Custom cakes sit inside a much larger baking economy. The closest official business category, U.S. retail bakeries, included 8,628 firms and 8,979 establishments in 2022, while the broader baker occupation covered 220,230 workers in May 2023. These figures describe the market around custom cakes, not custom-cake production alone.
Contents
- The U.S. retail-bakery base
- Small businesses dominate the business count
- Baker pay and workforce benchmarks
- Where baker labor markets are largest
- Employment outlook and industry concentration
- Sugar and cake-related ingredient context
- Wedding cakes and celebration spending
The U.S. retail-bakery base
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses data for NAICS 311811, retail bakeries, provides the most useful official business baseline for custom cake sellers. The classification also includes bakeries making bread and other bakery products, so it should not be read as a count of custom-cake specialists.
In 2022, retail bakeries recorded 8,628 firms, 8,979 establishments, 93,603 employees, $2.900 billion in annual payroll, and $11.725 billion in receipts. The distinction between firms and establishments matters: a firm may operate more than one location.
The business base was spread across several size classes. Retail bakeries with fewer than 500 employees totaled 8,596 firms, 8,920 establishments, and 83,188 employees. The 500-or-more employee class contained 32 firms, 59 establishments, and 10,415 employees.
The official source is the 2022 SUSB Annual Datasets by Establishment Industry, reported for 2022. It is a business and employment benchmark rather than a direct measure of custom cake orders, cake revenue, or home-based decorators.
Small businesses dominate the business count
The retail-bakery figures show how strongly the business count is concentrated among smaller operators. In 2022, businesses with fewer than 20 employees totaled 7,451 firms and 7,524 establishments, employing 37,557 people. That group included 4,233 firms with fewer than five employees, 1,859 firms with five to nine employees, and 1,359 firms with 10 to 19 employees.
The employee counts rise with each size band even though the number of firms falls. The fewer-than-five-employee class had 6,943 employees. The five-to-nine class had 12,358 employees, and the 10-to-19 class had 18,256 employees. The 20-to-99 class contained 1,068 firms and 1,256 establishments, with 36,436 employees.
| 2022 retail-bakery size class | Firms | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 5 employees | 4,233 | 4,241 | 6,943 |
| 5–9 employees | 1,859 | 1,875 | 12,358 |
| 10–19 employees | 1,359 | 1,408 | 18,256 |
| 20–99 employees | 1,068 | 1,256 | 36,436 |
| 100–499 employees | 77 | 140 | 9,195 |
| 500 or more employees | 32 | 59 | 10,415 |
The 100-to-499 employee class had 77 firms, 140 establishments, and 9,195 employees. Together, the size-class figures show two different features of the market: many small bakery businesses and substantial employment in larger operations. Custom cake work can therefore exist in independent shops, multi-location bakeries, and larger retail or food businesses, but the Census category does not separate those activities.
Baker pay and workforce benchmarks
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimated 220,230 U.S. bakers in May 2023. The occupation-wide mean wage was $17.09 per hour, or $35,550 per year. These estimates cover bakers across industries and exclude self-employed workers, making them labor-supply benchmarks rather than custom-cake-only pay figures.
The median baker wage was $16.80 per hour, equivalent to $34,950 annually on BLS’s year-round, full-time basis. The 25th-percentile wage was $14.22 per hour, and the 75th-percentile wage was $18.64. At the outer reported percentiles, the 10th-percentile wage was $12.00 per hour and the 90th-percentile wage was $22.59.
On an annual basis, the May 2023 estimates ranged from $24,960 at the 10th percentile to $46,980 at the 90th percentile. For a custom cake business, these figures can frame employee compensation discussions, but they do not represent the price a customer pays for design, ingredients, overhead, delivery, or the owner’s time.
State-level results also varied. Hawaii had 1,000 bakers with a mean wage of $20.94 per hour and $43,560 per year. Washington had 4,900 bakers at $20.39 per hour and $42,400 annually. Massachusetts had 4,900 bakers at $19.93 per hour and $41,450 annually. California had 22,490 bakers at $19.56 per hour and $40,680 annually. The District of Columbia had 490 bakers at $20.88 per hour and $43,420 annually.
Where baker labor markets are largest
Metro-area employment gives another view of where custom cake skills may be part of a larger bakery labor pool. In May 2023, the New York–Newark–Jersey City metro had 16,160 bakers, with a mean annual wage of $40,350. Chicago–Naperville–Elgin had 9,880 bakers at $36,610, while Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim had 7,420 bakers at $39,890.
| Metropolitan area | Bakers | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| New York–Newark–Jersey City | 16,160 | $40,350 |
| Chicago–Naperville–Elgin | 9,880 | $36,610 |
| Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim | 7,420 | $39,890 |
| Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land | 5,930 | $30,770 |
| Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington | 5,440 | $31,060 |
| Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell | 4,800 | $31,820 |
| Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington | 4,370 | $35,460 |
| Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach | 4,290 | $34,100 |
| San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward | 3,760 | $43,970 |
| Washington–Arlington–Alexandria | 3,510 | $38,960 |
The remaining listed metros show a wide pay range. Houston reported 5,930 bakers and a $30,770 mean annual wage; Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington reported 5,440 and $31,060; Atlanta reported 4,800 and $31,820. Philadelphia reported 4,370 and $35,460, while Miami reported 4,290 and $34,100. San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward had 3,760 bakers and the highest listed metro mean annual wage, $43,970. Washington–Arlington–Alexandria had 3,510 bakers and $38,960.
These are May 2023 BLS occupation estimates for all bakers in each metro area. They do not measure custom cake demand, specialty-cake pricing, or the number of independent decorators.
Employment outlook and industry concentration
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for bakers projects baker employment to rise from 262,400 in 2025 to 276,900 in 2035. That is a projected increase of 14,500 jobs, or 6 percent. BLS also projects about 36,500 baker openings per year on average during 2025–2035. These are forecasts, not observed employment totals, and they cover the baker occupation broadly.
Industry data show that baker employment is distributed beyond standalone retail bakeries. In May 2024, Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing employed 77,990 bakers, the largest industry count shown in the BLS chart. Food and Beverage Retailers employed 58,860, while Restaurants and Other Eating Places employed 58,500.
The same May 2024 BLS industry-specific data listed 4,590 bakers in Special Food Services, 2,850 in Traveler Accommodation, and 2,330 in Merchant Wholesalers of Nondurable Goods. For custom cake professionals, this spread is a reminder that bakery skills can be used in retail, restaurants, hospitality, catering, and wholesale settings.
Sugar and cake-related ingredient context
Historical USDA estimates add ingredient context, but they should not be treated as current 2026 consumption figures. In its CSFII-based product table, the USDA Economic Research Service report estimated annual refined-sugar use in cakes at 5.0 pounds per capita, compared with 0.2 pounds of corn sweeteners.
The same table reported 19.6 pounds of refined sugar and 6.0 pounds of corn sweeteners per capita annually for grain products. Cookies accounted for 3.8 pounds of refined sugar and 0.6 pounds of corn sweeteners, while pies accounted for 1.2 pounds and 0.2 pounds, respectively.
Danish, breakfast pastries, doughnuts, and granola bars together accounted for 1.6 pounds of refined sugar and 0.7 pounds of corn sweeteners per capita annually. Non-yeast coffee cake accounted for 0.1 pounds of refined sugar and 0.0 pounds of corn sweeteners in the table.
At the product-group level, refined sugar in grain products represented 42.27 percent of refined-sugar consumption in the USDA table, while corn sweeteners in grain products represented 10.83 percent of corn-sweetener consumption. Across all listed products, USDA reported 46.4 pounds per capita of refined sugar and 55.7 pounds of corn sweeteners. The sugar, sweets, and beverages group accounted for 17.7 pounds of refined sugar and 40.9 pounds of corn sweeteners.
Because these are historical CSFII-based estimates, they provide perspective on cake and grain-product ingredients rather than a current forecast of home baking, custom-order volume, or bakery purchasing.
Wedding cakes and celebration spending
Wedding data offer a narrower spending context for one important custom-cake occasion. The Knot’s average wedding-cake cost report reported an average U.S. wedding-cake cost of $540 in its Real Weddings Study. The same report said 72 percent of couples in that study used the cake-cutting tradition at the reception.
The figure applies to the wedding participants covered by The Knot’s private report. It should not be generalized to birthday cakes, corporate cakes, holiday orders, all custom cakes, or every U.S. celebration.
Planning timing provides additional context for wedding cake businesses. For weddings held in 2024, The Knot’s Weddings in 2024 report reported an average engagement length of 15 months. It also reported that 52 percent of couples began planning 12 months before the wedding.
Together, those figures describe a customer segment with a long planning window and a documented cake tradition. They do not establish how much of a wedding budget goes to design, tasting, delivery, setup, or specialty decorations. For custom cake readers, the clearest evidence remains segmented: retail-bakery business counts describe the supply base, BLS data describe labor, USDA data describe historical ingredient context, and The Knot describes wedding-specific spending and behavior.