Government Data

The information provided here is primarily for those looking to research the current state of both industries, though it can be used to start historical research. If you are interested in looking historically see the History page and specifically the Market Research section of this guide.

The U.S. government has used various code systems for industry research to classify business entities by activity. Knowing these codes can make some areas of research easier because some databases, many print sources, and the U.S. government (most notably the Census) use them in their indexing, charts, graphs, lists, and indexes. The system now used by the Census Bureau is the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) and both restaurants and lodging are part of Major Group 72 Accommodation and Food Services.

72 Accommodation and Food Services

721 Accommodation: Industries in the Accommodation subsector provide lodging or short-term accommodations for travelers, vacationers, and others.
7211 Traveler Accommodation
72111 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels
72112 Casino Hotels
72119 Other Traveler Accommodation like Bed & Breakfasts

722 Food Services and Drinking Places
7224 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
72251 Restaurants and Other Eating Places
722511 Full-Service Restaurants: Bagel shops, full service, Brew pub restaurants, primarily serving meals, full service, Diners, full service, Doughnut shops, full service, Family restaurants, full service, Fine dining restaurants, full service, Full service restaurants, Pizza parlors, full service, Pizzerias, full service, Restaurants, full service, and Steak houses, full service
722513 Limited-Service Restaurants
722514 Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets
722515 Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars

Data.gov
Open data portal of the federal government where you can find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more. Includes data from state and county entities. Browse by topic, filter by location, organization, topic, format, etc. The data comes from the United States government as well as state, city, and county resources.
Economic Census
This is the biggest of the economic data activities undertaken by the Census Bureau. It began in 1930 as an outgrowth of the Census of Manufactures and other reports on economic activity. Information is shown by industry code (NAICS from the 1997 Census forward and SIC for prior years) and geographically by state with industry code breakdowns. In addition to displaying data by industry codes, the Economic Census also shows data by Product Codes that can be even more specific. For example, if one were tracking pharmacies, one would use the SIC/NAICS for independent pharmacies. But to capture those supermarkets with pharmacies, one would use the SIC/NAICS for supermarkets and then look for the product code for those supermarkets that have pharmacies. There are also several subsets of data that are updated more frequently. Those include: the Annual Survey of Manufactures, the Annual Retail Trade Survey, and the Annual Wholesale Trade Survey. Another report to be aware of is the Franchise Statistics Report.
It was produced at varying intervals until 1967 but since then it has been issued once every five years. The Economic Census shows data on the national and state level. The Bureau web page has data from the Censuses for 1992, 1997, and 2002 (and going forward) though under Economic Census By Year, data goes back to 1977.

Hospitality Industry: Restaurants, Hotels, & Lodging Resource Guide

Government Data