U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Comparative Statistics,
issued July 2006.
For more information:
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/
TERMS
Establishments
An establishment is a single physical location at which business is conducted or services or industrial operations are performed. It is not necessarily identical with a company or enterprise, which may consist
of one or more establishments. When two or more activities are carried on at a single location under a single ownership, all activities generally are grouped together as a single establishment. The entire
establishment is classified on the basis of its major activity and all data are included in that classification.
Establishment-size designations are determined by paid employment in the mid-March pay period. The size group “1 to 4” includes establishments that did not report any paid employees in the mid-March
pay period but paid wages to at least one employee at some time during the year.
Establishment counts represent the number of locations with paid employees any time during the year. This series excludes governmental establishments except for wholesale liquor establishments (NAICS
4228), retail liquor stores (NAICS 44531), Federally-chartered savings institutions (NAICS 522120), Federally-chartered credit unions (NAICS 522130), and hospitals (NAICS 622).
Payroll
Total payroll includes all forms of compensation, such as salaries, wages, reported tips, commissions, bonuses, vacation allowances, sick-leave pay, employee contributions to qualified pension plans, and the
value of taxable fringe benefits. For corporations, it includes amounts paid to officers and executives; for unincorporated businesses, it does not include profit or other compensation of proprietors or partners.
Payroll is reported before deductions for Social Security, income tax, insurance, union dues, etc. First-quarter payroll consists of payroll during the January-to-March quarter.
Mid-March Employment
Paid employment consists of full- and part-time employees, including salaried officers and executives of corporations, who are on the payroll in the pay period including March 12. Included are employees on
paid sick leave, holidays, and vacations; not included are proprietors and partners of unincorporated businesses.
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INDUSTRY AND GEOGRAPHY CLASSIFICATIONS
The quinquennial economic censuses are the primary source for industry and geography classifications. The annual Company Organization Survey, Annual Survey of Manufactures, Current Business Surveys,
and other Census Bureau programs provide regular updates.
Industry Classification
Additional sources for assigning industry classifications are the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These sources provide industry classification
information for new businesses and businesses not canvassed in the Census Bureau programs. Establishments without sufficient industry information are tabulated in the “unclassified establishments” group.
The industry titles used throughout this series are the short NAICS titles; complete descriptions are contained in the manual entitled North American Industry Classification System: United States, 1997.
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) replaces the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. NAICS is an industry classification system that groups establishments into
industries based on the activities in which they are primarily engaged. County Business Patterns is tabulated on a NAICS basis starting in 1998.
Geography Classification
Most geography codes are derived from the physical location address reported in Census Bureau programs. The Internal Revenue Service provides supplemental address information. Those employers
without a fixed location within a state (or of unknown county location) are included under a “statewide” classification at the end of the county tables. This incomplete detail causes only slight understatement of
county employment. The independent cities in Virginia, and the cities of Baltimore, MD; Carson City, NV; and St. Louis, MO, are treated as separate counties.
COMPARABILITY WITH OTHER DATA
Earlier County Business Patterns
The comparability of data with previous County Business Patterns series may be affected by the following definitional changes:
the change from a “reporting unit” concept to establishment based data in 1974
the change in definition of “active” establishments in 1983
the change in industrial classification definitions, the most recent occurring in 1998
1997 Economic Census
Definitional and coverage differences may affect the direct comparison of 1997 Economic Census and County Business Patterns data. Definitions of an establishment, employment, and payroll are detailed in
the introductory text of each publication.
The 1997 Economic Census generally uses respondent reported data. County Business Patterns uses administrative record data for small establishments. Although efforts are made to resolve significant
differences in the data, differences are known to exist.
Some large companies report different activities at the same location as separate profit centers. County Business Patterns treats each profit center as a separate establishment. The 1997 Economic Census
may combine the profit centers into one establishment. This results in establishment count differences.
DATA WITHHELD FROM PUBLICATION
In accordance with U.S. Code, Title 13, Section 9, no data are published that would disclose the operations of an individual employer. The number of establishments in an industry classification and the
distribution of these establishments by employment-size class are not considered to be disclosures, so this information may be released even though other information is withheld from publication.
referenced on dataset section Notes (#2)
