What It Is: The standard used by federal statistical agencies in classifying businesses to collect, analyze, and publish data related to the U.S. business economy. Developed with Canada and Mexico, NAICS allows for comparability in business statistics across North American countries. 

Systems That Use It: Federal and state labor market agencies, economic development organizations, workforce boards, industry associations, Economic development agencies, regional planning organizations, sector partnerships, industry consortia

Why It Matters: Defines broad industry sectors to understand the overall economic structure and where major activity sits in the region

How to Interpret It: NAICS codes are in a hierarchical numbering system uses a 5- or 6-digit code with a particular meaning.

What It Is: The federal standard used by federal agencies to classify workers into one of 867 detailed occupations.

Systems That Use It: Economic development agencies, regional planning organizations, sector partnerships, industry consortia

Why It Matters: Identifies more specific industries and value chains to target for sector strategies and employer engagement

How to Interpret: All workers are classified into six-digit occupations to categorize their work and job duties in the form XX-XXXX. There are 23 major groups for SOC Codes.

What It Is: The federal taxonomic standard of academic program titles for federal surveys and state reporting of institutional data. Developed by the US Department of Education, each academic program is associated with a six-digit code that is used to identify and track educational programs.

Systems That Use It: Higher education institutions, state higher education agencies, IPEDS reporting, accreditation bodies

Why it Matters: Specifies instructional programs and degrees, enabling alignment of programs, completions, and pipelines to labor market demand

How to Interpret It: CIP Codes numbering systems include 2-digit and 6-digit numbers in this format: XX.XXXX.

What It Is: A national framework developed by Advance CTE to organize CTE programs into 14 core career clusters and 72 sub-clusters. The framework serves as a bridge between education and industry, and allows for consistency in high-quality CTE programs.

Systems That Use It: K–12 and secondary CTE programs, state CTE offices, Perkins reporting, career guidance systems

Why It Matters: Organizes programs of study into career pathways, helping align K–12 CTE, postsecondary programs, and careers for students

How to Interpret It: