North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS)

The North American industry classification system (NAICS) was developed by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide comparable statistics across the three countries and among the various federal government agencies. Using this system, government and business analysts are able to compare directly industrial production statistics collected and published. NAICS also provides for increased comparability with the International Standard Industrial Classification System, developed and maintained by the United Nations.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) uses the NAICS codes to classify small businesses by industry. They set size standards within each industry to define whether a business entity is small and, thus, eligible for Government programs and preferences reserved for "small business" concerns.

To determine if your business is considered small to quality for Small Business Administration and other federal programs, find your NAICS code that best describes your business in the following tables. If you are unsure about what code fits your business, trying searching for it.

Once you know your code, you can go to size standards for businesses to see what the size standard is for your business. The size standards apply to most of SBA's and many other Federal Government programs and actions where eligibility as a small business is a factor or a consideration.