A repository of information describing database attributes. The dictionary contains an identification section to describe record codes, geographic area codes, area characteristics, and special area codes, plus endnotes and a table (matrix) section.

In accordance with federal law governing census reports (Title 13 of the United States Code), no data are published that would disclose the operations of an individual establishment or business. In cases where the data must be withheld, the following symbol appears in place of the data:

• D : Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual companies; data are included in higher level totals

Used when the sales and other data must be withheld due to disclosure, but a range for the employment data can be shown. The following symbols are valid:

• a : 0 to 19 employees
• b : 20 to 99 employees
• c : 100 to 249 employees
• e : 250 to 499 employees
• f : 500 to 999 employees
• g : 1,000 to 2,499 employees
• h : 2,500 to 4,999 employees
• i : 5,000 to 9,999 employees
• j : 10,000 to 24,999 employees
• k : 25,000 to 49,999 employees
• l : 50,000 to 99,999 employees
• m : 100,000 employees or more

Used when the sales data must be withheld due to disclosure, but a range for the sales data can be shown. The following symbols are valid:

• B : Less than $1 million
• I : $1 million to less than $5 million
• K : $5 million to less than $15 million
• L : $15 million to less than $50 million
• M : $50 million to less than $75 million
• O : $75 million to less than $150 million
• R : $150 million to less than $500 million
• T : $500 million to less than $1 billion
• U : $1 billion to less than $5 billion
• W : $5 billion or more

Used to identify data items with high imputation rate, high relative standard error (RSE), or other data quality concerns. The following symbols are valid:

• * : Measure of sampling variability not shown since estimated data not published
• -  : Zero or rounds to zero
• 0 : less than 10%
• 1 : 10% to less than 20%
• 2 : 20% to less than 30%
• 3 : 30% to less than 40%
• 4 : 40% to less than 50%
• 5 : 50% to less than 60%
• 6 : 60% to less than 70%
• 7 : 70% to less than 80%
• 8 : 80% to less than 90%
• 9 : 90% to 100%
• s : Relative standard error exceeds 40%
• A : Relative standard error of 100% or more
• Z : Rounds to zero

A technique that marginally adjusts (perturbs) each respondent's data so that data for individual businesses can be camouflaged. This allows for the publication of cells that would otherwise have been suppressed. The following symbols are valid:

• ^ : Noise infusion range not applicable
• G : Low noise infusion
• H : Medium noise infusion
• J : High noise infusion

• r : Revised
• S: Estimate does not meet publication standards because of high sampling variability, poor response quality, or other concerns about the estimate's quality. Unpublished estimates derived from this table by subtraction are subject to these same limitations and should not be attributed to the U.S. Census Bureau. For a description of publication standards and the total quantity response rate, see link to program's methodology page.

• N : Not available or not comparable
• Q : Revenue not collected at this level of detail for multiestablishment firms
• X : Not applicable