The honest answer is that it depends on what was ordered, and that is not evasion: two employers using the same provider can receive completely different reports on the same person. This page sets out what appears in a standard package, what only appears if somebody paid for it, and the categories that are legally excluded whatever anyone paid.
What does a background check show in a standard package?
An identity and address trace establishing who the person is and where they have lived. A national criminal database sweep, which is broad and uneven. A sex offender registry search. And county criminal court searches in the jurisdictions the trace surfaced, which is where most convictions in the United States actually live. That is what the entry packages priced in this record generally buy, and it is a genuine criminal check on a person with a settled address history.
What comes up on a background check only if it was ordered
Employment and education verification, professional license verification, federal district court searches, a motor vehicle record, a credit report, drug testing, international records, civil court records and social media screening are all separate products. None of them is included by default. That is why the phrase comprehensive background check means very little on its own and why the useful question to a provider is always which searches are in the package rather than what tier it is called.
What do background checks show about old or sealed records?
The FCRA bars a consumer reporting agency from reporting most adverse items older than seven years, including civil judgments, paid tax liens, accounts in collection and arrests that did not result in conviction, though that restriction lifts above a federal salary threshold. Convictions have no federal age limit. Sealed and expunged records should not be reported, and several states go further: California caps convictions at seven years with no salary exception, and a number of states bar reporting non-conviction arrests entirely.
What shows up in a background check versus what people expect
A background check does not show your credit score, because employment credit reports are not scored. It does not show medical records, which are protected and off limits. It does not show your immigration status as such, since that is the Form I-9 process. It does not usually show whether you were fired or why, because most employers confirm only dates and title. And it does not show anything from a state you never lived in, because searches follow the address history and nothing else.
What does accurate background check look for beyond the database sweep
A thorough report is defined by what it confirms rather than by how many sources it touched. It looks for identity first, because the address history is what tells the searcher which courts hold the records, and a report that does not say how confident the identity match is has pushed that judgement onto you. It looks for a disposition on every record, since a filing with no outcome is not a finding. It looks in the courts of the counties the person actually lived in rather than only in an aggregated index, and separately in the federal district courts, because a case heard in one system never appears in the other. And it says what it could not verify instead of leaving a silence you will read as a clear result.
Other questions people ask
What does a background check consist of as standard?
An identity and address trace, a national criminal database sweep, a sex offender registry search and county criminal court searches in the places the trace surfaced. Everything else is an extra you have to order.
Does a background check show why I left a job?
Rarely. Most employers confirm only dates of employment and job title as a matter of policy, and many will add whether you are eligible for rehire. Performance and reasons for leaving are usually not discussed.
Do arrests without a conviction show up?
Usually not. The FCRA bars reporting most non-conviction adverse information older than seven years, several states bar reporting non-conviction arrests entirely, and EEOC guidance is that an arrest alone does not establish that conduct occurred.
Does a background check show a credit score?
No. Employment credit reports carry no score, and a credit report is a separate product that many employers never order and several states restrict to defined roles.