QCEW Open Data Access: CSV Data Slices

QCEW provides a collection of CSV files representing logical slices of data. Data are sliced by industry, by area, and by establishment size-class. An industry slice contains all the records associated with the industry for a single time period. An area slice contains all the records associated with the area for a single time period. A size slice contains all records published within a specific size class for the first quarter of a specified year. These three types of slices are detailed below. These data slices are stored as CSV files. (Comma Separated Values) This file layout is defined below.

Data Slices by Industry
Data Slices by Area
Data Slices by Size Class
Quarterly Data Slice Layout
Annual-Average Data Slice Layout

In June 2016, the entire collection of CSV files was migrated to data.bls.gov. The rest of the URL structure remains the same. A server-side redirect points to the new location. This redirect will be turned off at some point in the future. If you downloaded any of the code examples in the past, We recommend you update your codebase with the new versions from the QCEW Open Data Sample Code page.

Example:

	OLD:  https://www.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/area/US000.csv
	NEW: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/area/US000.csv

Data Slices by Industry

An industry slice contains all the records associated with the industry for a single time period. Industry slices are stored in folders by year and quarter. Consider the following URL:

https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/industry/10.csv

This URL points to the total, all industries (NAICS 10) CSV file for first quarter 2026. Notice the year, quarter, and industry codes (2026,1, and 10) are all visible in the URL. You can change these values to point at different time periods and industries. The URL above also contains the word "industry". This designates the type of data you're requesting. In this case we're requesting industry data. Some NAICS codes are hyphenated. For example, the NAICS code for manufacturing is 31-33. Industry file names do not contain hyphens, only numbers and underscores. So, the file for manufacturing is actually "31_33.csv" and to request first quarter manufacturing data for 2026, you'd use the following URL: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/industry/31_33.csv. For a complete list of industry titles and codes see the QCEW Industry Titles page.

Data Slices by Area

An area slice contains all the records associated with the area for a single time period. Area slices are stored in folders by year and quarter. Consider the following URL:

https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/area/26000.csv

This URL points to the Michigan, State-level CSV file for first quarter 2026. Notice the year, quarter, and area code (2026,1, and 26000) are all visible in the URL. You can change these values to point at different time periods and areas. The URL above also contains the word "area". This designates the type of data you're requesting. In this case we're requesting area data. For a complete list of area titles and codes see the QCEW Area Titles page.

Data Slices by Size Class

A size slice contains all records published within a specific size class for the first quarter of a specified year. Consider the following URL:

https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2026/1/size/3.csv

This URL points to the size-class 3 CSV file for first quarter 2026. Notice the year, quarter, and size code (2026,1, and 3) are all visible in the URL. You can change these values to point at different time periods and size classes. Note that size data is only available for the first quarter of each year. The URL above also contains the word "size". This designates the type of data you're requesting. In this case we're requesting size data. For a complete list of size-class titles and codes see the
QCEW Size Titles page.

Note: Data slices by size class do not include data for "All Establishment Sizes" (Size code=0). Please use the data slices by area or industry for these concepts.

Quarterly Data Slice Layout

Quarterly data slices are stored in CSV files. These quarterly files conform to the layout detailed in the table below.

QCEW CSV Quarterly Data Slice Fields
Field Number	Field Name	Data Type	Maximum Length	Field Description
1	area_fips	Text	5	5-character FIPS code
2	own_code	Text	1	1-character ownership code
3	industry_code	Text	6	6-character industry code (NAICS, SuperSector)
4	agglvl_code	Text	2	2-character aggregation level code
5	size_code	Text	1	1-character size code
6	year	Text	4	4-character year
7	qtr	Text	1	1-character quarter (always A for annual)
8	disclosure_code	Text	1	1-character disclosure code (either ' '(blank) or 'N' not disclosed)
9	qtrly_estabs	Numeric	8	Count of establishments for a given quarter
10	month1_emplvl	Numeric	9	Employment level for the first month of a given quarter
11	month2_emplvl	Numeric	9	Employment level for the second month of a given quarter
12	month3_emplvl	Numeric	9	Employment level for the third month of a given quarter
13	total_qtrly_wages	Numeric	15	Total wages for a given quarter
14	total_qtrly_wages	Numeric	15	Taxable wages for a given quarter
15	qtrly_contributions	Numeric	13	Quarterly contributions for a given quarter
16	avg_wkly_wage	Numeric	8	Average weekly wage for a given quarter
17	lq_disclosure_code	Text	1	1-character location-quotient disclosure code (either ' '(blank) or 'N' not disclosed
18	lq_qtrly_estabs	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the quarterly establishment count relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
19	lq_month1_emplvl	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the employment level for the first month of a given quarter relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
20	lq_month2_emplvl	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the employment level for the second month of a given quarter relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
21	lq_month3_emplvl	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the employment level for the third month of a given quarter relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
22	lq_total_qtrly_wages	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the total wages for a given quarter relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
23	lq_taxable_qtrly_wages	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the total taxable wages for a given quarter relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
24	lq_qtrly_contributions	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the total contributions for a given quarter relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
25	lq_avg_wkly_wage	Numeric	8	Location quotient of the average weekly wage for a given quarter relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
26	oty_disclosure_code	Text	1	1-character over-the-year disclosure code (either ' '(blank) or 'N' not disclosed)
27	oty_qtrly_estabs_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year change in the count of establishments for a given quarter
28	oty_qtrly_estabs_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in the count of establishments for a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)
29	oty_month1_emplvl_chg	Numeric	9	Over-the-year change in the first month's employment level of a given quarter
30	oty_month1_emplvl_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in the first month's employment level of a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)
31	oty_month2_emplvl_chg	Numeric	9	Over-the-year change in the second month's employment level of a given quarter
32	oty_month2_emplvl_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in the second month's employment level of a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)
33	oty_month3_emplvl_chg	Numeric	9	Over-the-year change in the third month's employment level of a given quarter
34	oty_month3_emplvl_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in the third month's employment level of a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)
35	oty_total_qtrly_wages_chg	Numeric	15	Over-the-year change in total quarterly wages for a given quarter
36	oty_total_qtrly_wages_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in total quarterly wages for a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)
37	oty_taxable_qtrly_wages_chg	Numeric	15	Over-the-year change in taxable quarterly wages for a given quarter
38	oty_taxable_qtrly_wages_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in taxable quarterly wages for a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)
39	oty_qtrly_contributions_chg	Numeric	13	Over-the-year change in quarterly contributions for a given quarter
40	oty_qtrly_contributions_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in quarterly contributions for a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)
41	oty_avg_wkly_wage_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year change in average weekly wage for a given quarter
42	oty_avg_wkly_wage_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in average weekly wage for a given quarter (Rounded to the tenths place)

Annual Average Data Slice Layout

Annual-average data slices are stored in CSV files. These annual-average files conform to the layout detailed in the table below.

QCEW CSV Annual Average Data Slice Fields
Field Number	Field Name	Data Type	Maximum Length	Field Description
1	area_fips	Text	5	5-character FIPS code
2	own_code	Text	1	1-character ownership code
3	industry_code	Text	6	6-character industry code (NAICS, SuperSector)
4	agglvl_code	Text	2	2-character aggregation level code
5	size_code	Text	1	1-character size code
6	year	Text	4	4-character year
7	qtr	Text	1	1-character quarter (always A for annual)
8	disclosure_code	Text	1	1-character disclosure code (either ' '(blank) or 'N' not disclosed)
9	annual_avg_estabs	Numeric	8	Annual average of quarterly establishment counts for a given year
10	annual_avg_emplvl	Numeric	9	Annual average of monthly employment levels for a given year
11	total_annual_wages	Numeric	15	Sum of the four quarterly total wage levels for a given year
12	taxable_annual_wages	Numeric	15	Sum of the four quarterly total taxable wage totals for a given year
13	annual_contributions	Numeric	13	Sum of the four quarterly contribution totals for a given year
14	annual_avg_wkly_wage	Numeric	8	Average weekly wage based on the 12-monthly employment levels and total annual wage levels
15	avg_annual_pay	Numeric	8	Average annual pay based on employment and wage levels for a given year
16	lq_disclosure_code	Text	1	1-character location-quotient disclosure code (either '' (blank) or 'N' not disclosed)
17	lq_annual_avg_estabs	Numeric	8	Location quotient of annual average establishment count relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
18	lq_annual_avg_emplvl	Numeric	8	Location quotient of annual average employment relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
19	lq_total_annual_wages	Numeric	8	Location quotient of total annual wages relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
20	lq_taxable_annual_wages	Numeric	8	Location quotient of taxable annual wages relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
21	lq_annual_contributions	Numeric	8	Location quotient of total annual contributions relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
22	lq_annual_avg_wkly_wage	Numeric	8	Location quotient of annual average weekly wage relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
23	lq_avg_annual_pay	Numeric	8	Location quotient of annual average pay relative to the U.S. (Rounded to the hundredths place)
24	oty_disclosure_code	Text	1	1-character over-the-year disclosure code (either ' '(blank) or 'N' not disclosed)
25	oty_annual_avg_estabs_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year change in annual average establishments for a given year
26	oty_annual_avg_estabs_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in annual average establishments for a given year (Rounded to the tenths place)
27	oty_annual_avg_emplvl_chg	Numeric	9	Over-the-year change in annual average employment for a given year
28	oty_annual_avg_emplvl_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in annual average employment for a given year (Rounded to the tenths place)
29	oty_total_annual_wages_chg	Numeric	15	Over-the-year change in the total annual wages for a given year
30	oty_total_annual_wages_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in total annual wages for a given year (Rounded to the tenths place)
31	oty_taxable_annual_wages_chg	Numeric	15	Over-the-year change in taxable annual wages for a given year
32	oty_taxable_annual_wages_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in taxable annual wages for a given year (Rounded to the tenths place)
33	oty_annual_contributions_chg	Numeric	13	Over-the-year change in annual contributions for a given year
34	oty_annual_contributions_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in annual contributions for a given year (Rounded to the tenths place)
35	oty_annual_avg_wkly_wage_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year change in annual average weekly wage for a given year
36	oty_annual_avg_wkly_wage_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in annual average weekly wage for a given year (Rounded to the tenths place)
37	oty_avg_annual_pay_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year change in average annual pay for a given year
38	oty_avg_annual_pay_pct_chg	Numeric	8	Over-the-year percent change in average annual pay for a given year (Rounded to the tenths place)

Last Modified Date: September 15, 2026