retail salespeople and service sales representatives, are among the most common sales jobs in the Sunshine State.
The other five states with the highest concentrations of sales workers are less obvious: Colorado (10.6%), New Hampshire (10.5%), North Carolina (10.2%), South Carolina (10.2%), and South Dakota (10.1%). Real estate agents and brokers were at the forefront in most of these states; other prominent industries were manufacturing and professional, scientific, and technical services, necessitating wholesale and business-to-business sales representatives in many cases.
South Dakota was a major outlier among the states with large sales workforces. Its top industries are finance/insurance and agriculture. In addition to having higher-than-average numbers of cashiers and retail salespeople, South Dakota also has more insurance sales agents and wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives, including those who sell crops and manufactured food products to grocers and companies around the world.
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Areas of decline and growth in sales jobs across the nation
As e-commerce continues to replace brick-and-mortar shopping, retail jobs will likely continue declining over the next decade. Retail sales and cashier jobs, which employ millions of Americans and make up over half of the sales occupational group, will be particularly impacted as American consumers flock to online shopping and cashiers are increasingly replaced by self-checkout and contactless ordering.
Despite this decline, the BLS projects hundreds of thousands of job openings annually in retail sales. Shifting consumer priorities is also leading some retail segments to grow. For instance, a heightened focus on green living is driving expansion in the secondhand store industry, resulting in job growth in thrift store sales roles.
Sales workers will find opportunities in other facets of the economy, too. BLS projects ample growth among insurance sales agents, real estate agents and brokers, and wholesale and manufacturing sales reps—all important areas in the state economies highlighted in this analysis.
Due to the complexity of real estate transactions, real estate brokers are more protected from some of the automation and computerization that retail sales workers face. Real estate agents and brokers are critical in property transactions, which include carefully orchestrated negotiations, lengthy legal documents, disclosures, and more.
The current real estate market is characterized by limited inventory and escalating demand, resulting in more bidding wars over available homes. Real estate brokers are often critical in these exchanges, negotiating between sellers and multiple buyers who are trying to put forth the best offers.
Insurance agents will also remain in demand. Although people can source insurance quotes online, policies can be challenging to understand and compare. Many Americans would rather trust an insurance broker to explain and distill this information than parse it out on their own. What's more, people are seeking insurance for many more aspects of their lives, including pet health and event tickets, elevating insurance sales to both consumers and companies.
In a changing world shaped by climate change and a global pandemic, insurance agents also play an increasingly important role in providing people with "financial safety nets," according to a 2024 Deloitte report. Sales representatives in this industry are tasked with helping customers prevent and minimize potentially significant losses.
Job prospects remain steady for wholesale sales representatives. In this role, workers manage sales to businesses, government agencies, and other organizations. These salespeople earn more than twice as much annually as those in retail sales and typically don't need an advanced degree unless they sell technical products like industrial and medical equipment.
For tens of thousands of salespeople whose jobs will likely disappear in the coming years, these growth areas present opportunities to build upon existing experience and earn more money. In some cases, shifting to a different area of sales won't require additional education or training.
For instance, most insurance and real estate agents don't need a college degree, though they require training and licensure to practice. Some companies will invest in new talent by sponsoring licensing for budding real estate and insurance agents or providing training for entry-level wholesale salespeople.
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Ultimately, employers and salespeople can benefit from expanding their ideas of the future of sales roles. Companies and workers can adapt to the shifting nature of sales in mutually beneficial ways. Employers can seek out emerging talent in areas with high concentrations of sales employees and can help them develop the necessary specialized skills. Workers, meanwhile, can leverage their existing abilities to move into growing—and often more lucrative—facets of sales.
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Story editing by Alizah Salario. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn.
