County Business Patterns (CBP) is an annual data series that provides the number of business establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll. The data are tabulated by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The data are also available by Legal Form of Organization at the U.S. and state levels and by employment size class of the establishment.
County Business Patterns (CBP) provides industry data at several geography levels including national, state, county, Metropolitan/Micropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), Combined Statistical Area (CSA), ZIP code, and Congressional District.
CBP publishes county data for Louisiana (parishes), Alaska (organized boroughs, city and boroughs, municipalities, and census areas), and Connecticut (planning regions) as the equivalent of a county. The independent cities in Virginia, and the cities of Baltimore, MD, St. Louis, MO, and Carson City, NV, are treated as separate counties.
CBP publishes data for American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam as state and county equivalents.
County Business Patterns (CBP) data are extracted from the Business Register, the Census Bureau's database of all known single and multi-establishment companies. Data comes from a variety of sources, including the Economic Censuses and annual data collected by the Census Bureau, as well as from administrative records from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
No, however sales and receipts data are available from other Census Bureau programs. For more information, please see the Census Bureau's Business and Economy page.
The Census Bureau is forbidden by Federal Law, Title 13 of the U.S. Code, from providing data that can be linked to specific establishments, which includes any lists of companies in a designated area. Even revealing that an entity is in the data is prohibited under this law.
We don’t recommend using County Business Patterns (CBP) data as a time series. While CBP publishes annually, the data is meant to be more of a snapshot in time. Further, CBP does not revise data for prior years and the comparability of data over time may be affected by changes in industry classifications, definitions of establishments, establishment’s active status, and/or changes to geographic boundaries (actual or statistically defined areas). Other Census Bureau programs, such as Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS), allow for the tracking of establishments and firms over time.
Data are published annually, with data for a reference year typically being released 14-18 months after the end of that reference year. For example, 2023 CBP data was released in June of 2025.
For the latest information, see the County Business Patterns Updates page.
Employers without a fixed location within a state (or of unknown county location) are included under a “statewide” classification. These establishments are included in state totals but are not included in sub-state geographic totals. This causes only slight understatement of county employment.
Also, beginning with reference year 2017, a cell (the selected combination of geography and industry code) is only published if it contains three or more establishments. In all other cases, the cell is not included in the release (i.e., it is dropped from publication). Data that is withheld at more specific industry and geography levels are included in broader totals, which can lead to discrepancies between levels of aggregation.
To protect confidentiality, no data are published that would disclose the operations of an individual employer. Beginning with reference year 2017, a cell (the selected combination of geography and industry code) is only published if it contains three or more establishments. In all other cases, the cell is not included in the release (i.e., it is dropped from publication).
Also, administrative data are subject to non-sampling error. Business addresses and NAICS codes sourced from administrative records are self-reported and, in some cases, may not be accurate.
The Economic Census generally uses respondent reported data. County Business Patterns (CBP) uses a combination of reported data and administrative records data. Although efforts are made to resolve significant differences in the data, differences are known to exist. For example, some large companies report different activities at the same location as separate profit centers. The CBP program treats each profit center as a separate establishment. The Economic Census reporting may combine the profit centers into one establishment. This results in establishment count differences due to differences in how the data are collected.
For more information on the Economic Census, see the Economic Census page.
No. County Business Patterns presents the number of employees working in the primary industry of the establishment, regardless of the individual's job within that establishment. Refer to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for data on occupational characteristics.
Although most government establishments are excluded from tabulation, County Business Patterns (CBP) includes government sponsored Beer, Wine, and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (NAICS 4248); Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores (NAICS 44531); Tobacco Stores (NAICS 453991); Book Publishers (511130); Monetary Authorities – Central Bank (NAICS 521110); Savings Institutions (NAICS 522120); Credit Unions (NAICS 522130); Hospitals (NAICS 622); Gambling Industries (NAICS 7132); and Casino Hotels (NAICS 721120).
Employment and payroll data for Federal, State, and Local governments are not part of the CBP data series. Refer to the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll or the Census of Governments for more information on this topic.
Since 1998, County Business Patterns (CBP) has been published according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Prior to this, data were published according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System.
NAICS is scheduled to be reviewed every five years for potential revisions, so that the classification system can keep pace with the changing economy. CBP lags by one to two years in the adoption of the classification system employed for the Economic Census.
County Business Patterns (CBP) covers approximately 1,200 NAICS industries, excluding the following: Crop and animal production (NAICS 111,112); Rail transportation (NAICS 482); Postal Service (NAICS 491); Pension, Health, Welfare, and Other Insurance Funds (NAICS 525110, 525120, 525190); Trusts, estates, and agency accounts (NAICS 525920); Offices of Notaries (NAICS 541120); Public schools and colleges (NAICS 6111, 6112, 6113) - (CBP includes private schools and colleges in these NAICS); Private households (NAICS 814); and Public administration (NAICS 92).
Although most government establishments are excluded from tabulation, CBP includes government establishments in the following industries: Government sponsored Beer, Wine, and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (NAICS 4248); Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores (NAICS 44531); Tobacco Stores (NAICS 453991); Book Publishers (511130); Monetary Authorities – Central Bank (NAICS 521110); Savings Institutions (NAICS 522120); Credit Unions (NAICS 522130); Hospitals (NAICS 622); Gambling Industries (NAICS 7132); and Casino Hotels (NAICS 721120).
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An establishment is a single physical location at which business is conducted or services or industrial operations are performed. It is not necessarily synonymous with a company or enterprise, which may consist of one or more establishments. When two or more activities are carried out at a single location under a single ownership, all activities generally are grouped together as a single establishment. The entire establishment is classified based on its major activity and all data are included in that classification.
An enterprise (or "company") is a business organization consisting of one or more domestic establishments that were specified under common ownership or control. The enterprise and the establishment are the same for single-establishment firms while each multi-establishment company forms one enterprise.
County Business Patterns (CBP) data is available in table format at data.census.gov going back to 2012. Downloadable datasets are available on our website going back to 1986. CBP has APIs also going back to 1986.
Pre-1986 CBP data is not maintained on the CBP website. Earlier CBP publications, from 1967-2007, can be found on the National Archives website. CBP data can also be found stored on third-party research and archives websites such as the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) website. You can find CBP data from 1970-1994 on ICPSR here. You can find 1946-1974 CBP data on ICPSR here.
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