The most consistent and comparable measure of industry size in the US economy is gross value added (contribution to GDP), as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). This reflects the net economic output after accounting for intermediate inputs.
By GDP Contribution (Latest Available Data: Q2 2025)
- Education + Healthcare (combined BEA category: “Educational services, health care, and social assistance”): ~8.8% of GDP.
- Health care and social assistance: ~7.7% of GDP.
- Educational services: ~1.1% of GDP.
- Combined absolute value added: Approximately $2.8–3.0 trillion annually (based on US GDP around $31–32 trillion).
- Energy Industry (primarily “Mining” which includes oil/gas extraction, plus “Utilities”):
- Mining: ~1.2–1.4% of GDP.
- Utilities: ~1.5% of GDP.
- Combined: ~2.7–2.9% of GDP.
- Absolute value added: Roughly $800–900 billion annually.
Conclusion on Relative Size (GDP Value Added): The combined education and healthcare industry is about 3 times larger than the energy industry. Healthcare alone is 2.5–3 times larger than energy, while education is roughly half the size of energy.
Alternative Measures:
Total Spending/Expenditures
- Healthcare: National Health Expenditures ~$5.3 trillion in 2024 (~18% of GDP), projected to grow further.
- Education: Total US spending (public + private, K-12 and higher) ~$1.5–1.7 trillion annually (~5–6% of GDP).
- Combined education + healthcare spending: ~$6.8–7.0 trillion.
- Energy: Total primary energy expenditures (consumer + industry spending on fuel/electricity) ~$1.5–2 trillion annually (~5–6% of GDP).
Under this broader spending lens, education + healthcare is still ~3–4 times larger than energy.
Employment
- Healthcare and social assistance: ~23–24 million employees (largest single sector).
- Education (private + public, including higher ed): ~15–16 million.
- Energy (extraction + utilities): ~1–2 million.
Education + healthcare employs 15–20 times more people than energy.
The education and healthcare sectors combined significantly outsize the energy industry across key metrics, driven largely by healthcare’s scale in both output and spending. Energy, while critical, contributes less directly to GDP due to its role as an intermediate input for other sectors.
Data sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and related reports as of early 2026.
