SelectUSA Professional Services Industry
Industry Overview
Professional services firms in the United States generated $2.8 trillion in combined revenue in 2022. As of mid-2024, the U.S. professional services industry employed over 11 million workers. In 2023, North America was the largest region in the professional services market, accounting for 36 percent of the global market share. The world’s leading professional services companies are located in the United States to serve the large and dynamic U.S. corporate sector.
The United States features a transparent, stable regulatory environment, strong intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, and a reliable judicial system. Together with a highly skilled workforce and intellectual leadership from the boardroom to the classroom, demand for professional services in the United States is unrivaled. Foreign direct investment in the professional services industry reached over $238 billion in 2023 and directly supported over 624,000 U.S. jobs in 2022.
Firms in this subsector provided payroll services, financial auditing services, tax preparation services, and other consulting services for individuals and corporate clients. As of 2022, there were 135,960 establishments in this subsector, and the latest employment figures estimate over 1.1 million professionals in mid-2024. As of 2022, an estimated 3,300 workers in the industry were employed by foreign-owned businesses. 
The architectural and engineering services subsector includes firms primarily engaged in planning and design of residential, institutional, leisure, commercial and industrial buildings and structures, as well as companies focused on commercial and institutional architecture, transportation infrastructure, and power generation and distribution activities. The engineering services firms are especially engaged in the design, development, and utilization of machines, materials, instruments, structures, processes, and systems. Engineering services include the preparation of feasibility studies and preliminary and final plans and designs, the provision of technical advice and assistance during the construction or installation phase, and the inspection and evaluation of engineering projects.
In 2022, there were 117,056 establishments in the architectural and engineering services industry, and the latest employment numbers estimate over 1.7 million workers employed in this industry in mid-2024. Foreign direct investment contributed $21.1 billion in the architectural and engineering services industry in 2023, and an estimated 83,400 jobs were directly supported by foreign direct investment in 2022.
Firms in this sector provided a variety of legal services including litigation support, general corporate services, plaintiff and defense work for individuals and companies, patent agent services, paralegal services, and process serving services. In 2022, there were an estimated 181,941 establishments in the legal services industry, and the latest employment figures estimate nearly 1.2 million employees in the industry in mid-2024. 
This sector includes firms that provide consulting services in administrative and general management; human resources; marketing; process, physical distribution, and logistics; environmental; and other scientific and technical services.
There were 215,682 establishments in the industry in 2022, and there were over 1.9 million employees in the industry in mid-2024. Foreign direct investment contributed $51.8 billion to the management consulting industry in 2023, and 132,900 people were employed by foreign-owned businesses in the industry in 2022.
Explore the impact of foreign direct investment on U.S. jobs, exports, and innovation in the professional services industry.
The Investor Guide is a high-level view of everything from taxes to immigration and workforce to business structures.
SelectUSA has created several dashboards to help analyze key FDI data from a variety of sources.
