• National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97)-- Survey of young men and women born in the years 1980-84; respondents were ages 12-17 when first interviewed in 1997.
• National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79)-- Survey of men and women born in the years 1957-64; respondents were ages 14-22 when first interviewed in 1979.
• NLSY79 Children and Young Adults-- Survey of the biological children of women in the NLSY79.
• National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Mature Women (NLSW)-- The Young Women's survey includes women who were ages 14-24 when first interviewed in 1968. The Mature Women's survey includes women who were ages 30-44 when first interviewed in 1967. These surveys were discontinued in 2003.
• National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Men and Older Men-- The Young Men's survey, which was discontinued in 1981, includes men who were ages 14-24 when first interviewed in 1966. The Older Men's survey, which was discontinued in 1990, includes men who were ages 45-59 when first interviewed in 1966.
• National Longitudinal Surveys 50th Anniversary -- The NLS program celebrated its 50th anniversary with a conference on September 17, 2015. See the anniversary page for the agenda, slides, and videos.
• BLS Commissioner's Corner about the National Longitudinal Surveys:
• Why this Counts: Tracking Workers over Time, July 30, 2018
• Why This Counts: Tracking Labor Market Experience Over a Lifetime, April 2, 2015

Archived

• NLSY97 Releases
• NLSY79 Releases

NLS Tables

Data from NLSY79 Round 26 News Release HTML | PDF | RSS and the NLSY97 Round 17 News Release HTML | PDF | RSS

Most-Requested NLS Tables

NUMBER OF JOBS HELD

• NLSY79: Number of jobs held by individuals from age 18 to age 50 in 1978-2014 by educational attainment, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and age HTML | XLSX
• NLSY97: Number of jobs held by individuals from age 18 through age 30 in 1998-2015 by educational attainment, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and age HTML | XLSX

DURATION OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS WITH A SINGLE EMPLOYER

• NLSY79: Duration of employment relationships with a single employer for all jobs started from age 18 to age 50 in 1978-2014 by age at start of job, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity HTML | XLSX
• NLSY97: Duration of employment relationship with a single employer for all jobs started from age 18 through age 30 in 1998-2015 by educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity HTML | XLSX

All NLS Data Tables »

• NLS public-use files via NLS Investigator at NLSinfo.org
• NLS Geocode data
• NLS zip code, census tract, and school survey data

General publications

• NLS Handbook (2005)
• "NLS News" Newsletter --This quarterly newsletter included information about new data releases, error notices, completed NLS research and other information of interest to researchers. It has been discontinued and its information can now be obtained on NLSinfo.org

Technical Manuals at NLSinfo.org

• NLSY97 User's Guide
• NLSY79 User's Guide
• NLSY79 Child and Young Adult User's Guide (2006)
• Mature Women's User's Guide (2001)
• Young Women's User's Guide (2001)
• List of manuals and summary reports available

NLS Publications

• Monthly Labor Review Articles
• Beyond the Numbers Articles
• Spotlight on Statistics
• Work and Family
• NLS Discussion Paper Series
• Reports on Youth Employment
• Annotated Bibliography

People Are Asking...

1. What are the scheduled release dates for NLS data
2. What information is available from the NLS
3. Questions about obtaining NLS data and protecting respondent confidentiality
4. How to use NLS data
5. Questions about Labor Market Activity

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a longitudinal survey?
2. What variables are in the National Longitudinal Surveys?
3. Do the National Longitudinal Surveys provide monthly, quarterly, or annual historical estimates of labor market activity?
4. Can the National Longitudinal Surveys be used to produce estimates for specific U.S. States or other geographic areas?
5. Can the National Longitudinal Surveys be used to produce estimates for specific industries or occupations?
6. Some previous NLSY97 documentation has mentioned Interest Finder variables. When will these variables be available on the NLSY97 data file?

All NLS FAQs »

• Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey--national data on employment, unemployment, earnings, and other labor market topics by demographic characteristics.
• Census Bureau Population and Household Topics
• National Longitudinal Surveys Annotated Bibliography-- Descriptions of over 6,000 NLS-based journal articles, working papers, monographs, and dissertations stored in a searchable electronic database.

NLS Contacts