Companies that design video games for gaming consoles and apps may be classified in several industries, including Computer Systems Design and Related Services (NAICS 5415) and Software Publishers (NAICS 5112). Data from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series showed that, in 2020, there were 143,096 establishments in the United States in this industry. These establishments employed 2,018,780 people during the pay period that included March 12, 2020.

Jump to:

With video game consoles ranking at the top of birthday and winter holiday "wish lists" for children young and old, the Consumer Technology Association estimated that more than half of the 172.5 million households in the United States owned at least one video game console in 2021. With more than 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, the global market for consoles in 2021 was valued at $107.5 billion, while the market for the video games played on those consoles was an estimated $138.4 billion the same year.

You can learn more about the history of video games, computers, and "smart" devices using Census Bureau data and records. For example:

• The design, distribution, and sale of video games, gaming apps, and gaming hardware employ millions of Americans. Companies that design video games for gaming consoles and apps may be classified in several industries, including Computer Systems Design and Related Services (NAICS 5415) and Software Publishers (NAICS 5112). Data from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series showed that, in 2020, there were 143,096 establishments in the United States in the Computer Systems Design and Related Services industry. These establishments employed 2,018,780 people during the pay period that included March 12, 2020. During 2020, annual payroll for establishments in the Computer Systems Design and Related Services industry was more than $222.6 billion.
  
• Do you live and breathe video games? Gamers may enjoy moving to an address in Game Creek, Alaska; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Golf, Illinois; Gamerco, New Mexico; Gamewell, North Carolina; Arcade, New York; Sportsmen Acres, Oklahoma; Fair Play, Missouri; Six Shooter Canyon, Arizona; Raceland, Kentucky; or Puzzletown, Pennsylvania.
  
• If you are trying to avoid the constant din of buzzing, ringing, and beeping video games, apps, and electronic devices, you might enjoy a town named for its peace and quiet like Hush Lake, Minnesota; Peaceful Village, Missouri; Boring, Oregon; Mount Calm, Texas; Peace, Minnesota; Rest Haven, Georgia; Still Pond, Maryland; or Tranquility, California.
  
• Before home video game consoles became commonplace in the majority of American homes, most 1970s and 1980s gamers were introduced to Pong and other early video games like Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man at local video game arcades. In 2020, the County Business Patterns series found that there were 3,350 Amusement Arcades (NAICS 713120) in the United States. These establishments employed 66,707 people during the pay period that included March 12, 2020, earning an annual payroll of nearly $750 million.
  
• Gaming systems and video games rely on access to reliable and fast internet connections to keep consoles updated with the latest software, make in-game purchases, and allow players to compete against each other in multiplayer games. Data collected by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) showed that in 2018, nearly 103.7 million of the nation's 121.5 million households had internet subscriptions. Nearly 103.4 million households had broadband internet, while 325,497 had only a dial-up internet subscription.
  
• According to the Census Bureau's report, Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2018, households in Utah (90 percent), Washington (90 percent), and Colorado (89.4 percent) were most likely to have broadband internet, while those in Arkansas (76.9 percent), New Mexico (76.9 percent), and Mississippi (76.3 percent) were least likely to subscribe to broadband internet.
  
• Smartphone games and apps are a popular pastime, with the average time spent using smartphone apps topping four hours a day in the United States. In households where the householder was younger than 35, smartphone ownership was 97 percent in 2018. At 93.1 percent, households that were Asian alone (not Hispanic) were most likely to own a smartphone, followed by Hispanics of any race (88.4 percent); White alone, not Hispanic (83.4 percent); and Black alone, not Hispanic (81.9 percent). In 2021, more than 14 million households reported that their cellular data plan was their only source of internet access.
  
• As millions of Americans quarantined and worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of households that owned one or more types of computing devices reached a record high. In 2021, ACS data showed that, of the nation's 127,544,730 households, 121,224,032 had one or more types of computing devices. Just 3,661,111 households had a desktop or laptop alone, while 117,562,921 owned a smartphone, tablet, or other portable wireless computer or other computer. The number of households reporting no computer fell from 9,950,639 in 2018 to 6,320,698 in 2021.
  
• The U.S. Census Bureau's International Trade Statistics provide detailed data about the importation of video game consoles, which are reflected as sales in the Monthly Retail Trade data. These data allow users to track import peaks of consoles prior to the release of a new gaming system as well as annual spikes in sales at the nation's electronics stores during the winter holidays. Learn more about these data and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on console and electronics sales from the report Census Statistics Show Early Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Game Console Launch.
  
• California's Silicon Valley is famous as the birthplace of some of the world's largest internet and computer-related companies. These establishments employ large numbers of professionals working in the Computer Systems Design Services (NAICS 541512), Custom Computer Programming Services (NAICS 541511), and Software Publishers (NAICS 511210) industries. These computer, software, and technology firms helped make homes in cities such as Los Altos, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale, and San Mateo some of the most sought-after real estate in California. With a population of 1,013,240 in 2020, San Jose was Silicon Valley's largest city and the tenth-largest urban place in the United States in 2020.

The U.S. Census Bureau conducted the 1937 Unemployment Census during the week of November 14, 1937.

Voluntary responses to the census found that 7.8 million people were unemployed or employed in emergency work, while 5.2 million people were partially employed eight years after the Great Depression began.

An "enumerative check census" that followed used statistical sampling to estimate that 10,985,000 people in the United States were totally unemployed or employed in emergency work in November 1937.

Budgeted to cost $5 million, the Census Bureau conducted the census for less than $2 million. Once all the data were tabulated, Director William Lane Austin returned the $3 million surplus to the U.S. Treasury.