P/E ratio by industry

93 U.S. industries, highest first · January 2026

Median industry34.7×half are above, half below

Highest378.6×Investments & Asset Management

Lowest6.4×Broadcasting

#	Industry	P/E ratio	Net margin	Companies
1	Investments & Asset Management	378.6×	18.4%	283
2	Drugs (Pharmaceutical)	335.3×	18.5%	228
3	Healthcare Information and Technology	219.6×	7.4%	115
4	Entertainment	172.0×	4.4%	92
5	Software (Internet)	163.0×	-0.9%	29
6	Chemical (Specialty)	161.7×	2.9%	59
7	Advertising	132.2×	-0.3%	52
8	Telecom Equipment	125.5×	16.1%	57
9	Software (System & Application)	122.5×	25.5%	309
10	Precious Metals	119.7×	28.6%	56
11	Aerospace/Defense	118.0×	5.0%	79
12	Retail (REITs)	109.9×	23.0%	26
13	Drugs (Biotechnology)	109.3×	-5.0%	496
14	Retail (Distributors)	103.6×	6.0%	62
15	Healthcare Support Services	94.4×	1.3%	104
16	Metals & Mining	92.9×	10.5%	73
17	Engineering/Construction	90.2×	5.9%	48
18	Hotel/Gaming	83.2×	10.4%	63
19	Apparel	82.1×	3.9%	35
20	Computers/Peripherals	80.9×	17.8%	36
21	Steel	77.4×	1.9%	19
22	Electrical Equipment	76.4×	0.9%	112
23	Software (Entertainment)	70.7×	29.9%	77
24	Semiconductor	70.1×	30.4%	66
25	Restaurant/Dining	67.7×	9.4%	64
26	Environmental & Waste Services	66.2×	8.2%	53
27	Household Products	65.9×	11.7%	110
28	Financial Services (Non-bank & Insurance)	65.6×	22.2%	176
29	REITs	63.0×	13.2%	190
30	Real Estate (Operations & Services)	61.3×	1.2%	54
31	Packaging & Container	60.5×	4.5%	19
32	Transportation	60.0×	8.2%	19
33	Healthcare Products	55.9×	9.6%	204
34	Insurance (General)	55.1×	12.4%	21
35	Electronics (General)	52.0×	6.5%	114
36	Semiconductor Equipment	47.6×	21.3%	31
37	Retail (General)	46.7×	5.6%	23
38	Real Estate (General/Diversified)	46.2×	23.8%	12
39	Auto & Truck	44.6×	1.3%	33
40	Green & Renewable Energy	44.6×	-10.8%	15
41	Machinery	42.6×	10.6%	105
42	Oilfield Services/Equipment	38.0×	2.3%	97
43	Beverage (Soft)	37.1×	13.4%	27
44	Rubber & Tires	35.8×	-9.5%	3
45	Business & Consumer Services	35.4×	7.0%	155
46	Beverage (Alcoholic)	35.0×	0.6%	14
47	Banks (Regional)	34.7×	27.5%	568
48	Retail (Automotive)	34.3×	3.4%	34
49	Trucking	33.9×	3.8%	26
50	Retail (Building Supply)	31.2×	7.8%	14
51	Food Processing	31.0×	2.8%	78
52	Real Estate (Development)	29.4×	7.0%	14
53	Information Services	29.3×	6.5%	15
54	Auto Parts	27.8×	0.7%	35
55	Education	27.6×	8.8%	32
56	Construction Supplies	27.0×	10.8%	40
57	Brokerage & Investment Banking	26.8×	14.4%	32
58	Telecom Services	26.5×	14.2%	39
59	Computer Services	26.5×	4.5%	64
60	Retail (Special Lines)	26.0×	5.2%	94
61	Food Wholesalers	24.9×	1.2%	13
62	Recreation	24.8×	-4.7%	49
63	Hospitals/Healthcare Facilities	24.4×	6.3%	31
64	Coal & Related Energy	23.8×	-2.1%	16
65	Tobacco	23.0×	26.7%	10
66	Utility (Water)	22.0×	21.2%	14
67	Telecom (Wireless)	21.6×	12.2%	12
68	Transportation (Railroads)	21.5×	24.7%	4
69	Oil/Gas (Production and Exploration)	21.4×	14.6%	142
70	Building Materials	21.1×	7.4%	41
71	Utility (General)	21.0×	14.2%	14
72	Power	20.7×	12.7%	46
73	Chemical (Diversified)	20.5×	-5.3%	4
74	Oil/Gas Distribution	20.2×	13.4%	23
75	Insurance (Life)	19.9×	7.8%	20
76	Shoe	18.7×	6.3%	11
77	Reinsurance	18.6×	3.9%	1
78	Publishing & Newspapers	18.6×	8.2%	19
79	Insurance (Prop/Cas.)	18.1×	11.1%	57
80	Bank (Money Center)	17.6×	28.9%	15
81	Retail (Grocery and Food)	17.5×	1.3%	15
82	Farming/Agriculture	16.8×	3.9%	35
83	Furn/Home Furnishings	15.9×	1.1%	27
84	Air Transport	15.5×	2.5%	23
85	Diversified	14.1×	16.4%	20
86	Chemical (Basic)	14.1×	-3.7%	29
87	Cable TV	13.7×	7.1%	9
88	Shipbuilding & Marine	13.7×	9.5%	8
89	Office Equipment & Services	13.4×	4.4%	14
90	Oil/Gas (Integrated)	13.0×	8.3%	4
91	Homebuilding	10.2×	9.5%	30
92	Paper/Forest Products	7.0×	3.4%	6
93	Broadcasting	6.4×	2.1%	24

Source: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern, January 2026. Aggregates over U.S. public companies.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good P/E ratio?

Across these 93 industries the median is 34.7×, from Broadcasting (6.4×) to Investments & Asset Management (378.6×). These are public companies. Private businesses sell for far less: on average about 2.7× seller’s discretionary earnings (BizBuySell, Q2 2026).

How is the P/E ratio calculated?

Share price divided by earnings per share: what investors pay for each dollar of yearly profit. Each figure is an aggregate: the total across every company in the industry, so larger companies weigh more than in a simple average.

Where does the data come from?

Aswath Damodaran’s datasets at NYU Stern, January 2026, covering thousands of U.S. public companies in 94 industries. It is refreshed each January.

Why are 1 industries missing?

The source has no figure for them on this measure.