Do workers have a firm sense of industry codes?

Comparing worker and employer descriptions of business 

activity

Melissa Chow and Martha Stinson

2022 FCSM Conference

October 25, 2022

DISCLAIMER: Any opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the U.S. Census 

Bureau. The Census Bureau has reviewed this data product for unauthorized disclosure of confidential information and has approved the 

disclosure avoidance practices applied to this release. DRB Approval Number(s): CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01; DMS #7508369
Background

• Workers report information about their employers to household surveys like ACS, 

SIPP, CPS

• Firms report information about their business activities to IRS, SSA, BLS, Census

• Census produces statistics that show distribution of workers across industries

• Take snapshot of workers at point in time and look at industry distribution of “main jobs”

• Census also produces statistics that show distribution of employment across 

industries

• Take snapshot of establishments at point in time and look at employment-weighted industry 

distribution

• Differences due to

• Multiple job holders

• Reporting by employees versus employers

• Workers fail to report jobs

• Informal employment not reported by an employer

• Employers and employees describe the activities of the business differently
Industry questions:

Write-in description 

and general industry

Occupation questions:

Write-in descriptions

General job category:

Class of worker (COW)

Name of Employer

ACS 

Questionnaire 

2017
Questions from SS-4 Application for Employer Identification Number

Questions on Economic Census:

Example CRT 2012 Form for restaurants

... many more categories

If don’t fit into any of these, instructed to “Specify other kind of business”
Research Questions

• For jobs reported in the ACS, how do the person-reported industry 

codes compare to the BR/LBD industry codes at the person-level?

• Will answers to research questions change if we use the BR/LBD 

industry versus the ACS industry?
Assembling Data

ACS 

PIK-industry

PIK1 INDA

W-2

PIK-employer

PIK1 EIN1

PIK1 EIN2

LBD

Employer-industry

EIN1 INDA1

EIN2 INDC1 

ACS 

PIK-industry

PIK1 INDA

W-2

PIK-industry

PIK1 INDA1

PIK1 INDC1

Matching Rules

1. If a matching industry exists, take that W-2 job

2. Check for 5, 4, 3, 2 digit matches and take the first match found (i.e. most detailed match available)

3. If no match, then preference W-2 jobs on the following basis:

1. Highest earnings in year

2. If multi-unit employer has several industries, take industry with highest share of employment 
Reasons for mis-match in industry codes

1. Job matched correctly but industry reports differ

Might match at 2-digit sector but not 3- or 4-digit level

2. Job not matched correctly

ACS job from a different time during the year

This only affects the degree of mis-match. We take the best matching job we 

can find.

3. No job found in W-2
Sample Description

• We use ACS, W-2, and LBD data from 2005 through 2020

• Sample is limited to

• Workers that are at least 16 years old

• Excludes self-employed and unpaid workers

• Excludes Puerto Rico

• All industries are put onto a NAICS 2017 vintage

• Sample sizes:

• ACS: 29,580,000 job observations

• LBD: 32,680,000 job observations

• ACS-LBD overlap sample: 27,550,000 job observations

8

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

11 21 22 23 31_33 42 44_45 48_49 51 52 53 54 55 56 61 62 71 72 81 92

Percent of Jobs

NAICS Sector

Comparison of full ACS sample vs. full LBD sample

ACS LBD

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

11 21 22 23 31_33 42 44_45 48_49 51 52 53 54 55 56 61 62 71 72 81 92

Percent of Jobs

NAICS Sector

ACS vs LBD, all jobs, overlapping samples

ACS LBD

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
11

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

11

Agriculture

23

Construction

44_45

Retail

72

Food

Percent of Jobs

NAICS Sector

Comparison between Samples in Select Sectors

ACS

LBD

ACS Overlap

LBD Overlap

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
Agr Mine Util Constr Manu WT Retail Transp Info Finance Real Est Prof Serv Manage Admin Educ Health Arts Food Oth Serv Pub Ad

11 21 22 23 31_33 42 44_45 48_49 51 52 53 54 55 56 61 62 71 72 81 92

11 Agr 63.49 0.46 0.18 0.45 0.47 1.28 0.33 0.48 0.13 0.12 0.41 0.23 0.43 0.60 0.13 0.15 0.45 0.26 0.39 0.85

21 Mine 0.23 73.63 0.41 0.57 0.28 0.50 0.07 0.41 0.07 0.07 0.44 0.25 1.48 0.40 0.04 0.04 0.06 0.06 0.13 0.06

22 Util 0.27 2.00 84.41 1.11 0.26 0.53 0.18 0.37 0.19 0.15 0.29 0.47 1.55 0.82 0.08 0.15 0.20 0.10 0.28 2.67

23 Constr 2.26 4.80 2.54 75.84 1.81 2.40 1.16 1.46 0.85 0.58 4.40 1.98 4.59 4.67 0.37 1.03 0.99 0.87 1.50 3.99

31_33 Manu 7.20 4.92 1.84 4.61 84.32 17.18 2.45 3.36 3.35 1.28 2.39 4.93 14.44 9.59 0.83 1.32 1.42 1.79 2.73 1.19

42 WT 5.57 2.38 0.57 1.13 1.65 46.69 1.97 1.59 1.12 0.40 1.21 1.11 3.15 2.33 0.21 0.27 0.43 0.46 0.78 0.28

44_45 Retail 5.18 2.04 1.02 2.87 2.25 12.52 81.69 2.55 4.90 1.43 3.84 2.50 9.46 5.34 1.04 1.44 3.06 2.93 2.93 1.12

48_49 Transp 2.53 1.95 0.72 1.37 0.85 2.72 0.66 79.24 0.63 0.50 2.30 0.95 3.22 3.74 0.61 0.55 0.88 0.66 1.06 1.98

51 Info 0.28 0.20 0.32 1.03 0.47 1.11 0.40 0.35 54.77 0.52 0.98 1.86 4.73 2.02 0.35 0.30 1.54 0.34 0.71 1.58

52 Finance 0.51 0.55 0.60 0.48 0.41 0.86 0.48 0.61 1.79 84.25 1.97 2.06 7.90 3.13 0.47 0.86 0.58 0.49 0.92 0.79

53 Real Est 0.53 0.36 0.18 0.92 0.17 0.49 0.34 0.35 0.41 0.68 62.13 0.67 1.64 1.75 0.18 0.39 0.73 0.42 1.29 0.84

54 Prof Serv 1.51 1.18 1.02 1.41 1.30 3.22 0.81 1.73 11.70 2.02 2.44 70.81 7.05 6.46 1.02 1.29 1.21 0.65 2.04 1.61

55 Manage 0.11 0.44 0.13 0.05 0.18 0.25 0.17 0.09 0.14 0.13 0.28 0.13 4.43 0.17 0.02 0.07 0.07 0.11 0.06 0.01

56 Admin 2.19 0.68 0.72 1.63 0.67 1.75 0.66 1.02 1.59 0.98 2.79 1.86 2.37 39.12 0.41 0.81 1.18 1.03 1.19 1.49

61 Educ 1.18 1.31 1.22 1.45 1.08 1.85 1.54 1.46 12.18 1.80 2.49 2.36 5.75 2.97 88.28 4.93 3.68 2.15 8.10 7.84

62 Health 1.47 0.85 1.00 1.13 1.19 1.79 1.67 1.46 2.24 2.37 4.05 3.01 13.31 6.98 2.63 71.84 2.90 2.20 7.68 6.58

71 Arts 0.71 0.24 0.26 0.43 0.25 0.39 0.55 0.37 0.95 0.32 1.25 0.59 3.24 1.52 0.58 0.55 71.90 3.46 2.05 3.13

72 Food 1.64 0.45 0.29 0.88 0.76 1.32 2.01 0.79 0.87 0.61 2.84 0.96 5.97 3.35 0.91 0.82 4.19 80.27 1.95 0.73

81 Oth Serv 1.65 0.75 0.50 1.40 0.90 2.11 1.75 0.92 0.86 0.68 1.68 1.17 1.96 2.64 0.95 1.69 2.97 0.97 61.97 1.02

92 Pub Ad 1.48 0.80 2.11 1.24 0.74 1.04 1.12 1.40 1.25 1.10 1.84 2.11 3.33 2.39 0.91 11.49 1.57 0.77 2.24 62.22

Match Rates between ACS and LBD Sectors

LBD NAICS Sector

ACS NAICS Sector

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
Agr Mine Util Constr Manu WT Retail Transp Info Finance Real Est Prof Serv Manage Admin Educ Health Arts Food Oth Serv Pub Ad

11 21 22 23 31_33 42 44_45 48_49 51 52 53 54 55 56 61 62 71 72 81 92

11 Agr 63.49 0.46 0.18 0.45 0.47 1.28 0.33 0.48 0.13 0.12 0.41 0.23 0.43 0.60 0.13 0.15 0.45 0.26 0.39 0.85

21 Mine 0.23 73.63 0.41 0.57 0.28 0.50 0.07 0.41 0.07 0.07 0.44 0.25 1.48 0.40 0.04 0.04 0.06 0.06 0.13 0.06

22 Util 0.27 2.00 84.41 1.11 0.26 0.53 0.18 0.37 0.19 0.15 0.29 0.47 1.55 0.82 0.08 0.15 0.20 0.10 0.28 2.67

23 Constr 2.26 4.80 2.54 75.84 1.81 2.40 1.16 1.46 0.85 0.58 4.40 1.98 4.59 4.67 0.37 1.03 0.99 0.87 1.50 3.99

31_33 Manu 7.20 4.92 1.84 4.61 84.32 17.18 2.45 3.36 3.35 1.28 2.39 4.93 14.44 9.59 0.83 1.32 1.42 1.79 2.73 1.19

42 WT 5.57 2.38 0.57 1.13 1.65 46.69 1.97 1.59 1.12 0.40 1.21 1.11 3.15 2.33 0.21 0.27 0.43 0.46 0.78 0.28

44_45 Retail 5.18 2.04 1.02 2.87 2.25 12.52 81.69 2.55 4.90 1.43 3.84 2.50 9.46 5.34 1.04 1.44 3.06 2.93 2.93 1.12

48_49 Transp 2.53 1.95 0.72 1.37 0.85 2.72 0.66 79.24 0.63 0.50 2.30 0.95 3.22 3.74 0.61 0.55 0.88 0.66 1.06 1.98

51 Info 0.28 0.20 0.32 1.03 0.47 1.11 0.40 0.35 54.77 0.52 0.98 1.86 4.73 2.02 0.35 0.30 1.54 0.34 0.71 1.58

52 Finance 0.51 0.55 0.60 0.48 0.41 0.86 0.48 0.61 1.79 84.25 1.97 2.06 7.90 3.13 0.47 0.86 0.58 0.49 0.92 0.79

53 Real Est 0.53 0.36 0.18 0.92 0.17 0.49 0.34 0.35 0.41 0.68 62.13 0.67 1.64 1.75 0.18 0.39 0.73 0.42 1.29 0.84

54 Prof Serv 1.51 1.18 1.02 1.41 1.30 3.22 0.81 1.73 11.70 2.02 2.44 70.81 7.05 6.46 1.02 1.29 1.21 0.65 2.04 1.61

55 Manage 0.11 0.44 0.13 0.05 0.18 0.25 0.17 0.09 0.14 0.13 0.28 0.13 4.43 0.17 0.02 0.07 0.07 0.11 0.06 0.01

56 Admin 2.19 0.68 0.72 1.63 0.67 1.75 0.66 1.02 1.59 0.98 2.79 1.86 2.37 39.12 0.41 0.81 1.18 1.03 1.19 1.49

61 Educ 1.18 1.31 1.22 1.45 1.08 1.85 1.54 1.46 12.18 1.80 2.49 2.36 5.75 2.97 88.28 4.93 3.68 2.15 8.10 7.84

62 Health 1.47 0.85 1.00 1.13 1.19 1.79 1.67 1.46 2.24 2.37 4.05 3.01 13.31 6.98 2.63 71.84 2.90 2.20 7.68 6.58

71 Arts 0.71 0.24 0.26 0.43 0.25 0.39 0.55 0.37 0.95 0.32 1.25 0.59 3.24 1.52 0.58 0.55 71.90 3.46 2.05 3.13

72 Food 1.64 0.45 0.29 0.88 0.76 1.32 2.01 0.79 0.87 0.61 2.84 0.96 5.97 3.35 0.91 0.82 4.19 80.27 1.95 0.73

81 Oth Serv 1.65 0.75 0.50 1.40 0.90 2.11 1.75 0.92 0.86 0.68 1.68 1.17 1.96 2.64 0.95 1.69 2.97 0.97 61.97 1.02

92 Pub Ad 1.48 0.80 2.11 1.24 0.74 1.04 1.12 1.40 1.25 1.10 1.84 2.11 3.33 2.39 0.91 11.49 1.57 0.77 2.24 62.22

Match Rates between ACS and LBD Sectors

LBD NAICS Sector

ACS NAICS Sector

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
LBD 2-Digit Match Rates by 

Firm Age x Firm Size x MU

Firm Age

(Years)

SU MU SU MU SU MU

0 66.49 63.7 64.84 64.02 47.69 68.2

1 - 5 68.11 62.9 68.04 68.84 42.23 60.39

6 - 10 69.77 53.23 67.77 69.16 47.41 65.5

11+ 71.33 51.85 69.11 60.92 57.44 65.05

Left Censored 71.81 49.95 67.95 69.63 79.23 80.01

Firm Size (# Employees) x MU

0 - 19 20 - 499 500+

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Sex Ethnicity Race Education

Demographic Characteristics Match Rates

DRB Approval Number: CBDRB-FY23-CES007-01
• There are some industry differences between the ACS and LBD, but 

most of these are sector specific

• Additional analysis

• Regression analysis

• Comparisons using LEHD data

• Applications such as essential worker calculations, wage gap analysis, and 

factoryless goods producers

Conclusions