What is a NAICS code?

The North American Industry Classification System is a 6-digit code that classifies businesses by their primary activity. It is the standard used by the US, Canada, and Mexico for statistical and contracting purposes, replacing the older SIC system in 1997.

How do the 6 digits break down?

Digit 1-2 is the sector, digit 3 the subsector, digit 4 the industry group, digit 5 the NAICS industry, and digit 6 the national (country-specific) industry. For example 541511 is sector 54, services, narrowing down to custom computer programming.

Why do I need a NAICS code for government contracts?

SAM.gov registration and federal solicitations require NAICS codes to define what a business does and to set small-business size standards. Each code has an associated size threshold by revenue or employee count that determines small-business eligibility.

How often does NAICS change?

NAICS is revised every five years to reflect new industries. The 2022 edition is the current version, following 2017 and 2012. When a revision changes a code, agencies publish a concordance to map old codes to new ones.

Can a business have more than one NAICS code?

Yes. A company lists a primary code for its main activity and may add secondary codes for other lines of business. For size-standard purposes, the primary code that matches the specific contract or filing is what counts.

NAICS Code Lookup — Gera Tools

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A NAICS code is the modern 6-digit standard for classifying businesses in North America. This tool searches the NAICS 2022 list by keyword or code and shows how each 6-digit code rolls up into its sector, so you can register, file, or bid on contracts accurately.

How it works

The 6 digits move from the broadest sector to a country-specific industry:

5 4 1 5 1 1  = Custom Computer Programming Services
^^           sector 54  (Professional, Scientific, Technical Services)
^^^          subsector 541
^^^^         industry group 5415
^^^^^        NAICS industry 54151
^^^^^^       national industry 541511

Searching the list matches your term against the code titles and returns each result with its parent 2-digit sector. The first two digits alone tell you the broad sector — codes starting 23 are construction, 31-33 manufacturing, 44-45 retail, and so on.

Tips and examples

Sectors 31, 32, and 33 are all Manufacturing — the range is split only because two digits cannot hold all manufacturing subsectors.
For SAM.gov, choose the 6-digit code matching the specific service you sell, since small-business size standards attach to the 6-digit level.
There is no clean one-to-one map from SIC to NAICS; use the same activity keyword in both lookups to find the equivalent.