The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard federal system for classifying business establishments. Each establishment is assigned a six-digit code and category title, organizing them primarily by similar production processes into five levels: sectors, subsectors, industry groups, industries, and national industries (national industries are specific to one or more of the United States, Canada, and Mexico). Codes are hierarchical: less detailed categories are derived by removing digits from the end of more detailed codes.

Example

The NAICS classification is updated every five years to better reflect economic realities.

For information on Lightcast’s use of NAICS codes (including departures from the standard classification), see this article.

See also: http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm or http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/