Business counts by industry — Sebastian, Florida

ZIP 32958, the main Sebastian ZIP code, had 727 business establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 6,397 people, according to the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns.

The 2023 ZIP Code Business Patterns table for ZIP 32958 (Sebastian, FL) lists 727 establishments, 6,397 employees and annual payroll of $263,239 thousand (Census CBP 2023, ZIP 32958). Indian River County as a whole had 4,820 establishments and 51,628 employees in the same year (Census CBP 2023, Indian River County), so ZIP 32958 held 15.1 percent of the county's establishments (727 divided by 4,820).

Payroll per employee in the table is the page's own arithmetic from two Census numbers in each row: $263,239 thousand divided by 6,397 employees is about $41,150 for ZIP 32958, against $2,618,130 thousand divided by 51,628, about $50,711, for Indian River County (Census). Florida's statewide figures were 645,575 establishments and 9,988,508 employees (Census CBP 2023, Florida).

A second ZIP, 32976, also carries the Sebastian, FL label in Census tables. It had 86 establishments, 450 employees and $14,467 thousand in payroll in 2023 (Census CBP 2023, ZIP 32976). The Census 2020 relationship file places ZCTA 32976 in Brevard County (Census ZCTA to county file), so its businesses are not part of the Indian River County totals.

Retail trade led ZIP 32958 in 2023 with 101 establishments, followed by construction with 93 and health care and social assistance with 92.

The shares are the page's arithmetic: each sector count divided by the area total, all from the 2023 Census tables (ZIP 32958; Indian River County; Florida). Construction makes up 12.8 percent of establishments in ZIP 32958 (93 divided by 727) against 10.5 percent statewide (68,008 divided by 645,575). By that measure, building trades are a larger slice of the Sebastian ZIP's business base than of Florida's.

Accommodation and food services also run above the county share in Sebastian: 60 establishments, or 8.3 percent of ZIP 32958, against 322, or 6.7 percent, countywide (Census). Professional, scientific and technical services go the other way, at 80 establishments and 11.0 percent in ZIP 32958 against 12.7 percent in Indian River County and 14.7 percent in Florida. ZIP 32958 lists only 3 establishments in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, a sector in which CBP leaves out crop and animal production entirely.

Most Sebastian businesses are small: 459 of the 727 establishments in ZIP 32958 had fewer than 5 employees in 2023, and 13 are listed in the 50 to 99 and 100 to 249 employee classes.

The 13 is the sum of the two top published size classes in the ZIP 32958 table, 6 with 50 to 99 employees and 7 with 100 to 249 (Census CBP 2023). The published Sebastian ZIP size classes add up to 725, 2 short of the 727 total, because beginning with reference year 2017 the Census Bureau publishes a cell only if it contains three or more establishments (Census CBP methodology). Every size class below 250 employees appears in the ZIP 32958 table, so by subtraction the 2 remaining establishments fall in larger, unpublished classes, a figure the Census Bureau notes is not official when derived this way. Indian River County lists 6 establishments in the 250 to 499 class (Census).

Establishments with fewer than 5 employees make up 63.1 percent of ZIP 32958 (459 divided by 727) and 61.1 percent of Indian River County (2,945 divided by 4,820). The Census tables do not name individual businesses, so the size data describe the Sebastian business base without identifying which employers fill the larger classes.

ZIP 32958 went from 730 establishments in 2022 to 727 in 2023, while employment rose from 6,255 to 6,397 and annual payroll from $234,589 thousand to $263,239 thousand.

The arithmetic from the two Census tables: payroll rose by $28,650 thousand (263,239 minus 234,589), or 12.2 percent, and employment by 142 people (6,397 minus 6,255), while the number of Sebastian ZIP establishments fell by 3 (Census CBP 2022, ZIP 32958; Census CBP 2023, ZIP 32958). The figures are in current dollars, not adjusted for inflation.

Within sectors, professional, scientific and technical services in ZIP 32958 grew from 69 to 80 establishments and retail trade from 97 to 101, while construction slipped from 98 to 93 and real estate from 57 to 50 (Census). Changes of a few establishments in a single Sebastian ZIP code are small enough that one opening or closing moves a sector count.

ZIP 32958 holds more residents than the City of Sebastian, so its business counts can include establishments outside the city limits.

Population shows the difference. The Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates put ZCTA5 32958 at 30,023 residents (ACS, ZCTA 32958) and Sebastian city at 26,262 (ACS, Sebastian city), so the ZIP area counts 3,761 more residents than the city (30,023 minus 26,262).

Addresses on Roseland Road carry the Sebastian ZIP as well: Indian River County lists its Donald MacDonald Park and Campground at 12315 Roseland Road, Sebastian, FL 32958 (Indian River County). The Census tabulates Roseland apart from the city, as Roseland CDP with 2,142 residents in the same ACS 2020-2024 estimates (ACS, Roseland CDP).

The relationship file confirms that ZCTA 32958 lies in Indian River County, while ZCTA 32976 lies in Brevard County (Census ZCTA to county file). No Census business count exists for the city limits alone.

The Sebastian counts include only establishments with paid employees, counted by physical location, and leave out the self-employed, private household employees and most government employees.

The Census Bureau defines an establishment as a single physical location at which business is conducted, so a company with two Sebastian storefronts counts twice (Census CBP methodology). The series excludes data on self-employed individuals, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production employees and most government employees, which means City of Sebastian and Indian River County School District payrolls are largely outside these numbers.

Detail is thinner at the ZIP level. For ZIP Code Business Patterns, employment during the week of March 12th and payroll are published only for all sectors combined; by industry, the ZIP 32958 table gives establishment counts alone (Census). That is why this page reports Sebastian employment and payroll only as totals, and why the county and state tables are used for any sector comparison involving jobs.