Census of Retail Trade Summary Files

The data are given for 27 broad merchandise lines, and for selected detail within these major lines classified by 113 kinds of business. ML1 has data for the U.S. and for states. ML2 has data for each state outside Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs).

ML3 has data for each SMSA. ML4 has information on sales of establishments reporting merchandise lines as a percent of total sales in the kind of business specified for the U.S., states, SMSAs, and non-SMSA balance of states. There are five RA files (RA1 through RA5).

RA1 contains summaries at the 2-, 3-, and 4-digit industry breakdown, and types of ownership. RA1 has data for states, SMSAs, counties, and places with 500 or more establishments. RA2 contains the same data items for total retail trade as RA1, in addition to summaries of number of establishments and sales for the 10 kind of business groups.

RA2 has data for all counties, places of 2,500 or more inhabitants, and the balance of the county. RA3 has number of establishments and sales (total and with payroll) for 113 kind of business groups. RA3 has data for the U.S., regions, divisions, and states.

RA4 has summaries for sales, volume of sales, and rank by volume within the U.S. RA4 has data for the 250 largest counties and cities. RA5 has summaries of the following items: number of incorporated places and establishments, population, sales, and yearly payroll, and percent of U.S. population and sales. RA5 has data for eight size-of-place categories.

The 1977 Census of Retail Trade files are in three parts: Geographic Area Series, Major Retail Centers, and Merchandise Line Sales files. The Geographic Area Series files present summary statistics, including kinds of business, for states, counties, and all incorporated places of 2,500 or more inhabitants. Data include the number of establishments, sales, payroll, first quarter payroll, number of sole proprietorships, and number of partnerships.

The Major Retail Centers files have summary data for SMSAs and central cities including number of establishments, sales, and employment. The Merchandise Line Sales files show the sales of retail establishments with payroll by merchandise line by kind of business. The 1982 Census of Retail Trade files are in two parts: Geographic Area Series and Merchandise Line Sales files.

The Geographic Area Series files present summary statistics, including 10 kinds of business, for states, counties, and all incorporated places of 2,500 or more inhabitants. Data include the number of establishments, sales, payroll, first quarter payroll, number of sole proprietorships, and number of partnerships. The Merchandise Line Sales files show the sales of retail establishments with payroll by merchandise line by kind of business.

The 1987 Census of Retail Trade files are in four parts: Geographic Area Series, Non-employer Statistics, Establishment and Firm Size, and Merchandise Line Sales. Geographic Area Series files have data for the U.S., states, metropolitan areas, counties, and places. Data include the number of establishments, sales, payroll for the entire year and for the first quarter, number of paid employees, number of sole proprietorships, number of unincorporated businesses, sales per establishment, sales per employee, annual payroll per employee and employees per establishment.

Data are also available on volume of sales ranking within state, and percent of state total sales. Non-employer Statistics files have data for the U.S., states, metropolitan areas, counties, and places of 2,500 establishments or more for establishments without payroll. Data include the number of establishments and their sales by kind of business and by geographic area.

The Establishment and Firm Size file has national data cross-tabulated by the size of establishment, size of company or firm, and by legal form of organization. Establishment statistics are presented by sales size and by employment size; statistics for firms, by sales size (including concentration by largest firms), by employment size, and by number of establishments operated (single units and multi-units). Statistics are presented for establishments with payroll by kind of business on the number of establishments, sales, payroll, and employment.Also available from the 1982 and 1987 Census of Retail Trade are data by ZIP Code.

ZIP Code data are provided in two types of files for the states and all ZIP Codes. In the first, counts of retail establishments with payroll are classified by sales-size and employment-size categories and shown for each kind of business classification that is present in each ZIP Code. The second file presents more conventional economic census statistics, such as number of establishments, sales, payroll, and employment, for the ZIP Code without regard to kind of business.

The 1992 Census of Retail Trade summary files consist of three parts: Geographic Area Series, Merchandise Line Sales, and Establishment and Firm Size Files. The Geographic Area Series files contain statistics for 134 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or kind of business codes for the U.S., states, counties, places, and metropolitan areas. Summary data include the number of establishments, sales, annual and first quarter payroll, number of paid employees, inventories, operating expenses, and comparative statistics.

Some comparative data from the 1987 census is included. Merchandise Line Sales files contain data on the number of establishments, sales, sales of specific merchandise lines, and percent of total sales accounted for by specific line. Merchandise line sales are shown for the U.S., states, and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

Establishment and Firm Size files contain establishment statistics presented by sales size and by employment size; statistics for firms, by sales size (including concentration by largest firms), by employment size, and by number of establishments operated. Statistics on establishment and firm size are shown at the national level. Statistics are presented by kind of business and type of operation on the number of establishments and sales.

Also available from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade are ZIP Code statistics for 1987 and 1992 showing the number of establishments, sales, payroll, and employment for the U.S., state, and ZIP Code levels. For 1992, there are also detailed counts of retail establishments with payroll, classified by sales size ranges and employment size ranges, for each detailed kind of business at the U.S., state, and ZIP Code level. Also available are statistics on the number of establishments, sales, payroll, and employment by kind of business for nonemployers.

This data comprises government records extracted from the Archival Research Catalog (ARC). See the ARC catalog entry for this series for more information on this data and how to order it.