NAICS codes for government contracting

NAICS codes — common questions

What is a NAICS code, and why does it matter for government contracts?

NAICS is the North American Industry Classification System, published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Every federal solicitation is tagged with exactly one six-digit NAICS code, and that code decides more than filing: it sets the SBA size standard the offers are measured against, which decides whether your business counts as small for that contract and therefore whether you can compete for the set-aside version of the work at all.

How many NAICS codes are there?

The 2022 classification publishes 1,012 six-digit national industries across 20 sectors, and all of them are listed on this page. Codes are revised every five years — the 2022 revision is the one in force — so a code you were assigned under an older revision may have been renumbered or split.

How do I find the right NAICS code for my business?

Start from the work you actually perform, not the industry you identify with. Our free NAICS finder searches the official titles and plain-English aliases, and each code on this site has its own page with the official Census title, the SBA size standard where one is published for those exact digits, and the federal award history under it. List every code you can genuinely deliver under on your SAM.gov registration, because that is what contracting officers filter on during market research.

Can I bid on a contract with a different NAICS code than mine?

You bid what the solicitation says. The buyer assigns the code to the requirement, and that code — not the list on your registration — sets the size standard your offer is judged against. Carrying the code on your SAM.gov profile is what makes you findable and credible for that work; it is not a separate eligibility gate on the bid itself.

Where do the size standards come from?

SBA publishes them in 13 CFR 121.201, keyed to each six-digit code. Our industry pages print a threshold only where one is published for those exact digits and link the official table in every case — sibling codes in the same NAICS family do not always share a standard, and self-certifying against a neighbour's figure is how a bidder ends up claiming a set-aside they do not qualify for.

Which NAICS codes have government bids open right now?

As of this page load we track 32 open solicitations with a deadline still ahead, spread across 2 sectors. The count beside each sector below is that sector's share, and each industry page lists the bids carrying its own code. Our feed covers federal SAM.gov postings plus the state portals we pull, so it is a slice of the market rather than all of it.