Statistics and Numeric Data – Government Information Services

Sources under each category are topically arranged with the more general tools at the top, descending to more narrow or specific resources at the bottom of the list. This page lists statistical resources that can be found on the Internet, but please note, a vast amount of statistical information is available in paper tools only.

General Statistics Databases

ProQuest Statistical Insight: Provides comprehensive access to statistical information. Use the Search Abstracts screen to search abstracts and indexes to U.S., state, international and intergovernmental statistical sources compiled in American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index and Index to International Statistics (ASI, SRI & IIS). If available, links are also given to a full-text web-based version of the publication cited.
American FactFinder: This is the Census Bureau’s search page for Decennial Census data, including the 2000 and 2010 Censuses. It also includes data from the American Community Survey, which is conducted annually between decennial censuses, the five year Economic Census, and the Population Estimates Program.
FEDSTATS: “More than 70 agencies in the United States Federal Government produce statistics of interest to the public. The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by these agencies for public use.”
Census Bureau Web Site: Subtitled “the official statistics,” this website bills itself as “your source for social, demographic and economic information.”
CenStats: Comprehensive statistical information including Building Permits, Census Tract Street Locator, County Business Patterns, International Trade Data, Detailed Occupation by Race, Hispanic Origin and Sex, USA Counties, and Public Law 94-171 Data on Age by Race and Hispanic Origin.
Statistical Abstract of the United States: “As the National Data Book it contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States. Selected international data are also included.” In 2012 the US Census stopped publishing this title. Beginning 2013 see the ProQuest print version: 317 Un3s1

Historical Statistics of the United States

The standard source for the quantitative facts of American history. HSUS includes information on population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, economic sectors, and governance and international relations.

United States Historical Census Browser: The data presented here describe the people and the economy of the US for each state and county from 1790 to 1970. The data displayed here were initially created by ICPSR under study number 0003, “Historical Demographic, Economic and Social Data: The United States, 1790-1970.
STATS America: This resource from the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, includes population, housing, income, and labor data for counties, demographic and workforce data for states, and the ability to create a side-by-side comparison of data for metro and county areas.

WDI Online

Provides economic, social, demographic, and environmental data by region and country.

Population and Demographics

United States

US Population

2010 Census: The Census Bureau’s 2010 Census.

Population Estimates and Projections

Census State Population Projections: Center for Disease Control’s Wonder extractor allows the user to pick geographies, race, gender, age, and time for the estimates database. Geographies, times, and demographics can be picked for the projection database. Users can create a two dimensional table using any of five variables.

Data Extractors

DataFerrett: Ferret (Federal Electronic Research Review Extraction Tool) provides interactive access to all major Current Population Surveys and supplements as far back as 1992 (years vary by supplements), the 1992, 1993, and available 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), and the 1997 Survey of Program Dynamics, in addition to selected health related surveys. Selected data (raw or SAS data sets) or descriptive statistics can be accessed. Download options are available.

Other Sites

1990 US Census of Population and Housing University of California-Berkeley: This system contains data from SSTF1, SSTF2 (Ancestry of the Population of the US) SSTF3 (Persons of Hispanic Origin in the United States), and SSTF5 (Characteristics of Asian and Pacific Islander Population of the US) at this time.
Population & Housing Statistics by Zip Code: California State University at Northridge has created a resource of statistics and mapped data at the zip code level. Subject areas covered include business, politics, education, health, environment and strategies to find more.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Demography and Ecology: Center for Demography and Ecology is a multi-disciplinary faculty research cooperative for social scientific demographic research whose membership includes sociologists, rural sociologists, economists, epidemiologists, and statisticians.

International

FAOSTAT-Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics on Population: FAOSTAT is an on-line and multilingual databases currently containing over 1 million time-series records covering international statistics in the following areas: production, trade, food balance sheets, fertilizer and pesticides, land use and irrigation, forest products, fishery products, population, agricultural machinery, and food aid shipments.
IDB-International Data Base, US Census Bureau: The International Data Base (IDB) is a computerized data bank containing statistical tables of demographic, and socio-economic data for 227 countries and areas of the world.
TransMONEE: This site was developed by the Centre for Europe’s Children to give on-line access to the UNICEF TransMONEE database. It gives rapid access to economic and social statistics for 27 transition countries in Central Europe and the former USSR.
MEASURE DHS: MEASURE DHS assists developing countries worldwide in the collection and use of data to monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs. Demographic and health surveys provide information on family planning, maternal and child health, child survival, HIV/AIDS/STIs (sexually transmitted infections), and reproductive health.

Social Science Data

United States

General Resources

ICPSR ICPSR (Full access through the University Library Subscription): Search the holdings of the largest data archive. The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), located within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization serving member colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.
Assessing the New Federalism State Database: This system allows the user to access information at the state level on income security, health, child well-being, demographics, fiscal and political conditions, and social services. Users can pick variables and years and 50 state tables (HTML format only) are generated for selected recent years. The database can also be downloaded for installation and use on the PC.
The Henry A. Murray Research Archive: The Henry A. Murray Research Archive is the permanent repository for quantitative and qualitative research data at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, and provides physical storage for the entire IQSS Dataverse Network.

Justice and Crime

Bureau of Justice Statistics

The Bureau of Justice Statistics collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.

Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center: The Bureau of Justice Statistics, through its Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center (FJSRC), compiles comprehensive information describing suspects and defendants processed in the federal criminal justice system. Data is available for the years 1998-2010.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data: The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) is a special topic archive of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan. NACJD acquires, archives, processes, and provides access to electronic criminal justice data collections for research and instruction.

Education

National Center for Education Statistics: NCES is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data that are related to education in the United States and other nations.

Vital Statistics and Health

CDC Wonder: CDC WONDER is an easy-to-use system that provides a single point of access to a wide variety of CDC reports, guidelines, and numeric public health data. Among the useful vital and health related statistical data sets Wonder provides extraction for are: AIDS cases reported by state and local health departments, SEER (cancer surveillance, epidemiology and end results), ICD9 Finder (disease by classification number), state injury mortality data, mortality, natality, sexually transmitted disease morbidity, and tuberculosis surveillance.
SEER: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute is the most authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States.
National Center for Health Statistics: NCHS is the Federal Government’s principal vital and health statistics agency. NCHS data systems include data on vital events as well as information on health status, lifestyle and exposure to unhealthy influences, the onset and diagnosis of illness and disability, and the use of health care.
Health and Retirement Study: The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study surveys more than 22,000 Americans over the age of 50 every two years. Supported by the National Institute on Aging, the study paints an emerging portrait of an aging America’s physical and mental health, insurance coverage, financial status, family support systems, labor market status, and retirement planning.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive: SAMHDA is an initiative of the Office of Applied Studies at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the archive is to provide ready access to substance abuse and mental health research data and to promote the sharing of these data among researchers, academics, policymakers, service providers, and others, thereby increasing the use of the data in understanding and assessing substance abuse and mental health problems and the impact of related treatment systems.
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health: Add Health is a school-based study of the health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7-12. It has been designed to explore the causes of these behaviors, with an emphasis on the influence of social context. Users can pick variables, type of central tendency, and type of statistics.
Community Health Status Indicators: The Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI) project team created 3,082 reports of health status indicators, one for each county in the nation. Community health improvement begins with an assessment of needs, quantification of vulnerable populations, and measurement of preventable disease, disability, and death.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP): With HCUPnet, you have easy access to national statistics and trends and selected state statistics about hospital stays. HCUPnet generates statistics using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, the Kid’s Inpatient Database, and the State Inpatient Databases for states that participate. HCUPnet is part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

International

General Resources

Council of European Social Science Data Archives: CESSDA promotes the acquisition, archiving and distribution of electronic data for social science teaching and research in Europe.

Education

UNESCO: The main objective of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication, in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.

Education Policy and Data Center
EPDC provides global education data, tools for data visualization, and policy-oriented analysis aimed at improving schools and learning in developing countries.

Vital Statistics and Health

Global Health Observatory: The Global Health Observatory is the World Health Organization’s portal providing access to data and analyses for monitoring the global health situation. It includes health statistics by country and is also organized around health themes.
MEASURE DHS: MEASURE DHS assists developing countries worldwide in the collection and use of data to monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs. Demographic and health surveys provide information on family planning, maternal and child health, child survival, HIV/AIDS/STIs (sexually transmitted infections), and reproductive health.
HIV/AIDS Surveillance: The HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data Base was developed and is maintained by the Health Studies Branch, International Programs Center, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, with funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Carolina Population Center: The Carolina Population Center (CPC) is a community of scholars associated to promote population research and research training at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They have a number of current research projects and data available.

Economics and Business

United States

General Resources

Economic Report of the President: “The Economic Report of the President is transmitted to Congress no later than ten days after the submission of the budget. The Report includes; 1) current and foreseeable trends and annual numerical goals concerning topics such as employment, unemployment, production, real income and Federal budget outlays 2) employment objectives for significant groups of the labor force 3) annual numeric goals and 4) a program for carrying out program objectives.”
Business Statistics by Zip Code: ZIP Code Business Patterns provides data on total number of establishments and number of establishments by employment-size classes by detailed industry. Data are collected annually. The application allows access to data from 1994 to the most recent year for which data are publicly available.
County Business Patterns: Annual series providing economic profile of counties, states, and the United States. Data include employment, payroll, and number of establishments by industry.
FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis),: FRED contains historical U.S. economic and financial data, including daily U.S. interest rates, monetary and business indicators, exchange rates, and regional economic data for Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
State Trade Data: The Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau complied data on foreign trade by State.
Economic Census: Taken every five years, the Economic Censuses provide industry data for the United States, states, and counties, broken down by industry, product, commodity, or service, (mostly by SIC code). Tables include sales or value of shipments, employment, financial, and operating statistics. For agriculture, number of farms and credit information is included.

Income

Economic Indicators: Each issue provides annual and monthly or quarterly data concerning employment and wages, prices, money supply and interest rates, as well as income and production.
REIS (Regional Economic Information System): Provides local area economic data for states, counties, and metropolitan areas for 1969-1995. Statistics in the data base include: personal income and earning variables, full and part employment variables, transfer payments variables, and farm income and expenses variables.
Panel Study of Income Dynamics: The PSID is a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of US individuals and the families in which they reside. It has been ongoing since 1968. The data was collected annually through 1997, and biennially starting in 1999. The data files contain the full span of information collected over the course of the study. PSID data can be used for cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intergenerational analysis and for studying both individuals and families.

International

Penn World Tables: Historical data, from 1959-, for 30+ categories of economic statistics for 152 countries and 29 subjects. Topics include GDP, exchange rate information, capital stock per worker, construction, an import/export information.
Living Standards Measurement Study: Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) household surveys have become an important tool in measuring and understanding poverty in developing countries. The Development Economics Research Group (DECRG) of the World Bank maintains this website to make available to researchers around the world the data sets and methodological lessons from these surveys.

Science, History and Miscellaneous

Science

General Sources

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics: The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), formerly the Division of Science Resources Statistics, was established within the National Science Foundation by Section 505 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. The new name signals the central role of NCSES in the collection, interpretation, analysis, and dissemination of objective data on the science and engineering enterprise.

Specific Resources

National Agricultural Statistics Service: American agriculture is continually counted, measured, priced, analyzed, and reported to provide the facts needed by people working throughout this vast industry. Each year, NASS conducts hundreds of surveys and prepares reports covering virtually every facet of U.S. agriculture, such as production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, farm labor and wages, and farm aspects of the industry. NASS publications cover a wide range of subjects, from traditional crops, such as corn and wheat, to specialties, such as mushrooms and flowers; from calves born to hogs slaughtered; from agricultural prices to land in farms.
US Census of Agriculture: American agriculture is continually counted, measured, priced, analyzed, and reported to provide the facts needed by people working throughout this vast industry. Conducted every 5 years by the USDA, the Census of Agriculture “provides a detailed picture of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them.” Including “information concerning all areas of farming and ranching operations, including production expenses, market value of products, and operator characteristics.”
National Climatic Data Center: NCDC is the world’s largest active archive of weather data. NCDC produces numerous climate publications and responds to data requests from all over the world. NCDC operates the World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville which is collocated at NCDC.
Storm Event Database: Search the NCDC Storm Events Database to find various types of storms recorded in your county. The database currently contains data from Oct. 2006 to Present, as entered by NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS).The entire Storm Events Database (1950 to Present) is available as a Microsoft Access database by clicking on the “FTP Access” from the main page.
National Geophysical Data Center: The NGDC plays an integral role in the nation’s research into the environment as well as provides environmental data to the public domain. Topics covered include: topography, geomagnetism, satellites, habitats, space weather, oceanic geophysical information, terrestrial information, snow and ice data, and hazard information.
Fisheries Statistics and Economics: The National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Science and Technology collects data and coordinates information and research programs to support the science-based stewardship of the nation’s living marine resources.
National Natural Hazards Statistics: The U.S. Natural Hazard Statistics provide statistical information on fatalities, injuries and damages caused by weather related hazards. In addition to the files here, you can access a 70+ year List of Severe Weather Fatalities.
National Ice Center: NIC’s mission is to provide the highest quality operational global regional and tactical scale sea ice analyses and forecasts tailored to meet the requirements of U.S. national interests; and provide selected meteorological and oceanographic data (METOC) services to specified DOD agencies in the Washington D.C. area.
National Oceanographic Data Center: The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) is one of three NOAA environmental data centers, and serves as a national repository and dissemination facility for global ocean data.

History

Electronic Records Archives: In the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA’s) efforts to ensure ready access to essential evidence, the Center for Electronic Records appraises, accessions, preserves and provides access to U.S. Federal Government electronic records of continuing value. Subjects covered are agriculture, genealogical, education, economics and financial, health statistics, environment issues, military, and science and technology.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Data & Information Services Center

University of Wisconsin-Madison: DISC: Data & Information Services Center (DISC) is the central repository of data collections used by the social science research community at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Characteristics of Census Tracts in Nine U.S. Cities, 1940-1960: Data on the 1960 characteristics of census tracts and the physicians located within them were collected for nine cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Newark, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. In addition, 1940 and 1950 data are available for Chicago and Detroit.
Growth of American Families, 1955 and 1960: These studies focus on women’s attitudes toward fertility and family planning in 1955 and 1960. Information about women’s attitudes toward marriage, contraception and children was collected. Additional demographic and socioeconomic variables were included to identify factors influencing their family planning and fertility decisions.
Governmental Units Analysis Data, 1960: Urban Racial Disorders, 1961-1968: This data file consists of individual riot and riot summary information for civil disorders which occurred between 1961 and 1968 in cities with a 1960 population exceeding 25,000.
Characteristics of Municipios: This data set contains socio-economic characteristics of the population of each municipio: occupational and industrial structure, educational attainment, migration, urbanization, bilingualism, etc. Data is from the 1950 and 1960 Mexico Census.
Political Elites in Mexico, 1900-1971: This dataset contains information on the political office holder’s sex, birthplace, profession/occupations, military service, date and place of birth and death, father’s occupation, education (preparation, length, attainment, specialization, foreign training), travel abroad, intellectual activities (publications, teaching), political affiliation, political offices held and length of stay, activity during the revolution of 1910-1920, geographical entity represented, memberships in political and other organizations.
French Old Regime Bureaucrats: Intendants de Province, 1661-1790: This data file contains the names of Intendants and periods of incumbency in different intendances (provinces). In about 20 percent of the cases, years of birth, years of death, and years of entry to official service (becoming Maitre des Requetes) are also given.
Russian Imperial Bureaucracy, 1762-1881: This site provides access to the raw data and documentation which contains information on Russian administrative elites, includes ca. 415 governors: dates of incumbency in different central administrative, territorial, foreign trade, Imperial Court, top Moscow and St. Petersburg posts; dates of attaining each of top four civil and military ranks; dates of birth, death and entrance into civil service.
Catasto Study: This site provides access to the raw data and documentation files for the Census and Property Survey for Florentine Domains and the City of Verona in Fifteenth Century Italy, also known as the Catasto study. For more information about the Catasto study and dataset, please read the Study Description.
Slave Movement During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: This site provides access to the raw data and documentation which contains information on the following slave trade topics from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: records of slave ship movement between Africa and the Americas, slave ships of eighteenth century France, slave trade to Rio de Janeiro, Virginia slave trade in the eighteenth century, English slave trade (House of Lords Survey), Angola slave trade in the eighteenth century, internal slave trade to Rio de Janeiro, slave trade to Havana, Cuba, Nantes slave trade in the eighteenth century, and slave trade to Jamaica.

Miscellaneous

Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA): The ARDA collection includes data on churches and church membership, religious professionals, and religious groups (individuals, congregations, and denominations).