Economic Census

The Economic Census profiles the whole US business universe once every five years. In this slice it always arrives scoped to an industry code and delivered through Census channels:

• U.S. Census Bureau Available APIs — 'Economic Census 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2022' down to county level, plus state, region, CBSA, offshore areas and Island Areas; the ecnbasic 2022 endpoint alone exposes 130 variables.
• US Census Bureau — Economic Census, ASM & County Business Patterns (NAICS 3231) — 'Economic Census every five years (2017, 2022)' for commercial printing, with establishment counts and payroll by six-digit NAICS x geography x employment-size class.
• U.S. Economic Census - Wholesale Trade (NAICS 424) — the food-distributor cut of the same program.
• U.S. Census Bureau Data API - CBP / Economic Census / Wholesale Trade — the technology-distributors route to identical content.

Because respondents are protected, the published product is aggregates: no firm-level rows ever leave Title 13 confidentiality.

The Economic Census is the denominator problem solver. Market-sizing models built only on annual surveys inherit their sampling noise; the five-year benchmark recalibrates them against a near-full count of establishments, payroll and receipts.

Its granularity is also its limit. Geography-by-industry cells mean you can rank metros for auto-parts retail but never see a company — and Title 13 suppresses small cells, so sparse geographies arrive with holes you must handle rather than interpolate silently.

1. Name the vintage before you size a market. Available APIs document vintages 2002-2022; using 2017 benchmarks against 2024 revenue inflates or deflates share math depending on the industry.

1. Check the geographic floor. County is the deepest level named ('to county level plus state, region, CBSA, offshore areas, Island Areas') — claims of census-tract Economic Census data should be challenged.

1. Expect disclosure suppression in thin cells. Small cells are withheld under Title 13 rules, so complete matrices of NAICS x geography do not exist even in benchmark years.

Where to see it in context: automotive-parts-equipment data and advertising data.

Census programs and constraints that surround the Economic Census: - annual-survey-of-manufactures — The Annual Survey of Manufactures is the Census Bureau's annual manufacturing series covering shipments, employment and payroll for industries including printing (NAICS 3231), running 2013-2021 plus a 2022 benchmark. - county-business-patterns — County Business Patterns is the US Census Bureau's annual series of establishment counts, employment and payroll by six-digit NAICS, geography and employment-size class, running 1986-2023. - employment-size-class — Employment size class is the banded employee-count dimension attached to County Business Patterns rows, letting analysts separate large chains from small independents inside the same geography-and-NAICS cell.