Documenting the Business Register and Related Economic Business Data

The Business Register (BR) is a comprehensive database of business establishments in the United States and provides resources for the U.S. Census Bureau’s economic programs for sample selection, research, and survey operations. It is maintained using information from several federal agencies including the Census Bureau, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Social Security Administration. This paper provides a detailed description of the sources and functions of the BR. An overview of the BR as a linking tool and bridge to other Census Bureau data for additional business characteristics is also given.