US Business Statistics
Typical Business Statistics
- Number and type of businesses
- Number of employees
- Payroll
- Sales (wholesale and retail)
- Profits
- Agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing output
- County Business Patterns (online)CBP is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. This series includes the number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll.
- Zip Code Business Patterns1994-2018
- Economic Census (online overview and most recent statistics)The US Census Bureau conducts the Economic Census every five years (those ending in 2 and 7).
- Economic CensusOnline from 1977.
- Explore Census Data (formerly American FactFinder)This is a new platform for accessing U.S. census data. American FactFinder moved to this new platform on March 31, 2020.
Economic Censuses (print volumes at UCLA)
Separate volumes were published for the individual censuses that made up the larger "economic census". See below for links to listings in the UCLA Library Catalog. For dates earlier than the volumes listed, consult the main Decennial Census.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
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Includes company profiles, analyst reports, and SEC filings.
Occupation and Industry Categories in the US
Occupation refers to the type of job an individual holds. Industry refers to the type of business. The two don't necessarily coincide. For example, a computer programmer may work for an advertising agency, and an advertising sales agent may work for a software company.
Occupations are usually classified by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) categories (developed by the Department of Labor). Each occupation is assigned a 6-digit code. The first two digits represent a broad occupational classification, and additional digits represent more detailed sub-divisions. For example
- 11 = Management Occupations
- 11-10 = Top Executives
- 11-1030 = Legislators
Historically, the US government classified businesses using Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. However, beginning with 1997 most data products switched to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Concordance tables are available for conversion between the two systems. Both SIC and NAICS codes are hierarchical in nature. The first two digits represent a broad industry category, and each digit afterwards represents a sub-division. For example, in NAICS
- 44 = Retail Trade
- 445 = Food and Beverage Stores
- 4452 = Specialty Food Stores
- 44523 = Fruit and Vegetable Markets
The US Census Bureau uses its own sets of codes for both occupations and industries, but mappings are provided between these and the regular standards.
Anderson School Database Guides
Some of the databases listed on the pages below are limited to Anderson School use only. Be sure to check the access restrictions listed.