Skip to Main Content

Doing Industry Research: A Resource Guide

Census Bureau

The Census Bureau is the U.S. government agency collecting and publishing some of the largest business-oriented data. In addition, it also partners with and disseminates data from other agencies. Below are some of the major business-related series issued by this agency. If you are looking to understand and use the older print Census title at the Library of Congress, Business Reference has published U. S. Census Connections: A Resource Guide.

For anyone that is interested in more in-depth assistance, the Census Academy offers pre-recorded videos and webinars that are specific types of research and products. Each of the webinars is usually recorded and available:

  • Exploring data.census.gov
  • Introduction to Census Bureau Data
  • Exploring Census Data Webinar Series: Transportation Statistics
  • Women-Owned Businesses
  • Accessing the Economic Census Local Area Data on data.census.gov

They also produce video shorts - DATA GEMS - that are usually more task oriented like:

  • How to Navigate data.census.gov
  • How to Customize and Download Tables Using data.census.gov
  • How Do I Get Business Data for My Location?

In 2023 the Census Bureau began transition to the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES). This new survey is rolling up several surveys into one. It is designed to integrate and replace seven existing annual business surveys into one. This includes:

  • Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES)
  • Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS)
  • Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM)
  • Annual Wholesale Trade Survey (AWTS)
  • Manufacturers’ Unfilled Orders Survey (M3UFO)
  • Report of Organization (COS)
  • Service Annual Survey (SAS)

Data that is collected include Capital Expenditures, Employment, Expenses, Inventories, Payroll, and Sales, Shipments, Receipts or Revenue. The first release of data that was collection will be summer of 2025,