The University of St. Thomas

SIC and NAICS Codes

SIC and NAICS Codes

What are SIC and NAICS Codes?

  • Codes designed by government agencies to classify business establishments by categories of products or services.   
  • Business sources use these codes to classify industry information.
  • Business sources also assign codes to companies, allowing students and researchers to identify companies working in a particular industry and to gather information on an industry.
  • Standard Industrial Classification: SIC. 

What is an SIC code?

Standard Industrial Classification:

  • Four-digit numbers created by the U.S. government which classify business establishments according to the type(s) of business activity in which they are engaged.
  • These classification codes are used by the federal government, by trade associations, and by various organizations, publishers, and web sites to collect and report business data, such as financial ratios, census data, and industry information.
  • SIC codes are hierarchical: the longer the number, the more detailed the industry. Officially, SIC codes are up to four digits long; however, some sources use longer codes to define more specific industries.
  • NAICS has replaced the SIC structure; however, some sources still use the SIC codes.

Reading an SIC code

SIC codes are arranged in a hierarchy.  The first two digits of the code identify the major industry group or division, the third digit identifies the industry group or major group, and the fourth digit identifies the industry. For example:

20  Food and Kindred Products 
208  Beverages 
2086  Bottled and Canned Soft Drinks and Carbonated Waters

To make it easier to identify specific industries or even particular products, some sources, such as the Business and Industry database, expand the code into six-digit product codes. For example:

20 Food and Kindred Products
208 Beverages
2086 Bottled and Canned Soft Drinks and Processed Water
208613 Bottled Carbonated Soft Drinks
208626 Canned Carbonated Soft Drinks
208652 Noncarbonated Soft Drinks
208691 Bottled Water

What is a NAICS code?

North American Industry Classification System:

  • Pronounced "nakes," NAICS codes are numbers that classify business establishments by type of business activity.
  • NAICS provides common industry definitions for Canada, Mexico, and the United States. 
  • NAICS codes are hierarchichal: the longer the number, the more detailed the industry. NAICS codes are up to six digits long.
  • North American Industry Classification System: NAICS.

Reading a NAICS code

NAICS codes are also arranged in a hierarchy.  The first two digits of the code identify a major economic sector, the third digit identifies an economic subsector, the fourth digit identifies an industry group, the fifth digit identifies the NAICS industry, and the sixth digit identifies a national industry, which may be country-specific.  For example:

31 Manufacturing
312 Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing
3121 Beverage Manufacturing
31211 Soft Drink and Ice Manufacturing
312111 Soft Drink Manufacturing

The internationally agreed upon NAICS system identifies only the first five digits of the code.  The sixth digit allows individual countries to specify their own subdivisions.  So while the first five digits of a NAICS code are the same across the three countries, the sixth digit may differ for Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Finding SIC and NAICS codes


For a company:
(Note: companies that do more than one type of business will have multiple codes)

  • Business and Company Resource Center. (UST subscription database)
    One of the easiest ways to find ratios for a specific company. After doing a company search, select the Investment Reports tab. Investment reports will often give multiple SIC codes. Some of the reports will contain ratios that have already been calculated.
  • Factiva. (UST subscription database)
    Under Companies/Markets tab, then choose Company. Look under Financial Results for key financial ratios for the company. Look under Reports for a Ratio Comparison Report to compare the company's ratios to the industry.
  • Lexis/Nexis Business. (UST subscription database)
    Search by company name or ticker symbol.  Choose Financial Information from the left-hand margin and scroll down for the Ratio Analysis section, including key ratios for the company (generally three years' worth.) 
  • Mergent Online. (UST subscription database)
    Search by company name or ticker symbol. Provides primary as well as multiple SIC codes for a company. Gives up to 30 annual ratios by company; you can calculate your own ratios from the ten years of annual report information.
  • Reference USA. (UST subscription database)
    Directory database which lists six-digit SIC codes for a company.
  • Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys. (UST subscription database) also Ref. HG 4961 .St24
    Covers 52 industries. Each industry section has a Comparative Company Analysis section which reports key ratios for selected companies in the industry.
  • Value Line. (UST subscription database.) Also paper copies at Keffer and OSF Libraries.
    The Ratings and Reports section provides a few ratios for each company. Value Line provides the numbers, but you will have to compute the ratios manually.  

For an industry:

 Updated September 2007 mdh