What is NAICS

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was developed by member organizations of the U.S., Mexico and Canada to allow for a high level of comparison in business statistics among these countries. NAICS is THE standard for classifying businesses. NAICS groups businesses according to similarity in the processes used to produce goods or services.
All industries will have at least one NAICS code.

Explanation of NAICS digits

NAICS is a two through six-digit system, providing five levels of detail. Each digit in the code is part of progressively narrower categories. The more digits in the code signify greater classification detail. The 5 digit NAICS code is the level at which there is comparability in the code and definitions for most of the NAICS sectors across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The 6 digit level allows for country specific detail. A complete and valid NAICS code consists of SIX digits.

Example

       31.... Sector              MANUFACTURING
       311...  Subsector            Food Manufacturing
       3118..    Industry group       Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing
       31182.      NAICS industry       Cookie, Cracker and Pasta Manufacturing
       311823          NAICS code         Dry Pasta Manufacturing

As you can see, with each digit added, the description becomes more specific.

Color codes

Throughout the website, NAICS codes are color coded using the electronic color code, consistent with international standard IEC 60062 for digits 0 -9. For initial simplicity, NAICS sector maps are color coded on the first digit only as a form of meta classification. More refined maps within the system allow the display of all 6 NAICS digits, and rapid visual identification of particular areas of interest.

System Requirements

Due to the large volume of data to be rendered, older browsers have less satisfactory responses. Internet Explorer 8 on WinXP (both no longer supported by their manufacturer) can display render times ranging anywhere from 5 seconds through to 45 seconds. In comparison, IE9 on Win7 renders these same maps in 2 seconds. For optimal user experience, we recommend using the most recent version of browser available. Newer Mozilla Firefox can be installed on older windows systems.