Commercial printing is a large U.S. employer-firm industry, while its broader material and delivery context spans paper products, municipal solid waste, and postal volume. The figures below distinguish commercial-printing revenue and payroll from EPA paper-flow estimates and USPS delivery categories.
Key Commercial Printing Statistics
The most useful headline figures cover industry scale, paper recovery, disposal, and physical mail:
- In 2024, U.S. commercial printing except screen and books recorded $68.178 billion in sales, value of shipments, or revenue among NAICS 323111 employer firms.
- In 2024, U.S. commercial printing except screen and books reported $15.924 billion in annual payroll among NAICS 323111 employer firms.
- In 2024, U.S. commercial screen printing recorded $13.084 billion in sales, value of shipments, or revenue among NAICS 323113 employer firms.
- In 2024, U.S. books printing recorded $3.777 billion in sales, value of shipments, or revenue among NAICS 323117 employer firms.
- In 2018, U.S. paper and paperboard municipal solid waste generation was 67.390 million tons, equal to 23.1% of total MSW generation.
- In 2000, U.S. paper and paperboard MSW generation was 87.740 million tons, the largest generation figure in the supplied EPA series.
- In 2018, U.S. paper and paperboard recycling was 45.970 million tons, a 68.2% recycling rate.
- In 2018, paper nondurable goods excluding newspapers had a 43.1% recycling rate in U.S. municipal solid waste.
- In 2018, newspapers had a 64.8% recycling rate in U.S. municipal solid waste.
- In 2018, corrugated boxes had a 96.5% recycling rate in U.S. municipal solid waste.
- In 2018, paper and paperboard combustion with energy recovery was 4.200 million tons, or 12.2% of all U.S. MSW combusted.
- In 2018, 17.220 million tons of U.S. paper and paperboard MSW went to landfills, representing 11.8% of MSW landfilled.
- In 2016, U.S. total mail volume was 154.3 billion pieces according to USPS.
- In 2023, U.S. total mail volume was 116.2 billion pieces according to USPS.
- In 2016, U.S. marketing mail volume was 80.9 billion pieces according to USPS.
- In 2023, U.S. marketing mail volume was 59.4 billion pieces according to USPS.
- In 2023, U.S. First-Class Mail volume was 46.0 billion pieces according to USPS.
Contents
- Key Commercial Printing Statistics
- Commercial Printing Industry Revenue and Payroll
- Paper Generation Trends in the Commercial Printing Context
- Commercial Printing Paper Recycling Data
- Paper Disposal and Energy Recovery
- Commercial Printing and Physical Mail Trends
- Direct Mail and USPS Delivery Scale
Commercial Printing Industry Revenue and Payroll
The 2024 Census AIES summary separates commercial printing except screen and books, commercial screen printing, and books printing into different NAICS categories. These are observed summary measures for U.S. employer firms, and annual payroll is not total labor cost or industry profit.
| U.S. NAICS category | 2024 sales, shipments, or revenue | 2024 annual payroll |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial printing except screen and books, 323111 | $68.178 billion | $15.924 billion |
| Commercial screen printing, 323113 | $13.084 billion | $3.313 billion |
| Books printing, 323117 | $3.777 billion | $857.471 million |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 AIES summary statistics.
The largest category in this table is commercial printing except screen and books, but the categories should not be combined as though they were one identical NAICS measure. Screen printing and books printing are presented separately by Census.
Paper Generation Trends in the Commercial Printing Context
EPA’s material-specific series describes U.S. municipal solid waste, not commercial-printing production. It includes paper products broadly, and EPA says 2018 generation was estimated using AF&PA statistics.
| Year | Paper and paperboard MSW generation |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 29.990 million tons |
| 1970 | 44.310 million tons |
| 1980 | 55.160 million tons |
| 1990 | 72.730 million tons |
| 2000 | 87.740 million tons |
| 2005 | 84.840 million tons |
| 2010 | 71.310 million tons |
| 2015 | 68.050 million tons |
| 2017 | 67.010 million tons |
| 2018 | 67.390 million tons; 23.1% of total MSW generation |
Source: U.S. EPA, Paper and Paperboard: Material-Specific Data.
The series rises from 29.990 million tons in 1960 to 87.740 million tons in 2000, then declines to 67.390 million tons in 2018. Those observations describe post-consumer material generation, so they should not be read as production totals for printers.
Commercial Printing Paper Recycling Data
Paper recovery is another broad material-flow measure rather than a firm-level commercial-printing rate. EPA estimated paper and paperboard recycling at 5.080 million tons in 1960, 6.770 million tons in 1970, 11.740 million tons in 1980, and 20.230 million tons in 1990.
| Year | Paper and paperboard recycled | Reported rate or scope |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 37.560 million tons | Broad paper and paperboard MSW |
| 2005 | 41.960 million tons | Broad paper and paperboard MSW |
| 2010 | 44.570 million tons | Broad paper and paperboard MSW |
| 2015 | 45.320 million tons | Broad paper and paperboard MSW |
| 2017 | 44.170 million tons | Broad paper and paperboard MSW |
| 2018 | 45.970 million tons | 68.2% recycling rate |
Source: U.S. EPA, Paper and Paperboard: Material-Specific Data.
EPA’s 2018 category rates show why product mix matters. Paper nondurable goods excluding newspapers had a 43.1% recycling rate, newspapers had a 64.8% rate, paper containers and packaging excluding corrugated boxes had a 20.8% rate, and corrugated boxes had a 96.5% rate.
These are product-category rates, not rates for commercial-printing firms. The 2018 paper-and-paperboard total therefore provides a material-recovery benchmark, not a direct measure of how much commercial printing is recycled.
Paper Disposal and Energy Recovery
EPA also reports estimated post-consumer pathways for paper and paperboard. Earlier summary-table dashes mean data were unavailable; the figures below use only years with reported values.
- Paper and paperboard combustion with energy recovery was 0.150 million tons in 1970, 0.860 million tons in 1980, and 8.930 million tons in 1990 in U.S. MSW.
- The same combustion pathway was 9.730 million tons in 2000, 7.800 million tons in 2005, 4.740 million tons in 2010, 4.450 million tons in 2015, and 4.490 million tons in 2017.
- In 2018, paper and paperboard combustion with energy recovery was 4.200 million tons, or 12.2% of all MSW combusted.
Landfilling followed a different pattern across the same broad material population:
| Year | Paper and paperboard sent to landfills |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 24.910 million tons |
| 1970 | 37.390 million tons |
| 1980 | 42.560 million tons |
| 1990 | 43.570 million tons |
| 2000 | 40.450 million tons |
| 2005 | 35.080 million tons |
| 2010 | 22.000 million tons |
| 2015 | 18.280 million tons |
| 2017 | 18.350 million tons |
| 2018 | 17.220 million tons; 11.8% of MSW landfilled |
Source: U.S. EPA, Paper and Paperboard: Material-Specific Data.
The disposal figures concern U.S. municipal solid waste pathways and should not be attributed specifically to commercial printing jobs, print shops, or commercial paper output.
Commercial Printing and Physical Mail Trends
USPS volume is useful context for printed communications, but it is not a direct measure of all commercial printing output. The series includes USPS mail categories and excludes printed items that never enter the postal system.
| Year | Total U.S. mail volume |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 154.3 billion pieces |
| 2017 | 149.5 billion pieces |
| 2018 | 146.4 billion pieces |
| 2022 | 127.3 billion pieces |
| 2023 | 116.2 billion pieces |
Source: USPS, A decade of facts and figures.
USPS total mail volume was 154.3 billion pieces in 2016 and 116.2 billion pieces in 2023. The intermediate observations were 149.5 billion pieces in 2017, 146.4 billion in 2018, and 127.3 billion in 2022.
USPS labels this as a decade of facts and figures and advises that facts can become outdated. The mail trend is therefore best used as delivery context for physical communications, not as a standalone commercial-printing market-size estimate.
Direct Mail and USPS Delivery Scale
The USPS category data provide more detail on two major mail streams and a neighboring delivery category. First-Class Mail and marketing mail are delivery categories, not direct measures of printed-piece production.
| USPS category | 2016 volume | 2021 volume | 2022 volume | 2023 volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-Class Mail | 61.2 billion | 50.7 billion | 48.9 billion | 46.0 billion |
| Marketing mail | 80.9 billion | — | 67.1 billion | 59.4 billion |
| Shipping and packages | 5.2 billion | — | — | 7.1 billion |
Source: USPS, A decade of facts and figures.
Marketing mail volume was 80.9 billion pieces in 2016, 67.1 billion in 2022, and 59.4 billion in 2023. First-Class Mail volume was 61.2 billion pieces in 2016, 50.7 billion in 2021, 48.9 billion in 2022, and 46.0 billion in 2023.
USPS shipping and package volume adds adjacent physical-delivery scale: 5.2 billion pieces in 2016 and 7.1 billion in 2023. Packages are not commercial-printing output, but the figures help separate mail-based print distribution from the wider USPS delivery system.