A quick ratio only means something next to the figures of similar businesses. This table shows, for each industry, the quick ratio of the typical company and the range that the middle half of companies fall in. Every figure is calculated from the balance sheets that US-listed companies file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, so you can check how it was measured.
To place your own figure, enter it in the quick ratio calculator and choose your industry under the result.
Median quick ratio for each industry
| Middle half 25th–75th percentile | Range chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All industries | 1.07 | 0.60–2.07 | 2,596 | |
| Pharmaceuticals and biotech | 2.52 | 1.17–4.65 | 257 | |
| Medical devices and supplies | 1.93 | 1.04–4.15 | 141 | |
| Mining | 1.83 | 0.97–3.58 | 36 | |
| Semiconductors and electronic components | 1.75 | 1.15–3.81 | 109 | |
| Software and IT services | 1.37 | 0.79–2.49 | 352 | |
| Scientific and measuring instruments | 1.35 | 0.98–2.24 | 57 | |
| Other manufacturing | 1.35 | 0.69–1.84 | 26 | |
| Healthcare services | 1.33 | 0.85–2.62 | 65 | |
| Aerospace and defense | 1.28 | 0.78–2.83 | 44 | |
| Oil and gas services | 1.28 | 0.87–1.39 | 26 | |
| Industrial machinery | 1.23 | 0.79–1.88 | 92 | |
| Electrical and communications equipment | 1.10 | 0.74–1.84 | 98 | |
| Chemicals and personal care | 1.09 | 0.66–1.81 | 70 | |
| Fabricated metal products | 1.06 | 0.68–1.86 | 45 | |
| Education | 1.05 | 0.63–2.09 | 25 | |
| Telecommunications and media distribution | 1.00 | 0.68–1.75 | 56 | |
| Business services | 0.96 | 0.64–1.62 | 130 | |
| Engineering, research and consulting | 0.94 | 0.60–1.53 | 45 | |
| Construction | 0.91 | 0.66–1.28 | 28 | |
| Building materials and metals | 0.91 | 0.71–1.11 | 38 | |
| Transportation and logistics | 0.91 | 0.62–1.48 | 93 | |
| Wholesale distribution | 0.89 | 0.54–1.35 | 74 | |
| Computers and hardware | 0.87 | 0.61–2.05 | 49 | |
| Paper, wood and furniture | 0.87 | 0.67–1.30 | 34 | |
| Motor vehicles and transport equipment | 0.87 | 0.48–1.20 | 59 | |
| Apparel, textiles and footwear | 0.82 | 0.58–1.27 | 33 | |
| Food, beverage and tobacco | 0.73 | 0.35–1.34 | 72 | |
| Personal and repair services | 0.62 | 0.50–1.15 | 20 | |
| Hotels, entertainment and leisure | 0.62 | 0.43–1.00 | 61 | |
| Printing and publishing | 0.61 | 0.57–1.50 | 15 | |
| Oil and gas production | 0.58 | 0.36–0.81 | 54 | |
| General merchandise and home retail | 0.56 | 0.22–0.79 | 21 | |
| Online and specialty retail | 0.54 | 0.35–0.87 | 56 | |
| Restaurants | 0.53 | 0.22–1.16 | 29 | |
| Apparel and footwear retail | 0.51 | 0.32–0.78 | 19 | |
| Utilities and waste services | 0.41 | 0.25–0.76 | 93 | |
| Auto dealers and gas stations | 0.18 | 0.12–0.29 | 15 |
The median is the middle company. Half of the companies in each industry fall in the middle-half range. Industries with fewer than 15 companies are counted in "All industries" but not shown on their own. Download the table for every year as CSV (free to reuse with credit, CC BY 4.0).
Reading the table
- The median is the middle company: half the companies in the industry have a higher quick ratio and half a lower one. It is less affected by a few unusual companies than an average would be.
- The middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile. A quarter of companies sit below it and a quarter above it.
- A figure outside the middle half is not wrong. It is a reason to ask why the business differs from most of its industry.
The quick ratio leaves inventory out, so it sits furthest below the current ratio in industries that hold a lot of stock. Businesses that are paid at the point of sale hold few receivables, so their quick ratio can be low even when they pay their bills on time. Companies still spending money raised from investors, rather than earning it, often hold far more cash than they owe in the coming year, which pushes their quick ratio up.
The guide to why financial ratios vary by industry explains these differences in more detail.
How the median has changed
| Year | Median | Middle half | Companies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1.32 | 0.75–2.76 | 2,267 |
| 2022 | 1.13 | 0.63–2.26 | 2,379 |
| 2023 | 1.10 | 0.60–2.11 | 2,448 |
| 2024 | 1.07 | 0.59–2.09 | 2,554 |
| 2025 | 1.07 | 0.60–2.07 | 2,596 |
How the figures are measured
- Source: company filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, read through the SEC's free XBRL data API. SEC data is in the public domain.
- Figures: Accounts receivable (
us-gaap:AccountsReceivableNetCurrent, or elseus-gaap:ReceivablesNetCurrent); Cash and cash equivalents (us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue, or elseus-gaap:Cash); Current liabilities (us-gaap:LiabilitiesCurrent); Short-term investments (0 when none are reported) (us-gaap:ShortTermInvestments, or elseus-gaap:MarketableSecuritiesCurrent, or elseus-gaap:AvailableForSaleSecuritiesDebtSecuritiesCurrent), as each company tagged them in its filing. - Calculation: the quick ratio is calculated for each company with the same formula as the calculator on this site, then the companies are ranked.
- Period: Balance sheets dated closest to 31 December 2025. For a company whose financial year ends at another time, a balance sheet near 31 December is usually a quarterly one.
- Companies: Companies listed on Nasdaq, NYSE or Cboe when the data was built, reporting under US GAAP. Blank-check companies (SPACs) are left out. Banks, insurers, brokers and real estate companies are left out: their balance sheets do not separate current from non-current items.
- Industries: each company's SIC code, as recorded by the SEC, grouped into plain-language industries. The SIC codes in each group are listed in the CSV download.
- Limits: these are public companies, which are larger than most businesses. The list is today's listed companies, so earlier years leave out companies that have since delisted. Companies tag figures themselves, and some tag them inconsistently; medians and quartiles are used because one odd figure barely moves them.
Built on 20 October 2026 from SEC data for 2025 and the four years before.
Using these figures for a smaller business
Listed companies are larger than most businesses and often have easier access to credit, so a small business in the same industry can have a different quick ratio for good reasons. Use the industry range as a rough reference, and compare most closely with your own earlier periods and with businesses of a similar size and model. The current ratio counts inventory as well, and the cash ratio counts only cash. To see how the current and quick ratios differ for the same business, use current ratio vs quick ratio.