The EEO-4 report is a biennial workforce demographics filing that state and local governments with 100 or more employees submit to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Form 164, formally titled the State and Local Government Information Report.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEO Data Collections It captures employee race, ethnicity, sex, job category, and salary band across the public sector workforce. The EEOC’s authority to require it comes from Section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 2000e-8 – Investigations
Who Has to File
A political jurisdiction files the EEO-4 if it has 100 or more employees. That covers state governments, counties, cities, townships, special districts, and similar public bodies. Smaller jurisdictions with 15 or more employees can also be required to file if the EEOC specifically requests a report from them.3eCFR. 29 CFR 1602.32
Filing and recordkeeping are two different obligations, and jurisdictions often confuse them. Under 29 CFR 1602.30, every political jurisdiction with 15 or more employees must keep the records needed to complete an EEO-4, even if it is too small to actually file one.4eCFR. 29 CFR 1602.30 – Records to Be Made or Kept A county with 40 employees does not submit a report, but it has to maintain the underlying data in case the EEOC asks.
Public elementary and secondary school districts do not use this form. Districts with 100 or more employees file the EEO-5 instead.
What Data the Report Collects
Every employee gets counted once, based on their primary job function. The report sorts the workforce into eight job categories: officials and administrators, professionals, technicians, protective service workers, paraprofessionals, office and clerical workers, skilled craft workers, and service-maintenance workers. Placement follows the work the employee actually performs, not the job title.
The workforce is also organized by government function, such as police protection, fire protection, public welfare, streets and highways, hospitals, corrections, housing, and utilities. Roughly 15 function categories exist in total, and each function area within a jurisdiction submits its own section. A large city might file separate sections for its police department, fire department, parks division, and general administration.
Within each job category, the report breaks employees down by race and ethnicity and by sex, with employees self-identifying where possible. The EEOC uses these breakdowns to spot patterns where certain demographic groups are concentrated in lower-paying categories or absent from leadership roles.
Snapshot Pay Period and Salary Bands
The report does not cover a full year. It relies on a single snapshot pay period chosen from July, August, or September of the reporting year, and every employee on the payroll during that period gets counted.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEO Data Collections
Full-time employees are reported with salary data slotted into ranges set by the EEOC. For the 2025 collection cycle:
- Range A: under $19,240
- Range B: $19,240 to $24,959
- Range C: $24,960 to $32,239
- Range D: $32,240 to $41,079
- Range E: $41,080 to $53,039
- Range F: $53,040 to $68,119
- Range G: $68,120 to $87,359
- Range H: $87,360 to $112,319
- Range I: $112,320 to $144,559
- Range J: $144,560 to $186,159
- Range K: $186,160 to $239,199
- Range L: $239,200 and over
Salary figures reflect gross pay before deductions. Part-time employees are reported separately and are not slotted into the salary bands the same way. The pay data draws the most scrutiny because it lets the EEOC compare compensation patterns across demographic groups within the same job category.
When the Report Is Due
The EEO-4 is biennial, filed in odd-numbered years. The 2023 collection is closed, and the EEOC has said it will post details for the 2025 cycle as they become available.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEO Data Collections Historically, the filing portal opens in the fall and the deadline lands in late December or early the following year, though the EEOC has granted extensions in some cycles. Check the EEOC’s data collections page in the months leading up to a filing year for the specific deadline and any changes to the form or instructions.
How to Submit
All submissions go through the EEOC’s online filing system. There is no paper option. Each jurisdiction designates a point of contact who manages the account, enters data manually, or uploads a bulk file if the workforce is large.
Before the report can be finalized, a high-ranking official within the jurisdiction has to electronically certify that the information is accurate and complete. The certification carries legal weight. Once you submit, the system produces a confirmation receipt, which you should save as proof of timely filing.
Records You Have to Keep
State and local governments must preserve personnel and employment records for at least two years from the date the record was created or from the date of the personnel action it documents, whichever is later. For involuntary terminations, the two years runs from the termination date.6eCFR. 29 CFR 1602.31
The two-year floor covers applications, hiring decisions, pay documentation, promotion and demotion records, and layoff and termination paperwork. If a discrimination charge has been filed or the Attorney General has brought an action, all records relevant to that matter must be preserved until the charge or lawsuit is resolved, regardless of the two-year window.
What Happens to the Data You Submit
Section 709(e) of Title VII prohibits the release of individually identifiable information from EEO reports.7U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEO-4 (State and Local Government Information Report) Statistics The EEOC publishes only aggregate statistics and applies disclosure limitation procedures so that no published data set reveals a specific employer or a specific employee. Data submitted through the EEO-4 will not appear in a public database in a form that identifies particular individuals or small jurisdictions where the numbers would make individuals identifiable.
What Happens If You Don’t File
If a jurisdiction refuses to file or misses the deadline, the Attorney General can apply to a federal district court for an order compelling compliance. The statute provides that the court “shall have jurisdiction to issue an order” requiring the jurisdiction to comply.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 2000e-8 – Investigations The court is not weighing whether to step in; the statute directs it to act. Court-ordered compliance is uncommon in practice because most jurisdictions file on time, but the authority is unambiguous and the deadline is not optional.