Data Axle (Infogroup) Historical Businesses

The Data Axle (formerly Infogroup) U.S. Historical Business collection contains establishment-level data for more than 24 million businesses, including the business name, location, industry classification code, number of employees, and sales volume. Each establishment has a unique identifier to make year over year comparisons easier. Records have also been geocoded for use with GIS software.  The un-zipped files are very large (they range in size from 3-6 GB), so if you need assistance with downloading or using the files, please contact us at data@virginia.edu.

Note that we also have a subscription to Data Axle Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA), an online database of current establishment-level business data from Data Axle (formerly Infogroup), with historical records back to 2003. Researchers who need relatively small data extracts, for example, “all coffee shops in Virginia,” should use this database. Data Axle Reference Solutions limits downloads to 1000 records/search for the U.S. Business Database and 250 records/search for the U.S. Historical Businesses Database.

Reference Materials:

InfoGroup Historical Business Data:

Access Restrictions: UVA Faculty, Staff, and Students.  To be used for scholarly, educational, research purposes and non-commercial use only.

Questions?  Contact data@virginia.edu.

Last updated 10 Feb 2023