Introducing web search monitors

What is a SIC code?

The Standard Industrial Classification, a four-digit industry taxonomy used by the SEC and a long tail of legacy systems, predecessor to NAICS.

SIC codes are four digits, structured similarly to NAICS but coarser: 7372 is "Prepackaged Software," nested under 737 (Computer Services), under 73 (Business Services). The system was last revised in 1987 and frozen, the SEC still uses it for EDGAR filings, and many legacy enterprise systems never migrated to NAICS.

For B2B data, SIC and NAICS coexist. Public-company filings, insurance underwriting, some credit reporting systems, and a lot of commercial real estate data lean SIC. Modern federal statistics, government contracting, and most B2B SaaS prospecting tools lean NAICS.

Context.dev returns both SIC and NAICS codes for any domain, so you can ingest into whichever system the receiving team uses without manual mapping.

In the wild

  • 7372, Prepackaged Software
  • 5812, Eating Places
  • 6199, Finance Services
All glossary terms

How Context.dev uses sic code

Endpoints in the Context.dev API where this concept comes up directly.

FAQ

SIC vs NAICS?

NAICS is newer (1997), six digits, more granular, and used by federal statistics and most modern B2B systems. SIC is older (1987), four digits, frozen, and still used by the SEC and legacy enterprise systems.

Why does the SEC still use SIC?

Inertia and stable cross-period comparability, financial filings going back decades are tagged SIC, so switching breaks longitudinal analysis.

Can I convert SIC to NAICS?

Yes, the BLS publishes a crosswalk. The mapping is many-to-many in places (NAICS split some SIC categories) but it's mechanical.

Related terms

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