Brooklyn College Library LibGuides Home: Demographics and Statistics: Finding Statistics

What Types of Data can I find in the U.S. Census?

Surveys & Programs

Population & Housing Census - every 10 years
Economic Census - every 5 years
Census of Governments - every 5 years
American Community Survey - annually
S urveys and Programs -- both Demographic & Economic
Economic Indicators - each indicator is released on a specific schedule, see the Economic Indicator Calendar

Source: information taken from www.census.gov

Books in the Stacks

Statistics by Joseph F. Healey
Call Number: HA29 .H39 2015
Publication Date: 2014-01-22
Packed with everyday examples of statistics in the real world, STATISTICS: A TOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH, 10e, provides a reader-friendly introduction to the fundamental concepts of statistics and their practical application to a wide variety of contemporary social issues. Using myriad examples of statistics from daily life, the text demonstrates that statistics are not just abstract mathematical constructs but have practical value in government, education, business, media, politics, sports, and much more. STATISTICS helps you understand the importance of statistical fundamentals in research without requiring advanced mathematical knowledge. It supports effective learning for both math-averse beginners as well as more advanced students in diverse social science disciplines. Focusing on the application of computational research in favor of the computations themselves, the text fully integrates with the most current version of IBM's SPSS software and labels end-of-chapter SPSS problems by the discipline from which they are drawn. The author breaks down even the most complex material to help you master key concepts and develop the skills you need to succeed as a professional in a social science field-or simply to become a "statistically literate" consumer of social research.
Handbook of U. S. Labor Statistics 1927-1985 by FRASER St. Louis Federal Reserve
The Handbook of Labor Statistics is recognized as an authoritative resource on the U.S. labor force.The Handbook is a comprehensive reference providing an abundance of data on a variety of topics including: Employment and unemployment Earnings Prices Productivity Consumer expenditures Occupational safety and health Union membership International labor comparisons

Recommended Online Resources for General Information

Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Historical Statistics of the United States is a compendium of statistics from over 1000 sources, with over 37,000 data series. Such topics as social, behavioral, humanistic, and natural sciences including history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion and international migration, are each placed in historical context by a recognized expert in the field. The fully searchable and downloadable electronic edition permits users to graph individual tables by downloading data in different file formats.
World Bank - Data & Statistics This link opens in a new window
Data displayed on this site are a subset of those available in the World Bank’s DataBank, which contains extensive collections of time series data. The DataBank has advanced functions for selecting and slicing the datasets, performing customized queries and data downloads, and creating charts and other visualizations.
Business Source Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
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Covers journals in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more. Indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back as far as 1886 are included.
Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
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Social Explorer provides demographic information and modern and historical census data (1790 to 2000) as data maps. The site has created hundreds of interactive data maps of the United States. US Census data includes all annual updates from the American Community Survey to 2008, original Census tract-level estimates for 2006 and 2010, the Religious Congregations and Membership Study from 1980 to 2000, and 2002 Carbon Emissions Data from the Vulcan Project.

Data and Statistics about the U.S.
Many government agencies have statistical information on a wide range of topics. You may need to do further research to find out which agency has the information you are looking for or can help you find it. You can also search a federal agency's website to see what types of statistical information it provides.
GovInfo
Locator Tools and Services - A very nice set of specialized sources for locating various types of government information, not necessarily statistics.
New York State Government Information Locator
A search engine for NYS web sites and your best bet for navigating NYS official web sites.
Transportation Statistics
Find traffic accident numbers, seatbelt use, gasoline consumption and much more.
Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Statistics and analysis from the Department of Energy. Searchable by fuel, geography, sector or price.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) - International
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Voting information and detailed campaign finance numbers are available here.
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Their reports are wide ranging and authoritative. Many full-text reports can be found on their site as well as a searchable archive going back to 1995.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
USAID is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.
American Community Survey
American Community Survey (ACS) provides data every year and includes topics that include education, transportation, housing and ancestry.
Data Census.gov
Data.census.gov is the new platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. The vision for data dissemination through data.census.gov is to improve the customer experience by making data available from one centralized place so that data users spend less time searching for data content and more time using it. For guidance on using data.census.gov, please see our Resources page at https://www.census.gov/data/adrm/what-is-data-census-gov.html.
Public Use Microdata
The new microdata analysis system on https://data.census.gov will replace DataFerrett with the Beta version available on https://data.census.gov/mdat. How-to documentation for the new microdata analysis system is available here (https://www.census.gov/data/what-is-data-census-gov.html). The DataFerrett tool will be decommissioned in June 2020.
HUD State of the Cities Data Systems (SOCDS)
The SOCDS provides data for individual Metropolitan Areas, Central Cities, and Suburbs.
Data Catalog - US Government
Data.gov is the home of the U.S. Government’s open data. You can find Federal, state and local data, tools, and resources to conduct research, build apps, design data visualizations, and more. The Data.gov team works at the U.S. General Services Administration, and data on the site are provided by hundreds of organizations, including Federal agencies.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
A sampling of research reports reveal information on government spending and the arts, art as an economic activity, the employment situation of artists, public participation in the arts, and the demographic characteristics of art patrons. Often the research reports lead one back to other sources of information collected by the federal government.
Economic Report of the President
Economic Report of the President is an annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
It overviews the nation's economic progress using text and extensive data appendices providing time series data for a variety of economic indicators

Government Agencies and Elected Official
Find information for federal, state, and local government agencies and elected officials.
Including forms and contact information
World Bank Open Data
Free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
Stats America
Portal to state, county, city or MSA (metropolitan statistical area) profiles. Build side-by-side comparisons of up to four areas (state or counties) to make informed decisions. Cites all sources.
City-Data
Obtain statistics about geographic regions from the state level down to zip codes. Or, look up a specific address to learn basic data about the neighborhood. Compiles information from public data with additional comments in a public forum.
Innovation in American Regions
This website provides tools to facilitate relevant insights and help answer the fundamental questions underlying regional development in today's changing economy.
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew conducts public opinion polls, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.
Cultural Policy and the Arts National Data Archive (CPANDA)
CPANDA provides public access to data sets on art and cultural policy. Some of the data is longitudinal and some is cross-sectional. Topics that are addressed included public perceptions of art, the socio-economic experiences of artists themselves, biographical information on trustees of large nonprofit organizations, classical music and local orchestras, role of museums, the Brooklyn Museum of Art controversy of 1999, and culture and creativity in communities.

Recommended Online Resources for Specific Types of Statistical Information

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Covers crime, victims of crime, criminals, courts and sentencing, law enforcement and corrections including capital punishment, jails, prisons or parole, and special topics.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The very heart of FBI operations lies in investigations--which serve, as their mission states, "to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats and to enforce the criminal laws of the United States."
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Uniform Crime Reports
"Compiles volume and rate of crime offenses for the nation, the states, and individual agencies. This report also includes arrest, clearance, and law enforcement employee data." Also available are reports on Hate Crime Statistics, white collar crime, and detailed victim data.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - Hate Crime Statistics
Each year's edition of Hate Crime Statistics presents data regarding incidents, offenses, victims, and offenders in reported crimes that were motivated in whole or in part by a bias against the victim's perceived race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
Juvenile Justice Statistical Briefing Book
A wealth of information about youthful offenders and the entire juvenile justice system.
NYC Dept. of Juvenile Justice
Not a wealth of information but the only source for NYC data.
New York City Police Department (NYPD)
Great crime and neighborhood statistics, but find out your precinct before you click because there is nothing on the site to help you identify it. The Neighborhood Statistics page (which also link to this site) will give you that information.

Economic Research Data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve
A database of 20,417 U.S. economic time series. With FRED® you can download data in Microsoft Excel and text formats and view charts of data series.
County Business Patterns
View information about county, metro and zip code level business patterns provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Dept. of Commerce
National, industry, international and regional economic data.
International Debt Statistics (World Bank)
Focuses on financial flows, trends in external debt, and other major financial indicators for developing and advanced economies (data from Quarterly External Debt Statistics and Quarterly Public Sector Debt databases). Includes over 200 time series indicators from 1970 to 2013, for most reporting countries, and pipeline data for scheduled debt service payments on existing commitments to 2022.

Global Education Database
USAID's Economic Analysis and Data Services (EADS) are technical and professional support services to facilitate USAID's access to and analysis of development data and information.
National Center for Education Statistics (NECS) Programs and Surveys
Another useful page which allows you to select data from various programs within the Center for Education Statistics.
National Center for Education Statistics (NECS) Quick Tables and Figures
This search tool lets you locate all tables/figures/charts published in the inventory of NCES' Education Statistics Quarterly; the National Education Data Resource Center (NEDRC) Post Secondary Tables Library; the Condition of Education; the Digest of Education Statistics, and other NCES publication. Tables are constantly being added to this database (close to 4,500 tables, graphs, and figures are now available).
NY City Dept. of Education
From this page the "Our Schools" link gives a full range of information about the NYS school system from maps to school report cards.
Child Care and Early Education Research Connections
Child Care & Early Education Research Connections, launched in 2004, promotes high quality research in child care and early education and the use of that research in policy making.
Common Core of Data (CCD)
Common Core of Data (CCD) is a program of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics that annually collects fiscal and non-fiscal data about all public schools, public school districts and state education agencies in the United States. The data are supplied by state education agency officials and include information that describes schools and school districts, including name, address, and phone number; descriptive information about students and staff, including demographics; and fiscal data, including revenues and current expenditures.
National Center for Education Statistics (NECS) Fast Facts
Many of the center's reports and publications are available here. The site is searchable and user friendly
Millennium Indicators
This site presents the official data, definitions, methodologies and sources for more than 60 indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. The data and analyses are the product of the work of the Inter-agency and Expert Group (IAEG) on MDG Indicators, coordinated by the United Nations Statistics Division. You will also find the official progress reports and documents produced by IAEG.
National Assessment of Educational Progress
Extensive reports on national and state test scores of 4th, 8th, and 12th grade students by various demographic characteristics; separate surveys on science, mathematics, history, geography. A bibliography lists published NAEP documents since 1970.
National Association of State Boards of Education
NASBE is non-profit organization founded to strengthen state leadership in educational policymaking. Statistics for each state are listed.
School District Demographics System
The School District Demographics System (SDDS) is a Web-based resource operated by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education. SDDS enables access to school district demographic and related geographic data that is not available in any other form. SDDS was initially developed to provide access to the 2000 School District Special Tabulation (STP2) and corresponding 1990 Census SDST. SDDS has evolved as more recent data have become available through the American Community Survey School District Special Tabulations. SDDS includes only summary data tabulated for geographic areas from public use data files. SDDS includes no data for/about individuals.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical branch of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The Institute produces the data and methodologies to monitor trends at national and international levels. It delivers comparative data for countries at all stages of development to provide a global perspective on education, science and technology, culture, and communication.
World DataBank (World Bank)
Clicking on "Select Database" will pull up a menu of specialized databases, including some on health and education.
Child and Family Data Archive
The Child and Family Data Archive (C&F Data Archive) is the place to discover, access, and analyze data on young children, their families and communities, and the programs that serve them. The C&F Data Archive is supported by contract #HHSP233201800021C from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), part of the US HHS

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the official and trusted source of internationally-comparable data on education, science, culture and communication. As the official statistical agency of UNESCO, the UIS produces a wide range of state-of-the-art databases to fuel the policies and investments needed to transform lives and propel the world towards its development goals. The UIS provides free access to data for all UNESCO countries and regional groupings from 1970 to the most recent year available. The UIS encourages developers and researchers to build websites and applications that make rich use of UIS dissemination data. In addition to a powerful standards-based API, the UIS supports a data browser and a bulk data download service (BDDS).
UN Data
The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) launched a new internet based data service for the global user community. It brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point (http://data.un.org/). Users can now search and download a variety of statistical resources of the UN system.
World Bank Open Data
Free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
EuroStat
Data and statistics about the European Union.
Population Reference Bureau
The Population Reference Bureau informs people around the world about population, health, and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and future generations.
City Population
Offers population statistics for countries, cities, administrative areas and "agglomerations" (metropolitan, micropolitan and combined statistical areas).
International Database - U.S. Census Bureau
Provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the IDB provides demographic data for over 200 countries and areas of the world.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. OECD.Stat includes data and metadata for OECD countries and selected non-member economies.

WHO World Health Data
WHO's annual World Health Statistics reports present the most recent health statistics for the WHO Member States.
Medicare and Medicaid Data
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides statistics on: Medicaid, Medicare enrollment, national health care indicators and expenditures.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
Now part of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the NCHS offers everything from a quick snapshot of the nation's health to the statistical equivalent of an MRI. There is full text access to many familiar print publications here.
National Institutes of Health
Many of the individual institutes have statistical data about the diseases and conditions in which they specialize.
NY City Community Health Profiles
12 page overviews for an area comprised of 2-4 neighborhoods. If you can't tell which report covers your neighborhood by the names, there is a zip code search that will help locate the appropriate one.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides statistics on: National Survey on Drug Use & Health, state estimates of substance use, substance abuse and mental health
World Health Organization (WHO)
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers health statistics and reports.
World Data Bank (World Bank)
Clicking on "Select Database" will pull up a menu of specialized databases, including some on health and education.
Publications and Information Products from the National Center for Health Statistics
Find current and archived reports here
CDC Wonder
WONDER online databases utilize a rich ad-hoc query system for the analysis of public health data. Reports and other query systems are also available.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Preformatted and customizable data on all aspects of employment and work.

Help & Tutorials

Other Statistical Sources http://www.bls.gov/bls/other.htm Compiled by the BLS, these are additional statistical sources, including federal and international agencies. Includes:

Data and Statistics About the U.S. https://www.usa.gov/statistics#item-37157
Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/
Bureau of Economic Analysis http://www.bea.gov/

Bureau of Labor Statistics Detailed Statistics
Includes Employment & Unemployment, Prices & Living Conditions, Compensation & Working Conditions, Productivity & Technology and Regional Resources
Bureau of Labor Statistics Regional At a Glance Data
The Economy At A Glance tables available for regions, states, metropolitan areas are very useful data summaries of key indicators, many with data available for a 10 year time span.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Surveys and Programs
Includes Employment and Unemployment, Prices and Living Conditions, Compensation and Working Conditions, Productivity and Technology, Employment Projections, International Programs
NYS Labor Statistics
Welcome to the Labor Statistics section of the New York State Department of Labor's web site. We are the premier source of labor market information in the state. From wages to projections to the latest job figures, the Department of Labor has the most current and accurate labor market information available.

National Climatic Data Center
U.S. Climate at a Glance
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conducts research and gathers data about the global oceans, atmosphere, space and sun, and applies this knowledge to science and service that touch the lives of all Americans."
United States Historical Climatology Network (USHCN)
USHCN is a high-quality, moderate-sized data set of monthly averaged maximum, minimum and mean temperature and total monthly precipitation developed to assist in the detection of regional climate change. The period of record varies for each station but generally includes the period 1900-1995. Included with the data set are metadata files that contain station history information about weather station moves, instrumentation, observing times, and elevation.

BP Statistical Reviews
BP, one of the world's largest energy companies, publishes statistical reviews of world energy, projections and historical data. Consider the source.
Energy Information Administration
Official energy statistics from the US government. Includes International Energy Annual, Annual Energy Review, Country Energy Profiles, and more.
UN Energy Statistics Database
Provides energy data for more than 215 countries, areas and regions on the production, trade and intermediate and final consumption for primary and secondary conventional, non-conventional and new and renewable sources of energy from 1990 onwards.
USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System (ESMIS)
The USDA Economics, Statistics and Market Information System (ESMIS) contains nearly 2,500 reports and datasets from several agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These materials cover U.S. and international agriculture and related topics. Most reports are text files that contain time-sensitive information. Most data sets are in spreadsheet format and include time-series data that are updated yearly. ESMIS is a joint effort between several key agencies within the USDA, including Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Economic Research Service (ERS), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) / Office of the Chief Economist, and Mann Library at Cornell University.
Food & Agriculture Organization UN
Data on production, prices, trade, consumption, forestry, fisheries, and more.
Economic Research Service (USDA)
The ERS mission is to inform and enhance public and private decision making on economic and policy issues related to agriculture, food, the environment, and rural development.

StatsAmerica

StatsAmerica
StatsAmerica obtains thousands of data items from hundreds of data sets from dozens of federal and state sources, along with some commercial or private source data. While StatsAmerica adds value to these data through easy access and functionality, we acknowledge the direct agency source of the data on every table, profile or map.

Library &
Academic IT

Library & Academic IT

Demographics and Statistics: Finding Statistics

What Types of Data can I find in the U.S. Census?

Books in the Stacks

Recommended Online Resources for General Information

Recommended Online Resources for Specific Types of Statistical Information

StatsAmerica