Energy
Which Companies Make The Most Revenue Per Employee?
Which Companies Make The Most Revenue Per Employee?
On average, companies in the energy sector make at least 2x per employee than others
The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.
The world’s largest companies have many similarities, but the size of their respective org charts is not necessarily one of them.
At the one extreme, companies such as Walmart require a massive workforce in the millions to run retail operations around the globe. But at the other extreme, an energy giant like Valero is able to generate $76 billion of annual revenue with just 0.4% of the employees of Walmart.
It raises the question: which types of companies make the most revenue per employee, and why?
Revenue Per Head
Today’s chart uses data on companies in the S&P 500 Index courtesy of analytics platform Craft.co.
Instead of plotting the information for all 500 companies, we focused on two groups of firms: (1) energy companies, which tended to skew towards the upper end of revenue per employee ratio, and (2) brands that you will be familiar with, like Netflix, Walmart, Goldman Sachs, Ford, or IBM.
The end result is an astonishing range, with companies making anywhere between <$100,000 per employee (Accenture, McDonald's, Starbucks, Marriott) all the way to >$7 million per employee (Valero Energy).
Industry Averages
Here’s a look at this same data expressed as averages at an industry level, based on the sub-sectors that make up the S&P 500:
Rank | Sector | Avg. Revenue Per Employee |
---|---|---|
#1 | Energy | $1.79 million |
#2 | Healthcare | $0.89 million |
#3 | Utilities | $0.81 million |
#4 | Consumer Staples | $0.70 million |
#5 | Financials | $0.65 million |
#6 | Telecommunications | $0.61 million |
#7 | Materials | $0.60 million |
#8 | Tech | $0.48 million |
#9 | Consumer Discretionary | $0.42 million |
#10 | Industrials | $0.32 million |
Note: this analysis excludes real estate companies
Interestingly, there is even a wide variance between sectors. Oil and gas companies make at least twice as much revenue per employee than the companies in all other sectors, while healthcare and utilities companies also have high ratios as well.
There is a plausible explanation for this large discrepancy, and it has to do with the cost of doing business.
Oil and gas companies have to spend billions of dollars on capital expenditures to build and maintain plants and rigs, while paying extra taxes and royalties. Healthcare companies have to spend a lot on R&D to stay competitive, while utilities must maintain vast amounts of infrastructure. At the same time, all of these sectors generally hire very specialized employees like engineers or scientists, which cost more than average.
Energy
Mapped: Renewable Energy and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023
This graphic describes new U.S. renewable energy installations by state along with nameplate capacity, planned to come online in 2023.

Renewable and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023
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Renewable energy, in particular solar power, is set to shine in 2023. This year, the U.S. plans to get over 80% of its new energy installations from sources like battery, solar, and wind.
The above map uses data from EIA to highlight planned U.S. renewable energy and battery storage installations by state for 2023.
Texas and California Leading in Renewable Energy
Nearly every state in the U.S. has plans to produce new clean energy in 2023, but it’s not a surprise to see the two most populous states in the lead of the pack.
Even though the majority of its power comes from natural gas, Texas currently leads the U.S. in planned renewable energy installations. The state also has plans to power nearly 900,000 homes using new wind energy.
California is second, which could be partially attributable to the passing of Title 24, an energy code that makes it compulsory for new buildings to have the equipment necessary to allow the easy installation of solar panels, battery storage, and EV charging.
New solar power in the U.S. isn’t just coming from places like Texas and California. In 2023, Ohio will add 1,917 MW of new nameplate solar capacity, with Nevada and Colorado not far behind.
Top 10 States | Battery (MW) | Solar (MW) | Wind (MW) | Total (MW) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Texas | 1,981 | 6,462 | 1,941 | 10,385 |
California | 4,555 | 4,293 | 123 | 8,970 |
Nevada | 678 | 1,596 | 0 | 2,274 |
Ohio | 12 | 1,917 | 5 | 1,934 |
Colorado | 230 | 1,187 | 200 | 1,617 |
New York | 58 | 509 | 559 | 1,125 |
Wisconsin | 4 | 939 | 92 | 1,034 |
Florida | 3 | 978 | 0 | 980 |
Kansas | 0 | 0 | 843 | 843 |
Illinois | 0 | 363 | 477 | 840 |
The state of New York is also looking to become one of the nation’s leading renewable energy providers. The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is making real strides towards this objective with 11% of the nation’s new wind power projects expected to come online in 2023.
According to the data, New Hampshire is the only state in the U.S. that has no new utility-scale renewable energy installations planned for 2023. However, the state does have plans for a massive hydroelectric plant that should come online in 2024.
Decarbonizing Energy
Renewable energy is considered essential to reduce global warming and CO2 emissions.
In line with the efforts by each state to build new renewable installations, the Biden administration has set a goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.
The EIA forecasts the share of U.S. electricity generation from renewable sources rising from 22% in 2022 to 23% in 2023 and to 26% in 2024.
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