The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by government agencies and businesses across the US, Canada, and Mexico to classify companies by the type of economic activity they perform. It replaced the older SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) system and is maintained jointly by statistical agencies in all three countries, with a revision cycle every five years (the current version is NAICS 2022).

Each NAICS code is a two-to-six digit number:

2 digits — sector (broadest category, e.g. 54 = Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services)
3 digits — subsector
4 digits — industry group
5 digits — NAICS industry
6 digits — national industry (the most specific level, used for US-specific reporting)

The further right you go, the more specific the classification. A company's NAICS code narrows from a broad sector down to a precise description of what it actually does.

See Six-Digit NAICS Codes & Titles for the comprehensive six-digit national industry list.

What NAICS codes are used for

NAICS codes are widely used to:

Segment and filter company data by industry
Benchmark businesses against others in the same category
Determine eligibility for government contracts, grants, and loans (e.g. SBA size standards)
Power targeting and prospecting in B2B sales and marketing
Standardize industry classification across databases from different sources

Below is the full list of the 20 top-level NAICS sectors. Click a code to jump to the subsector table for that sector.

Code	Sector
11	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
21	Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
22	Utilities
23	Construction
31-33	Manufacturing
42	Wholesale Trade
44-45	Retail Trade
48-49	Transportation and Warehousing
51	Information
52	Finance and Insurance
53	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
54	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
55	Management of Companies and Enterprises
56	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
61	Educational Services
62	Health Care and Social Assistance
71	Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
72	Accommodation and Food Services
81	Other Services (except Public Administration)
92	Public Administration

Where NAICS codes are used in MoltSets

naics_code is a filter on the search_companies and search_people endpoints.

It matches at any level of the hierarchy, so a 2-digit sector code casts a wide net and a 6-digit code narrows to a precise industry — for example, "54" returns all of Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, while "541120" returns only Offices of Notaries.

It's the most standardised of the industry filters available on these endpoints (the others being industry and linkedin_industry), so it's the one to reach for when you need consistent, well-defined industry boundaries rather than broader category buckets — useful for building prospect lists or contact searches that need to match a specific industry precisely, rather than relying on a loosely-related keyword bucket.

See Choosing industry granularity for companies and Choosing industry granularity for people for guidance on when to use naics_code versus the other industry filters.

Subsector reference tables

Each table below lists the 3-digit subsector codes within that sector. These are the next level of detail below the top-level sector code.

11 — Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting

Code	Subsector
111	Crop Production
112	Animal Production and Aquaculture
113	Forestry and Logging
114	Fishing, Hunting and Trapping
115	Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry

21 — Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction

Code	Subsector
211	Oil and Gas Extraction
212	Mining (except Oil and Gas)
213	Support Activities for Mining

22 — Utilities

Code	Subsector
221	Utilities

23 — Construction

Code	Subsector
236	Construction of Buildings
237	Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction
238	Specialty Trade Contractors

31-33 — Manufacturing

Code	Subsector
311	Food Manufacturing
312	Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing
313	Textile Mills
314	Textile Product Mills
315	Apparel Manufacturing
316	Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing
321	Wood Product Manufacturing
322	Paper Manufacturing
323	Printing and Related Support Activities
324	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
325	Chemical Manufacturing
326	Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing
327	Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
331	Primary Metal Manufacturing
332	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
333	Machinery Manufacturing
334	Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
335	Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing
336	Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
337	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
339	Miscellaneous Manufacturing

42 — Wholesale Trade

Code	Subsector
423	Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods
424	Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
425	Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers

44-45 — Retail Trade

Code	Subsector
441	Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers
444	Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers
445	Food and Beverage Retailers
449	Furniture, Home Furnishings, Electronics, and Appliance Retailers
455	General Merchandise Retailers
456	Health and Personal Care Retailers
457	Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
458	Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers
459	Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers

48-49 — Transportation and Warehousing

Code	Subsector
481	Air Transportation
482	Rail Transportation
483	Water Transportation
484	Truck Transportation
485	Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
486	Pipeline Transportation
487	Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation
488	Support Activities for Transportation
491	Postal Service
492	Couriers and Messengers
493	Warehousing and Storage

51 — Information

Code	Subsector
512	Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries
513	Publishing Industries
516	Broadcasting and Content Providers
517	Telecommunications
518	Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services
519	Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services

52 — Finance and Insurance

Code	Subsector
521	Monetary Authorities-Central Bank
522	Credit Intermediation and Related Activities
523	Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities
524	Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
525	Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

53 — Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

Code	Subsector
531	Real Estate
532	Rental and Leasing Services
533	Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works)

54 — Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

Code	Subsector
541	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

55 — Management of Companies and Enterprises

Code	Subsector
551	Management of Companies and Enterprises

56 — Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services

Code	Subsector
561	Administrative and Support Services
562	Waste Management and Remediation Services

61 — Educational Services

Code	Subsector
611	Educational Services

62 — Health Care and Social Assistance

Code	Subsector
621	Ambulatory Health Care Services
622	Hospitals
623	Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
624	Social Assistance

71 — Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation

Code	Subsector
711	Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries
712	Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions
713	Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries

72 — Accommodation and Food Services

Code	Subsector
721	Accommodation
722	Food Services and Drinking Places

81 — Other Services (except Public Administration)

Code	Subsector
811	Repair and Maintenance
812	Personal and Laundry Services
813	Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations
814	Private Households

92 — Public Administration

Code	Subsector
921	Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support
922	Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities
923	Administration of Human Resource Programs
924	Administration of Environmental Quality Programs
925	Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development
926	Administration of Economic Programs
927	Space Research and Technology
928	National Security and International Affairs

Six-Digit NAICS Codes & Titles

Understanding NAICS Codes