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How to Find a Company's NAICS Code for Federal Contracting

Published 2026-02-21

If you're researching a federal contractor or trying to find competitors, one of the most useful things you can look up is their NAICS code. A company's NAICS code tells you what type of work they do, which contracts they compete for, and how big the market is for that category of work. Here's how to find it.

What Is a NAICS Code?

NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes are 6-digit codes that classify businesses by the type of economic activity they perform. In federal contracting, every contract is assigned a NAICS code that identifies the industry of the work being performed. For a deeper dive, see our guide to NAICS codes in government contracting.

Method 1: Search on ContractCliff

The fastest way to find a company's NAICS codes is to search for the company on ContractCliff. Every company profile shows the NAICS codes associated with their federal contracts, ranked by spending. This gives you not just which codes they use, but how much of their federal work falls under each code.

For example, searching for “Boeing” shows their top NAICS codes including 336411 (Aircraft Manufacturing), 336414 (Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing), and 541330 (Engineering Services). You can see exactly how much federal contract spending falls under each code.

Method 2: SAM.gov Entity Search

Every company registered for federal contracting has a SAM.gov profile that includes their self-reported NAICS codes. To find them:

  1. Go to SAM.gov and click “Search”
  2. Select “Entity Information” as the domain
  3. Search for the company by name or UEI
  4. Click on the entity and look for the “NAICS Codes” section under their registration details

SAM.gov shows the NAICS codes the company selected when they registered, along with which code is their primary code and whether they qualify as a small business under each code.

Note: SAM.gov shows the codes the company claims to work under, which may differ from the codes actually assigned to their contracts.

Method 3: USAspending Award Search

USAspending.gov lets you search individual contract awards, each of which has a NAICS code assigned by the contracting officer. To find a company's NAICS codes:

  1. Go to USAspending.gov and click “Award Search”
  2. Filter by recipient name
  3. Look at individual awards to see the assigned NAICS code for each contract

This method shows you the NAICS codes that were actually assigned to the company's contracts, which is the most accurate view of what work they're performing for the government.

Why Companies Have Multiple NAICS Codes

Most federal contractors work under multiple NAICS codes. This happens because:

  • Diversified capabilities. Large companies like Lockheed Martin or Booz Allen Hamilton perform many different types of work, from IT services to manufacturing to consulting.
  • Contract officer assignment. Different contracting officers may assign different NAICS codes to similar work based on how they interpret the primary purpose of the contract.
  • Strategic registration. Companies register under multiple NAICS codes in SAM.gov to be eligible for a wider range of opportunities.

When evaluating a competitor or potential teaming partner, look at their top NAICS codes by spending rather than just the codes they registered under. The spending-weighted view gives you a more accurate picture of what they actually do.

How to Use NAICS Codes to Find Opportunities

Once you know which NAICS codes are relevant to your business, you can use them to find contracting opportunities:

  • Browse spending data. Browse NAICS categories on ContractCliff to see total federal spending, top agencies, and top contractors for any code. This helps you size the market and identify where the money is flowing.
  • Find expiring contracts. Look at contract cliffs in your NAICS codes to find upcoming recompete opportunities. When a competitor's contract expires, that work will need to be re-awarded.
  • Identify the right agencies. Each NAICS code has different agency buyers. For example, NAICS 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services) is dominated by defense and intelligence agencies, while other codes may have more civilian agency buyers.
  • Set up SAM.gov alerts. Once you know your target NAICS codes, set up saved searches on SAM.gov to get notified when new solicitations are posted.

Summary

Finding a company's NAICS code is straightforward using ContractCliff, SAM.gov, or USAspending.gov. The key insight is that most companies work under multiple NAICS codes, so look at spending data to understand which codes represent their core business versus occasional work. Use NAICS codes to research your market, find competitors, and discover contract opportunities.

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