Identifying NAICS (Industry) Codes (2013) - YouTube

Hello, this is Steve Cramer, the Business Librarian.

Today's topic is NAICS codes. These are codes used to define industries...

and are the foundation of many types of business and economics research.

NAICS stands for North American Industrial Classification System.

The U.S. Census created this system in order to classify industries, and it covers all kinds of industries.

The codes are hierarchical -- the longer the number, the more detailed the industry.

They can be up to 6 digits long. For example,

513322 is the NAICS code for cell phone service.

That's part of the "Information" family of codes, the sector that includes more detailed industries like "cell phone service".

What's the point? Well, NAICS codes can be used in many different ways...

including finding companies, industry research and reports, benchmarking financials (I have another video on that topic)....

and also economics, like finding labor trends.

So NAICS is a widely used type of industry classification.

I'm going to use my NAICS guide as our homebase, but I'll also show you how to get to the NAICS section of the Census web site.

From the campus homepage, we will select "Campus Links" and then "Libraries".

And then "Research Guides by Subject"...

And I will pick this time MEHT [Marketing Entrepreneurship Hospitality and Tourism]...

And then "Welcome & Guides"....

And over here on the left side, "NAICS & SIC Industry Codes".

Then we select over here to get to the NAICS homepage.

Now, if you start at the census.gov homepage,

Mouse over "Business" and find the NAICS link right underneath.

I want to begin by browsing the codes using the "2012 NAICS" link on the right.

Note how broad the coverage of industries is:

It goes everywhere from farming to retailing to even government services -- all have their own NAICS codes.

It's a comprehensive classification of the economy of the United States.

For example, let's go into 72, Accommodations and Food Services...

At the bottom we will find 722515, Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars.

And so here is a full NAICS profile...

You have the definition and scope note here on top,

and examples of what this industry includes...

and also down here what it does not include.

For example, it does not include restaurants whether full-service or limited-service [fast food]...

For example, if you are running a cupcake truck...

That's a different code, one that represents Mobile Food Services.

At the bottom you have a more detailed list of related items that fall under this NAICS industry.

For example, Ice Cream Parlors are part of this industry.

Sometimes the codes get updated, and you can see the differences here between 2007 and 202.

That's unusual but does happen sometimes

Often when you are searching by keyword, you will get hits from this list of indexed entries...

representing the different aspects of this one industry.

Let's do a search now...say you are looking for the code for a coffee shop.

I'm going to keep my search simple and just enter "coffee"...

And notice we have a lot of hits...

There's hits for farming, many types of food manufacturing, also wholesaling...

And at the bottom you will see service industries, including coffee carts and coffee shops.

which is where we just were, and you can see "Coffee Shops" in the list.

That's one simple way of finding a code by keyword searching.

That was a pretty easy example. Sometimes, though, you may not find the right code...

There may not be a code detailed enough to handle a very new or innovative or specialized industry.

When that happens, there are some alternatives...

You can try Hoovers [or ReferenceUSA], which classifies a much more detailed level of industries.

And there's also BizMiner for financial, for very detailed industry breakdowns.

I can help you with those databases if needed -- just let me know.

Finally, sometimes you might see a reference to a SIC code...

Standard Industrial Classification, it's called.

This was what the Census used before beginning to use NAICS codes in 1992.

But some databases like Hoovers [and ReferenceUSA] still use SIC codes plus NAICS codes.

If you need to search for SIC codes,

Go back to my NAICS guide, which has a SIC code section...

with links to a web site from OSHA, which does still use SIC codes.

You can keyword-search, or search by number, and also browse them.

So if you need SIC codes, there is still this tool you can use.

This is the end -- thank you for watching, and don't forget, if you ever need anymore help....

Please let me know. You can visit me in the library...

Or contact me in many other ways.You can also contact iMinerva. And, that's all, bye!