Data and Program Library Service


Population

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1990 Census Public Use Microdata Samples (University of Virginia Social Sciences Data Center)
This site allows for the use of the 1990 Public Use Microdata (PUMS) from the 1990 Census (these data contain housing unit and person records drawn from the 1990 U.S. census sample [long form]). Users can:

  • create customized subsets from the 1% PUMS files for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The system will create the customized subset and prepare it for ftp delivery.
  • compute a variety of descriptive statistics for variables in the data files of the 1% 1990 PUMS samples for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia
  • create crosstabulations for user-defined combinations of two or three variables in the data sets.

The site also includes access to an online version of the PUMS documentation, including the full codebook.

Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (National Archives and Record Administration (NARA))
This searchable collection of online databases comprises around 85 million machine-readable historical records, comprising 475 datasets from over 30 United States federal agencies. Topics are diverse, ranging from prisoners of war to work stoppages to color photographs from NASA. Search results display in HTML tables but may then be downloaded in CSV. Entire datasets from the AAD collection may be ordered from NARA for a fee.

African Population Database (United Nations Environment Programme / Global Resource Information Database)
The site provides documentation and data download for a database of 4700 "administrative units" with associated population figures for the African continent. Population estimates are available at 10-year increments for 1960 through 2000. A free registration is required.

AgeSource/AgeStats Worldwide (AARP International)

AARP International has created a pair of annotated databases, AgeSource and AgeStats, to identify and link to aging-related information online. AgeSource covers "clearinghouses, databases, libraries, directories, bibliographies and reading lists, texts and reports, national statistical resources, training materials, and Web 'metasites' focused on aging or closely allied subjects." AgeStats focuses on statistics comparing the situation of older adults between countries and regions. Users can keyword-search the annotations and also limit the search by type of resource (e.g. statistical resource) and geographic area.

The AARP International site also features "country profiles" and a "comparative data search" tool that can be found under the "Aging Everywhere" menu option. A "country profile" consists of a table of quick aging-related stats such as life expectancy, statutory retirement age, and total health care expenditures per capita. The comparative data search tool allows the user to select regions or countries and variables. The most current numbers are shown in each case.

Aging Statistics (U.S. Administration on Aging)

The "Aging Statistics" section of the U.S. Administration on Aging site links to the following databases and reports:

  • Profile of Older Americans
  • AGing Integrated Database (AGID)
  • Census Data & Population Estimates
  • Projected Future Growth of Older Population
  • Minority Aging
  • Key Indicators of Well-Being

AgingStats.gov (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics)
This site features a report called Older Americans: Key Indicators of Well-Being that covers key indicators selected to portray aspects of the lives of older Americans and their families. The report is divided into five subject areas: population, economics, health status, health risks and behaviors, and health care. Key indicators are also available in Excel spreadsheet format. Reports are available for 2000, 2004, and 2006.

American Community Survey (ACS) (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The U.S. Census Bureau launched the full implementation of the American Community Survey (ACS) in January 2005, on track to replace the decennial census "long form" for the year 2010. The ACS is sent out to 250,000 households monthly, or approximately 1 in 40 households annually. For areas with populations of 65,000 or more, ACS annual data will be available beginning in the summer of 2006. For areas with populations between 20,000 and 65,000, annual data will first be released in the summer of 2008 based on rolling 3-year averages. For smaller areas down to the tract level, annual data will debut in the summer of 2010 based on rolling 5-year averages. Tables and PUMS for areas included in the test phases of the ACS, back to the first seven counties surveyed in 1996, are available on the web site, with new data to be added as it becomes available.

American FactFinder (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
American FactFinder is the primary online census data dissemination site from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The interface lets users browse, search, and map data from the 1990 Census, the 1997 Economic Census, the American Community Survey, and Census 2000.

American Mosaic Project (Doug Hartmann and Penny Edgell)
The American Mosaic Project is a multi-year, multi-method study of the bases of solidarity and diversity in American life. The principal investigators of this project are Doug Hartmann, Penny Edgell and Joseph Gerteis at the University of Minnesota, and the project is funded by the Edelstein Family Foundation of Minneapolis, MN.

The survey was designed to gather data on diversity with a particular emphasis on race and religion. A nationally-representative telephone survey was conducted during the summer of 2003; additional in-depth interviews and fieldwork across the country, explored the various contexts in which Americans experience diversity, focusing on religious interfaith organizations, neighborhoods, and festivals. Key findings on Discrimination, Atheism, Anti-Semitism, Racial attitudes of Conservative Christians, Diversity, Racial Attitudes and Religion, and Racial Privilege are available as press releases at this site.

Archive of Census Related Products (CIESIN)
Available via anonymous FTP. Provided by John Blodgett of the Missouri State Data Center and held at CIESIN. Here you will find extracts from and documentation of the 1990 Census. See dtree.txt for a directory tree and the README documents in the .support directory for more information about the site. The most recent entry in the "What's New" file is from February 1998.

Area Resource File (ARF) (Quality Resource Systems, Inc.)
“The Area Resource File (ARF) is a database containing over 6,000 variables for each county in the US. ARF is used for health service research, health policy analysis, and other geographically based activities.” The ARF data from 1940-1994, as well as the 1999 and 2005 releases, are available at DISC for UW-Madison campus users. The ARF website provides a search engine to identify which variables are available in the most recent annual release.

Basic Tables: 1990 Demographic Profile Generator (University of Missouri-St. Louis, Urban Information Center)
"This application generates a single 1990 'Basic Tables' (demographic profile) report for any of the supported geographic units, including census tract, block group, city (no size limit), 5-digit ZIP code, state, county or metro area for anywhere in the United States. Enter only codes relevant to the area for which you want data." Although this is a terrific resource, it is not necessarily easy to use -- primarily because the selection is geographic code-based rather than clicking on a selection list. The good news is that there is a Lots of Helpful Examples document to help get you started; this document provides links to places that can help you get the codes you need.

Bureau of the Census (U.S. Department of Commerce)
The United States Census Bureau has begun using the Internet as their primary distribution method, most recently via the American FactFinder interface for the Census 2000 and other recent data. The What's New page lists the latest additions to the site. Feeling overwhelmed by jargon? Visit their Glossary of Selected Abbreviations and Acronyms with keyword searching. The Publications page announces and provides links to recently published PDF documents.

California Statistical Abstract (State of California)
Due to budget constraints, the state of California has ceased producing a hard-copy Statistical Abstract, substituting an entirely-online version. The 2005 edition was released January 2006 and features PDF and Excel versions of all the tables. Previous annual editions (2000-2004) are on the site as PDF documents only. Besides the Statistical Abstract, the site also includes Excel files of time series on California employment, income, construction and trade; economic forecasts; quarterly economic indicators back to 1998; and an interesting chronology of significant economic events since 1956.

Canadian Century Research Infrastructure (Canadian Century Research Infrastructure)
The Canadian Century Research Infrastructure is a five year initiative to develop databases from Canadian manuscript census records from the period of 1911 to 1951. The resulting project will link this database to other databases that cover 1871 to 1901 and 1961 to 2001. The site currently provides a listing of variables for 1911 to 1951. In English and French.

Carolina Population Center (CPC) (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

The Carolina Population Center (CPC) is "a community of scholars and professionals collaborating on interdisciplinary research and methods that advance understanding of population issues." Research projects specialize in the following themes, both internationally and in the U.S.:

  • Family, Fertility, and Children
  • Population Diversity and Inequality
  • Social and Spatial Contexts of Demographic and Health Behavior
  • Economic, Demographic, and Health Transitions
  • Population and Environment
  • Health Behavior and Infectious Disease
  • Demography and Economics of Aging

CPC projects include the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, the China Health and Nutrition Survey, the MEASURE Evaluation Project, the Nang Rong Projects, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Heatlh, and the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey.

CDE FTP (University of Wisconsin Center for Demography and Ecology)
The University of Wisconsin Center for Demography and Ecology/Center for Demography of Health and Aging has opened a public FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site that allows researchers to download a selection of: 1) rare data files collected by the Centers over the years (UNIX compressed .Z ASCII format), and 2) public data files that have been converted into SAS transport files (UNIX compressed .Z SAS transport format).

CenStats (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

The Censtats collection of menu-based data extractors from the U.S. Census Bureau includes the following:

  • Building permit statistics on new residential and nonresidential construction for individual municipalities. Updated monthly.
  • County Business Patterns: Employment and earnings by 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification by state and county (1993-1997) and ZIP code (1994-1997) and by North American Industry Classification System (beginning 1998) by state and county, metropolitan statistical area and ZIP code. Updated annually.
  • International Trade Data: Exports and imports by Standard International Trade Classification. Updated monthly.
  • Census of Population and Housing Public Law 94-171 Data, Age by Race and Hispanic Origin, for 1990 and 2000.
  • Census Tract Street Locator
  • Detailed Occupation by Race, Hispanic Origin and Sex, from the 1990 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) File.
  • USA Counties: demographic and economic data for States and counties. Updated every two years.

Census 2000 Adjusted Data (UCLA Institute for Social Science Research)

These Census 2000 adjusted data are estimates of the population using a statistical adjustment based on the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.), a sample survey intended to measure net over- and undercounts in the Census 2000 results. The A.C.E. estimates dramatically overstated the level of undercoverage in Census 2000, so the decision was made that the adjusted data are not to be used for legal purposes. This is not a Census Bureau web site, and the Department of Commerce, including the U.S. Census Bureau, will provide no assistance in the interpretation or use of these numbers.

These materials are similar to the content and organization of the files produced for P.L. 94-171, supplied for all states and all levels of geography. The files are compressed; the approximate compressed file size is 550 mb.

Census 2000 at ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR))
This special-topic archive from ICPSR provides additional information and access to ICPSR holdings and activities related to the 2000 Census in the United States. ICPSR distributes aggregate (summary file) data, microdata (PUMS), and various geographical products including TIGER/line files. ICPSR has also created special subsets from Summary File 1 and Summary File 3. Many of these files are publicly available and can be downloaded via an anonymous guest-login.

Census 2000 Data (Center for Social and Demographic Analysis, University of Albany)
This site comprises a nice set of annotated links to Census 2000 information and data.

Census 2010 (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The Census 2010 site provides news and information as the United States Census Bureau's preparations move forward for the upcoming decennial census.

Census Bureau FTP site (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
For those who like to ferret out files without the annoyances of a fancy front end --check out the census_1980, census_1990, and census_2000 directories.

Census of India (Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India)
The Census of India web site carries data and information relating to the 1991 and 2001 decennial censuses of India. The Census Data Online area of the site (http://www.censusindia.net/cendat/index.html) carries a selection of country- and state-level results for the 1991 Census of India in HTML tables. The data from 2001 can be most easily reached from the link “2001 Census Results – Index” which leads to selected country and state-level tables in PDF or Excel. The site also describes additional fee-based data products from the Census of India.

Census Product Catalog (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The Census Product Catalog provides descriptions and ordering contact information for Census Bureau products -- CD-ROMs, DVDs, publications, maps and other statistical and reference products. This is now the only product catalog on the Census web site; e-sales were discontinued in Fall 2007. The catalog contains brief product descriptions but no prices; customers must call the Customer Service Center for price and ordering information.

CensusScope (Social Science Data Analysis Network)
The Social Science Data Network (SSDAN) at the University of Michigan offers this point and click interface to Census 2000 data. Pre-selected topics for charts, maps, and trends let the user choose a state or metro area using drop-down menus. The graphics are eye-catching and suitable for printing.

Center for Business & Economic Research (CBER) - Alabama (Culverhouse College of Commerce, University of Alabama)
Alabama’s CBER “works to promote economic development through economic and demographic research for public and private sector organizations.” The site hosts the Alabama State Data Center web pages, and includes an Alabama-specific version of the Census Bureau’s American FactFinder data interface, called Alabama FactFinder. The Data and Maps section of the site also carries a page of special 2000 Census tabulations specific to Alabama, in XLS and sometimes ASCII format. The Publications section of the site includes ordering information for the Economic Abstract of Alabama, in hard copy only.

Center for Demography and Ecology (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Many excellent CDE Working Papers are available online.

Center for International Development Research Datasets (Harvard University)
The Research Datasets Page at Harvard’s Center for International Development (CID) contain links to datasets and accompanying papers results from research done at the Center. Data is presented in a various formats. Some titles include: Demographic Change and Economic Growth in Asia; International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications; and, Sources of Slow Growth in African Economies.

Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) (Columbia University)
Columbia University's CIESIN works with on-line data applications and training in the fields of social and natural sciences. The site features links to freely-available data from CIESIN's ftp servers, such as the China Dimensions Data Collection and the Environmental Sustainability Index.

Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD) Data Core (The RAND Corporation)
The Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD) of the RAND Corporation has made available online a collection of public use datasets designed for analyzing disparities in cost-of-living, disability, pollution, population and housing characteristics, segregation, street connectivity, and neighborhood socioeconomic status in the United States. The datasets are derived from public-use data from the U.S. Census, the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Most of the data covers the 1990-2000 time period. The data is available for various geographic summarization areas including census tract, county, and MSA, and has also been put into both 1990 and 2000 geographical definitions. Data formats include SAS, Stata, and CSV. Free registration is required, along with a description of the research and who else is collaborating on the project, and registrations are reviewed before access is granted.

Child Trends Databank (www.childtrends.org)
The Child Trends Data Bank is a large site dedicated to providing information on a variety of issues affecting children in the U.S. The site is broken down into categories, including health, mental health, health-related behaviors, violence, drug and tobacco usage, and health care. There are various sub-categories available under the main categories. The site provides mainly statistics and tabulated data, but does offer links to raw data concerning most categories. There is also a keyword search.

China Data Center (China Data Center, University of Michigan)

"China Data Center is a constituent unit of the International Institute at the University of Michigan. Founded in 1997, the China Data Center is designed to serve as an international center for advancing the study and understanding of China. A primary goal of the Center is the integration of historical, social and natural science data in a geographic information system. Its missions are: to support research in the human and natural components of local, regional and global change; to promote quantitative research on China; to promote collaborative research in spatial studies; and to promote the use and sharing of China data in teaching and research. The center is partnering with several Chinese government agencies and companies in distributing China statistical data and publications and providing data services outside of China."

While most of the data mentioned on the site are subscription-based, the China Data Center does offer free statistical yearbooks for 1996 to 2001: in the left-hand menu bar on the site, click on the year of the yearbook you would like to see.

Note: UW-Madison does not subscribe to China Data Online. DISC's single-user free partial-subscription to China Data online has been discontinued, as the offer is no longer available for large institutions.

China Dimensions (CIESIN/SEDAC)
The China Data Management Team of SEDAC (Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center) at CIESIN has developed a large collection of data on China to be used in consort with GIS systems, such as: County-Level Data on Population and Agriculture, 1990: Keyed to 1:1M GIS Map. County-Level Data on Provincial Economic Yearbooks, 1990-91: Keyed to 1:1M GIS Map. Agricultural Statistics of the People's Republic of China, 1949-94.

Colorado by the Numbers (CBN) (University of Colorado at Boulder Government Publications Library)
Colorado by the Numbers was developed in 1996 as “an online statistical abstract for the State of Colorado.” At the time, it was primarily populated with data downloaded from CD-ROM products. The earlier data originating from CD-ROMs is still available, but updates have taken the form of annotated links to other online entities with information about Colorado, from airports to immigration to taxation to traffic safety. A very nice collection of links, but the format may come as a surprise to users expecting a more traditional statistical abstract.

Components of Population Change (Nineteenth Century) (Michael Haines)
The five text-based tables in this file were prepared by Michael Haines of Colgate University. The goal is to provide some updated summary information on the components of population change, the composition of the population, fertility and mortality, regional population redistribution, and recorded immigration to the United States from 1790 to 1920.

Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) (U.S. Department of Energy)
The Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) is a “public-use repository of data from occupational and environmental health studies of workers at DOE facilities and nearby community residents. DOE is the federal agency responsible for the development, testing, and production of nuclear weapons. Because this work involves exposures to ionizing radiation and other potentially hazardous materials, DOE established an epidemiologic program in the 1960's to monitor the health of its workforce. Later, an environmental dose reconstruction program was initiated to study the potential health risks due to releases that traveled off-site to communities near DOE facilities.” The site includes multiple datasets related to radiation and health. Abstracts are available in html format. Users must be authorized to view data from the site. Authorization information is available on the site under the link “How to become an authorized CEDR user.”

County and City Data Book, 1988 and 1994 (University of Virginia)
This resource provides WWW access to the electronic versions of the 1944 - 2000 County and City Data Books. The 1944 to 1983 editions have county, state and city data, while the 1988 to 2000 editions also include place data. Users can select variables to create custom printouts and/or customized data subsets.

County and City Data Book, 2000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The entire 2000 County and City Data Book is available in PDF, with selected tables available in text format.

County Population Trend Reports (University of Missouri-St. Louis, Urban Information Center)
Provides ASCII tables of historical to 1995 population counts for all U.S. counties, including percent change (post-1990 data include a breakdown of change factors).

Current Population Survey Economic-related Supplements (U.S. Bureau of the Census and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Included here are the Displaced Workers, Job Tenure and Occupational Mobility, the Contingent Worker and Alternative Employment surveys, and a number of others as well. The sites provide an overview, online data dictionary, selected unweighted tallies, and tables and an extraction service through DataFerrett.

Current Population Survey Table Creator (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The U.S. Bureau of the Census offers the Current Population Survey (CPS) Table Creator as a working prototype. The data comes from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) for 2002 and 2003, collected in 2003 and 2004. The ASEC is the survey formerly known as the Annual Demographic Survey aka the March Supplement. The table-creation form comes in seven sections: Years of data, universe, subsets, variable selection, statistics, customized formatting, and appearance issues. A “Detailed Examples” section shows examples of table creation.

Cutler/Glaeser/Vigdor Segregation Data (David Cutler, Edward Glaeser, Jacob Vigdor)
This geographic/historical dataset contains ASCII files for years 1890-2000, documentation concerning the segregation measures and supplemental census geographic data.

Data Online for Population, Health, and Nutrition (DOLPHN) (U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID))
DOLPHN is an online database of 70 demographic and health variables for over 200 countries, compiled and cited from a variety of sources. Data entries go by 5-year increments 1950 to 1980, annually from 1981 to 2005, and then by 5-year increments again for future projections out to 2050. Depending on the country and the source, there are many gaps. An interactive menu screen allows the user to select countries, variables, years, and output options, including HTML or Excel, and various graph outputs. DOLPHN also includes biannual Country Health Statistical Reports for over 60 countries, as PDF documents.

Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR) (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and Carolina Population Center (CPC), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR) provides assistance to both users and producers of demographic data. The site contains information and links for major demographic studies, and a description of the DSDR services including tools and strategies for disseminating both public-use and restricted data, and training both in data archiving and data use.

DataPlace (KnowledgePlex and Fannie Mae Foundation)
The DataPlace web site aims to be a one-stop resource for U.S. housing and demographic data. The initial data sources include the 1990 and 2000 Censuses, Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy special Census tabulation, Population Projections and Population & Housing Estimates from the U.S. Census, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Individual Tax Return Summary Data from the IRS, and County and ZIP Business Patterns. Via the interactive interface, users can choose indicators, geographies, and years (available years depend on the indicator). Output can be in the form of quick profiles, maps, or bar or line charts with an HTML table. Registered users (registration is free) can save output to a personalized "My DataPlace" area of the site. The site also includes a calendar for data releases, a feature for housing data news, and an excellent list of links to housing and demographic data compiled from the EconData.Net database.

Delaware Census 2000 (University of Delaware)
Research & Data Management Services of the University of Delaware has created this site to provide access to Census 2000 data files for Delaware. Features include a Census Mapper, an ArcIMS application that provides GIS access to the data, and selective access to data in ArcView shapefile format and Excel format.

Delaware Economic Development Office – Statistics (Delaware Economic Development Office)
The Delaware Economic Development Office web site has a section on business and tourism statistics, mostly in PDF but with some HTML tables. Reports include demographic and economic profiles of towns and counties; travel report and visitor profiles; and a statistical overview of topics aimed at attracting business to the region.

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) (U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID))

The MEASURE DHS program facilitiates the Demographic and Health Survey, the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) Survey, and the HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS). The resulting datasets, which focus on Central and South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, are available for direct downloading. Datasets include information on family planning, maternal and child health, child survival, AIDS, educational attainment, and household composition and characteristics. Online data tools include:

  • the STATcompiler tool for quick facts and country comparisons, allowing users to build customized tables from DHS surveys and indicators.
  • the HIV/AIDS Survey Indicators Database, for creating HIV/AIDS data tables from a variety of sources.
  • the STATmapper tool for creating maps from DHS data in more than 75 countries.

Documentation and SPSS/PC and SAS data dictionaries are also available. Users must register and receive a password to download datasets.

DiversityData (Harvard School of Public Health)
The DiversityData project at the Harvard School of Public Health is aimed at users who are interested in describing, profiling and ranking United States metropolitan areas in terms of quality of life, with an emphasis on diversity issues. The site encourages researchers, policymakers and community advocates to make use of the data to advocate for policy action and social change. Visitors to the site can examine metropolitan areas on a range of social measures such as education, housing opportunities, economic opportunities, residential integration, and health, using data from multiple data sources. The emphasis on diversity applies to various racial/ethnic, income and nativity groups. The strength of the DiversityData resource is its user-friendly menus and its display of profiles, rankings and maps. The site currently only offers a single year worth of data for any variable, and focuses on data display rather than download.

Economic & Business Research Center - Arizona (Eller College of Management, University of Arizona)
The Economic & Business Research Center web site features a "current indicators" section that provides HTML tables of economic indicators over time. For the United States as a whole, the site provides the Consumer Price Index, while for Arizona and two metro areas (Phoenix-Mesa and Tucson) the indicators include population, unemployment, job growth, wages/earnings, personal income, housing permits, and retail sales. The Publications section of the site includes ordering information for the Arizona Statistical Abstract, in hard copy only.

E-STAT (Statistics Canada)
E-STAT is Statistics Canada's interactive learning tool for the education community. E-STAT offers an enormous warehouse of reliable and timely statistics about Canada and its ever-changing people, including summary census data down to the tract level and an annually-updated version of the CANSIM socioeconomic database. It contains data on economy, land and resources, people, government, justice and social conditions. E-STAT is available to registered educational institutions only, including UW-Madison.

ETI Drill Down Tool Kits (Employment and Training Institute, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

The ETI Drill Down Tool Kits site is a nicely-packaged collection of U.S. Census data broken down to the census tract level, examining business and worker characteristics and purchasing power estimates. The Employment and Training Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee presents the information with an eye toward business plans, economic development and academic research. The data are compiled from Census Transportation Planning Packets and decennial data from 2000, Consumer Expenditures Surveys, and ZIP Code Business Patterns.

The “drill down” reports include:

  • Business Place-of-Work Drill Downs examine the characteristics of jobs located in each U.S. census tract
  • Employer Diversity Drill Downs identify the race/Hispanic origin composition of the workforce employed in each U.S. census tract
  • Neighborhood Workforce Drill Downs describe the type of jobs held by local residents
  • Purchasing Power Profiles examine retail potential for 16 different types of consumer expenditures for census tracts and residential ZIP codes
  • Urban Markets Retail Sales Leakage/Surplus Drill Downs show the difference between the purchasing power of residents compared to the retail sales estimated to result from retail employees in the same neighborhood

Extract Software and Documentation for Census CD-ROMs (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
EXTRACT is a general purpose data display and extraction tool that works with Census Bureau CD-ROMs recorded in dBASE format (such as 1990 STFs and EEO files; County and City Data Book 1994 and 1998; and others). This page provides everything needed to run EXTRACT with each Census CD-ROM: downloadable software, auxiliary files needed for particular datasets, and documentation.

FAOSTAT (United Nations. Food and Agricultural Organization)
"FAOSTAT provides access to over 3 million time-series and cross sectional data relating to food and agriculture. FAOSTAT contains data for 200 countries and more than 200 primary products and inputs, just in its core." The FAOSTAT system was overhauled in 2006, with new features released gradually over the course of the year. The updated site relies on a core database which both integrates and serves as a gateway to complementary thematic databases.

Florida Bureau of Economic & Business Research (BEBR) (Warrington College of Business, University of Florida)
The Florida Bureau of Economic & Business Research (BEBR) web site carries free reports in PDF of retail price and wage indices by Florida county; Florida price level indices; historical census counts for Florida and counties 1830 through 2000; and per capita & total personal income by MSA and county. Other publications are available for purchase, including the Florida Statistical Abstract in hard copy and on CD-ROM.

GenderStats (World Bank)
GenderStats is an interactive database of gender statistics, developed by the World Bank's Gender and Development. GenderStats offers country data sheets showing summary gender indicators, basic demographic data, population dynamics, labor force structure, and education and health statistics. Data sources for GenderStats include national statistics, United Nations databases, and World Bank-conducted or funded surveys. Results may be saved in Excel format.

General Household Survey, Great Britain (Social Survey Division, Office for National Statistics)
According to the GHS web site, “The General Household Survey (GHS) is a multi-purpose continuous survey carried out by the Social Survey Division of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which collects information on a range of topics from people living in private households in Great Britain. The survey started in 1971 and has been carried out continuously since then, except for breaks in 1997/98 (when the survey was reviewed) and 1999/2000 when the survey was re-developed.” General Household Survey documentation and datasets are online at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=5756&More=N. A particularly user-friendly presentation of GHS 2002 results, including time-series tables in Excel, can be found in the Living in Britain 2002 report at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/lib2002/ (the 2000 and 2001 reports are also online).

Georgia2000 Information System (University of Georgia, Carl Vinson Institute of Government)
The Georgia2000 Information System bills itself as “the best source on the web for Georgia statistics.” It takes its sources from the 2000 U.S. Census, county vital statistics, economic development agencies, school districts and more. Users can generate HTML reports (that can be saved as Excel files) via the “menu-based reporting,” or take a map-based approach which requires download of the Autodesk MapGuide Viewer from the site. A list of reports is available at http://ga2000.itos.uga.edu/more_info/info_data_sources.asp, while a list of maps is at http://ga2000.itos.uga.edu/more_info/info_map_layers.asp. The menu-based reporting only allows selection of a single entity (e.g. one county, one MSA, or one ZIP code) at a time. Free registration is required to use the system.

Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) (U.S. National Air and Space Administration (NASA))
The Global Change Master Directory is a large database of records containing annotated links pointing to web pages for “Earth science data sets and services relevant to global change and Earth science research.” The section on Human Dimensions, available as a link from the front page, makes the connection between the physical sciences that are the primary emphasis of the directory and the social sciences upon which global change impacts. The Human Dimensions section of the directory includes close to 3,400 records in the categories of Attitudes/Preferences/Behavior, Economic Resources, Human Health, Natural Hazards and more. Each record contains links, a brief text summary, contact information for the person or entity that created the site, and in many cases a Google Earth map showing the geographic coverage of the information.

Global Market Information Database (UW-Madison Subscription) (Euromonitor)
Global Market Information Database (formerly known as World Consumer Markets) delivers volume and value market size data across 52 countries. All the data is fully comparable across more than 350 consumer products and over a six-year time series. Key socio-economic parameters such as population trends and economic indicators are also included to help place consumer trends in context. Note: UW-Madison subscribes via IP-authentication; all users are also required to log in with user ID and password.

Global Population Database (CIESIN)
Used to map the populations of 107 countries, in three subsets: Total, Rural, and Urban population counts. The database uses a rectangular grid for mapping of 20 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude (about 2,000 square kilometers at the equator). For urban areas of more than 25,000 people, density circles are drawn to provide more detail. Population projections from the U.S. Census Bureau's International Programs Center allow for the latest migration patterns. Documentation viewable on the web site, data available via FTP in ARC/INFO format.

Great Britain Historical GIS Project (University of Portsmouth)
The Great Britain Historical GIS Project aims to be a comprehensive description of Great Britain and places within Great Britain, back through history. The project contains geographic information ranging from mapped coordinates to text descriptions from gazetteers and historical travel accounts. The project also includes a vast quantity of geographically-linked historical social data, much of which makes up the Great Britain Historical Database (http://hds.essex.ac.uk/gbh.asp). The GIS project currently produces two freely-accessible web sites: the smaller but graphically-rich Vision of Britain through time site, and the more in-depth, text-based Gazetteer Preview.

Green Book (Ways and Means Committee, U.S. House of Representatives)
Entitlement programs within the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and other related materials. Published every two years, the Green Book is over 1000 pages long in paper form and contains many tables of longitudinal data on poverty, income, program participation, and taxation in a variety of public policy areas including social security, Medicaid and Medicare, welfare, child care, unemployment insurance, immigration, etc. The Green Book is available through the GPO Access web site, from the 1996 edition to the present, with a search function by year. The 1994 edition (no search capability) is available on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services web site.

Guadalajara Censuses Project, 1792-1930 (Florida State University)
This project at Florida State University, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, aims to created a database from the population censuses of Guadalajara, Mexico, from 1792 to 1930. The site explains the project and provides codebook and variable list information. Data from 1821 and 1822 is currently available on CD-ROM, with a second volume to follow (scheduled release date is 2005).

Historical Estimates of World Population (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
Text table comparing various cited sources of estimates from 10000 B.C. to 1950 A.D.

Historical Microdata Around the World (Norwegian Historical Data Centre)
This page summarizes a number of projects involving the archiving of historical microdata, primarily for countries in North America and Europe.

Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition Online (UW-Madison subscription) (Cambridge University Press)
The historical counterpart to the annual Statistical Abstract of the United States has finally been updated and put online! The previous edition covered colonial times through 1970 and was issued by the U.S. Bureau of the Census in honor of the U.S. Bicentennial (DISC has the bicentennial edition on CD-ROM). The present edition, greatly expanded and updated, was undertaken by Cambridge University Press, resulting in a web edition as well as 5 volumes in print (print volumes available at several libraries on the UW-Madison campus, including the CDE print library). Major subject categories include: Population, Work and Welfare, Economic Structure and Performance, Economic Sectors, Governance and International Relations. The online version offers tables for download in XLS and CSV, along with a custom table feature for combining more than one table. The custom tables and some other site features require a free registration, in addition to the subscription provided by UW-Madison via IP-authentication.

HNPStats (World Bank)
HNPStats, short for Health, Nutrition, and Population Statistics, is a component of the Knowledge Management System of the World Bank's Human Development Network. HNPStats offers a query system for an international database of time series covering indicators for health status, health determinants, and health finance. Results may be downloaded in Excel. The site also carries country summaries in Excel and PDF.

Human Mortality Database (Department of Demography at the University of California-Berkeley and The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)
The Human Mortality Database is the sister of the Human Life Table Database. The Human Mortality Database is also an outgrowth of the Department of Demography at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. The Database measures mortality data by country, specifically industrialized countries such as the United States and much of Western Europe. Users can download data by country (free registration required).

IEA Census State Data Center – Arkansas (University of Arkansas at Little Rock, College of Business)
The web site of the IEA Census State Data Center for Arkansas features online decennial census data for Arkansas, with 2000 Census data in drop-down menus for user-generated tables, and pre-selected ASCII format tables for 1980 and 1990 data. A new site highlight is Comprehensive Housing Affordable Strategy (CHAS) Data Tables from Census 2000. The site also features population estimates and projects from the Census Bureau. The print version Arkansas Statistical Abstract is available for purchase under the Publications section of the site.

Immigration and Naturalization Statistics (Office of Immigration Statistics, U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
This site provides comprehensive annual immigration statistics, profiles of naturalized citizens and legal permanent residents, immigration maps, and reports on the immigration-related activities of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The annual Statistical Yearbook makes available detailed tables in Excel format for editions since 1996.

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) (Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota)
The IPUMS project makes census microdata available for the U.S. (1850 to present) and for an increasing number of international censuses. For each arm of the project (U.S., international, and Current Population Survey), samples are combined into a unified database, with uniform codes and integrated documentation. Users can create and download extracts online. One major asset of the international arm of the project is the inventory of known censuses and surviving microdata. Free registration and agreement to conditions of use is required for download.

International Data Base (IDB) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Programs Center)
The IDB contains demographic and socio-economic statistics for all countries of the world, combining data from country sources (especially censuses and surveys) with IPC's estimates and projections to provide information dating back as far as 1950 and as far ahead as 2050. Data may be broken down by age, sex, and rural/urban areas, and cover such topics as population, fertility, family planning, marital status, households, migration, ethnicity, religion, language, literacy, labor force, employment and incomes. Tables may be viewed online, downloaded in spreadsheet or customizable (comma or space delimited, etc.) format, or the entire database may be downloaded for use on a PC.

Introduction to Census Resources (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Data and Information Services Center (DISC))
This is a guide developed at DPLS, to acquaint users with 1990 Census data. The guide is divided into sections that discuss various aspects of the Census such as geography, outlines of printed and machine-readable products, sampling and the presentation of data, and a searching tool for finding further information.

IPUMS CPS (Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota)
IPUMS-CPS is an integrated set of microdata from 1962 to almost the present of the March annual supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). The Current Population Survey is a monthly U.S. household survey conducted jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the March supplement collects demographic and income information widely used by social scientists and policy makers. So that the data may be more easily compared across time, IPUMS-CPS codes the variables identically from year to year. The data is also compatible with the IPUMS-USA decennial census project, at http://usa.ipums.org/usa/. IPUMS-CPS covers all substantive variables from the original CPS samples. A free registration is required to create and download extracts from IPUMS.

Language Use Data (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
Summary tables, derived from the 1990 and 2000 Census of Population and Housing, on language spoken at home and ability to speak English, by age, for states and United States. 1990 tables are in ASCII, 2000 tables are in Excel or PDF.

Latin American Migration Project (LAMP) (Princeton University and University of Guadalajara)
The Latin American Migration Project (LAMP) is a multidisciplinary research project based at Princeton University and the University of Guadalajara. The survey is based on the Mexican Migration Project and uses the same methodology: an ethnosurvey approach, combining ethnographic techniques with representative survey sampling to gather qualitative as well as quantitative data. Latin American migration to the United States is the focus, but some additional migration patterns are included as well, such as migration from Paraguay to Argentina. The LAMP began in 1998, with the survey of five communities in Puerto Rico, and has since expanded to include the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, Haiti, and Guatemala. Data from all these countries is available for download (free registration required).

MABLE/GEOCORR Geographic Correspondence Engine (University of Missouri St. Louis and CIESIN)
An interactive database which allows researchers to input source geographic units, and receive equivalent target units to provide correlation, or crosswalk tables. Any geographic unit specified in the 1990 Census, from nation down to block level, plus special designated areas such as Congressional Districts, ZIP codes, and PUMAs from the Public-Use Microdata Samples may be used as either source or target geocodes. The user may choose to weight the correlation by either population, housing unit counts or land area, depending on the subject. The gigantic database that underlies this operation is called MABLE--Master Area Block Level Equivalency file. MABLE contains nearly seven million block-level entries--the smallest Census unit, used as the 'atoms' to build up the equivalency files. There is a mirror site if you cannot connect; a new version with access to Census 2000 geography is available as well.

Madison Neighborhood Indicators Project (City of Madison, Wisconsin)
The Madison Neighborhood Indicators Project program, funded by the City of Madison (Wisconsin) and hosted by UW-Madison's Applied Population Lab, offers a single year of selected data indicators plus mapping capability, covering the city of Madison as a whole and 70 neighborhoods, also organized as 57 planning districts. Indicators for each neighborhood include a basic area & population profile, public safety indicators, health & well-being indicators, community action & involvement indicators, economic vitality indicators, and housing quality & availability indicators. Mapping and neighborhood-comparison tools are available on the site. Note that some indicators, particularly relating to health and family well-being, are suppressed at the neighborhood level due to privacy concerns. The project launched as a pilot in 2008 with 5 neighborhoods, and went city-wide in October 2009.

Maryland State Data Center (Maryland State Data Center)
Although each state has Data Centers in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, Maryland's online offerings are more extensive than most. The site focuses on census information and socioeconomic projects for the state of Maryland.

Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790 to 2000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
“Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790-2000” tracks the development of the census in the United States from 1790 to the present. The report shows the growth of the United States and the gradual changes in population demographics through questionnaires used in each census. Methodology for each census is also included. Note: DISC also has a print copy available in the library.

Metropolitan Racial and Ethnic Change--Census 2000 (Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research, State University of New York at Albany)
These pages from the Lewis Mumford Center offer information and analyses of how the racial and ethnic composition of metropolitan areas has shifted from 1990 to 2000, and how increasing diversity is experienced at the level of local neighborhoods. The data page of the site offers 11 topic choices, relying on Census data, including segregation in the population as a whole, school segregation, and homeowners/renters. For each topic, there are 3 ways to view the data: select a metro area (HTML output), sortable lists (again HTML, but the tables can be re-sorted with a mouse click), or download as Excel files.

Minorities at Risk (MAR) (Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland)
The Minorities at Risk project tracks 284 politically-active ethnic groups worldwide from 1945 to 2003. The project focuses on ethnopolitical groups that experience discriminatory treatment in relation to other groups in society, and that mobilize for political action on the basis of their identity and self-defined interests. The data section of the site includes both qualitative and quantitative elements. The qualitative area carries reports of risk assessments and analytic summaries for each of the groups in the project, as well as chronologies for each group that detail important events in the history of each group and their location. The variables in the quantitative data address such aspects as group characteristics, organization, discrimination, collective interests, and conflict behavior. The main MAR dataset can be downloaded either as an ASCII text file, or through a Windows software program called the Minorities At Risk Data Generation and Management Program (MARGene). The site also includes a Discrimination Dataset, available either in SPSS or Excel, that records overall levels of political and economic discrimination for all groups in the Minorities at Risk Project.

Minority Data Resource Center (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR))
The Minority Data Resource Center (MDRC) is a new addition to ICPSR’s growing collection of special-purpose archives, showcasing existing ICPSR data. The focus of the MDRC is data for comparative analysis of issues affecting racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. The subject coverage of the selected studies runs the gamut from education to housing to poverty to political participation. MDRC data falls into two general categories: studies that focus specifically on minority populations, such as the National Black Election Studies series; and studies with large enough sample sizes or ethnic/racial oversampling to permit meaningful analysis of issues that affect race and ethnic minority populations, such as the American Housing Survey series. While documentation is freely browsable, data download is available only to ICPSR member institutions, including UW-Madison.

Missouri Census Data Center (MCDC) (Missouri State Library)
The MCDC has an impressive web site of tools and data, focusing on U.S. Census data for Missouri but with some nationwide components and other economic indicators as well. Highlights include the UEXPLORE application that lets advanced users explore and download from the extensive MCDC data archive; the MCDC Internet Map Server (GIS for non-experts); and a Circular Area Profiles online application to generate aggregate SF3 Census data for a circular area where the user defines the center and radius.

Missouri State Census Data Center County Population Trends Report, 1960-1995 (Missouri State Census Data Center)
These ASCII tables, covering counties throughout the United States, come from two U.S. Census Bureau sources: For the years 1960-1990, the data comes from the Census Bureau's USA Counties 1994 on CD-ROM, which contains Social and Economic Indicators from various federal agencies. For the years 1990-1995, the data comes from the Census Bureau's population estimates with components of change data.

Nang Rong Projects (Thailand) (Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University (Thailand))
(from the web site) “The Nang Rong Projects are designed to monitor and promote understanding of the sweeping demographic, social, and environmental changes taking place in Nang Rong, Thailand, over the last 20 years. Scholars from across the US and Thailand contribute to research on life course choices, fertility and contraceptive behavior, migration processes, and land use/land cover change.” The projects include a household census (1984, 1994, 2000); migrant follow-up data (1994/5, 2000/1); documentation of social networks; community-level data; and GIS sources. Most of the household data and migrant follow-up data are downloadable for public use, while other areas of the data are restricted and require an IRB-approved research plan and a contractual confidentiality agreement.

National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) (Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota)
The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) a massive database covering all available aggregate US census data between 1790 and 2000. Funded largely by the National Science Foundation, the NHGIS not only incorporates existing census data, but also creates high-quality electronic boundary files for census tracts dating back to 1790. The project covers population, economic, and agricultural census data as well as selected voting statistics, land-use data and information on physical geography. Free registration required for access to the data.

National Longitudinal Surveys (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
The National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) are a set of surveys designed to gather information at multiple points in time on the labor market activities and other significant life events of several groups of men and women. Data and documentation can either be downloaded for free or ordered on CD-ROM (click on "Order NLS Data" to do either). There is also a utility for selecting and extracting up to 250 variables from the first three years of interviews of the NLSY97; the results are sent via e-mail.

National Neighborhood Indicators Project (NNIP) (Urban Institute)

The National Neighborhood Indicators Project (NNIP) is a collaborative effort by the Urban Institute and local partners to further the development and use of neighborhood-level information systems in local policymaking and community building. With 32 partners as of June 2009, from Atlanta to Washington, the NNIP fosters local projects to gather and use local data to effect community change. Arts and Local Culture Indicators are a recent addition to the project, along with a Foreclosure Resources site. Note that reports on the site of partner activities are often in PDF. Access to actual data may take considerable drilling-down into partner web sites.

Visit DISC in person to use the Urban Institutes flagship data product, the Neighborhood Change Database (NCDB), to analyze decennial Census data at the tract level from 1970 through 2000.

National Statistics Online (UK) (United Kingdom)
The United Kingdom's official statistics site, with data and reports "reflecting Britain's economy, population and society at national and local level." The former StatBase service has been integrated into the main site, and is now called Time Series Data. This portion of the site contains more than 40,000 time series from major National Statistics economic and socio-economic releases, including full historical data, available at no cost. Navidata software for time-series display and simple manipulation can be downloaded as well.

National Women’s Health Indicators Database (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office on Women’s Health)
“NWHID contains extensive health data from the year 2000 for the entire United States, and it will updated on a yearly basis. National, regional, state and county data are available and the data can be stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, and age concurrently. The database includes statistics on: Demographics, Mortality, Access to care, Infections and chronic disease, Reproductive health, Maternal health, Mental health, Prevention, and Violence and Abuse. Access is free, and users can make their own tables and graphs out of any data in the database. The database also incorporates a mapping capability using ArcView GIS. Age-adjusted data and 3-year averages are included for many of the health indicators.”

NationMaster.com – World Statistics, Country Comparisons ()
This site was founded as an engine for comparing countries using the figures from the latest CIA World Factbook (no time-series data). Many additional sources have been added, so that statistics range from pesticide use to web-site defacements to Olympic gold medals. Results are displayed in an HTML table, with options for "correlations" (NationMaster chooses the indicators to correlate) or scatterplot images with country flags used as datapoints. In April 2006, a sister-site called StateMaster for U.S. States was launched. Both sites are useful for cursory comparisons and also for tracking an indicator back to its source; be aware that the encyclopedia to which NationMaster links is Wikipedia.

NEMDA - Key Data on Ethnic Minorities in Great Britain (National Ethnic Minority Data Archive)
Sponsored by The National Ethnic Minority Data Archive project (NEMDA), this site contains data about ethnic minorities in Great Britain, primarily from the 1991 census. There is no raw data, but the site provides summary charts in HTML and PDF reports.

New York State Statistics (Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, State University of New York)
Hosted by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the New York State Statistical Yearbook since 2002 is available online in PDF and Excel files. The print versions of editions back to 1998 may be ordered from the web site.

North American Jewish Data Bank (NAJDB) (United Jewish Communities (UJC) and University of Connecticut)
The North American Jewish Data Bank collects and disseminates social science surveys and reports pertaining to the Jewish community in North America. The collection includes the National Jewish Population Surveys of 1971, 1990 and 2000-01; several other national surveys of the American Jewish community, and over 90 local Jewish community surveys. Free registration is required to download datasets, documentation and reports.

NPA Data Services, Inc. (NPA Data Services, Inc.)
NPA Data Services, Inc. is an economic research and data development firm offering subscription and customized data products, based primarily on their National and Regional Economic Projections Series. Coverage includes economic, household, and population data and projections from 1967 to 2025.

OECD Factbook (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD))

The OECD Factbook is the organization's best-selling title, an annual global overview focusing on economic, social and environmental indicators for OECD member countries and several additional partners (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, Indonesia, China, South Africa, Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia.) Each year a special topic is chosen for a supplemental chapter; in 2009 the special topic is inequality.

The Factbook is available through the UW-Madison SourceOECD subscription, but also in various formats for non-subscribers, including PDF with Excel graphs. OECD Factbook also provides Trendalyzer dynamic visualisation software to help users identify long-term trends and comparisons between countries, and the Flash-based OECD Factbook eXplorer which combines maps and graphs with stories to let users examine time developments and interrelations between indicators.

Office of Financial Management – State of Washington (State of Washington)
The Forecasting Division of the Office of Financial Management for the State of Washington “provides estimates of state and local population, monitors changes in the state economy and labor force, and conducts research on a variety of issues affecting the state budget and public policy.” One highlight of the site is the Washington State Data Book, the state’s statistical abstract. Washington only posts its most recent State Data Book (the 2005 edition was posted in January 2006) and recommends that its users follow up on the specific sources of the data to get the absolute latest figures. The State Data Book tables display in HTML but may be downloaded as PDF or Excel files. Also of interest on the OFM Forecasting Division site are a Criminal Justice Data Book and an Employer Health Insurance Data Book for the state of Washington. In addition, Washington conducts a biennial State Population Survey, with downloadable data posted on the site for 1998 through 2004.

Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (National Office of Statistics)
The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom offers a plethora of information concerning Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Included in the site are maps (available in PDF) and a variety of information related to demographics within the U.K. The site also includes summaries of the government’s policy on a range of U.K. issues including agriculture, the environment, trade, social policy, etc. The yearbook is available in PDF. Maps and spreadsheets can be downloaded separately, but the yearbook is only available as one document.

PACO Project: Advancing Panel Comparability (Center for Population, Poverty and Public Policy Studies (CEPS) and International Networks for Studies in Technology, Enviroment, Alternative Development (INSTEAD))
"The PACO (Panel Comparability) Project is a centralized approach to create an international comparative database integrating micro-data from various national household panels over a large number of years." The project includes panel data from 10 countries: UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Belgium, Spain, Sweden and United States. Variables focus on income, demography, and labor force. The archive of the original micro-data from the panels included in the project is not publicly available, but the PACO database containing harmonized data from 8 countries can be purchased on CD-ROM.

Países@ (Countries@) (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE))

The Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) has announced a new map-based data extractor called Países@ (“Países” translates to “Countries”). This Flash-based ready reference tool contains basic population, social indicator, economic, technological, land use, and United Nations Millenium Development Goals information for each of the 192 United Nations members for the latest year available.

To use the extractor, select a country from the World Map on the Países@ main page. Basic information about the country will appear (in Portuguese, the only currently-available language for Países@). Select a category of indicators for that country, then click the globe icon next to an individual indicator to get a sortable listing for that indicator for all countries in the database. Additional information for each country includes a political map, a short slide show featuring photographic highlights of the country, and a link to a Google satellite map.

Note: for geographically-small countries, users may have to use the magnifying glass icon (+) several times, in conjunction with the arrow keys, until the country becomes large enough to click on.

Pew Hispanic Center (Pew Charitable Trusts)
The Pew Hispanic Center, supported by Pew Charitable Trusts, was founded in 2001 "to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the entire nation." The Center commissions studies on such topics as education, immigration, labor, and economics, including some public opinion surveys. Several datasets are available on the site, along with research reports back to 2002.

Polling The Nations: The Ultimate Survey Database (UW-Madison Subscription) (ORS Publishing)
“Polling The Nations: The Ultimate Survey Database” offers users the chance to sort through various polls using strict search criteria. Users may search by topic, question asked in the poll, “universe” (i.e., geographic locality indicated on the poll), date, source, and “results” (i.e., categories such as women, Blacks, Hispanics, etc.) An extensive list of topics is provided for using controlled vocabulary within the searches. Note: UW-Madison subscribes to this resource via IP authentication. Non-UW-Madison users may visit the Polling the Nations site at http://poll.orspub.com/.

Population Estimates - U.S. Census Bureau (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The Population Estimates Program of the U.S. Census Bureau publishes total resident population estimates and demographic components of change (births, deaths, and migration) each year. Estimates are also provided for the U.S., states and counties by demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin). In addition to the resident population universe, the program also produces population estimates for these universes: resident plus armed forces overseas, civilian, and civilian non-institutional at the national level; and civilian at the state level. The reference date for estimates is July 1. With each new issue of July 1 estimates, estimates are revised for years back to the last census. Previously published estimates are superseded and archived; archives for state and county estimates go back to 1970, while national estimates go back as far as 1900. For current estimates, users may select either popular tables in XLS or CSV format, or download the entire dataset in CSV. Archived data is in various formats: CSV, TXT, PDF. Estimates are developed with the assistance of the Federal State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE).

Population Index on the Web (Princeton University, Office of Population Research)
From the Office of Population Research at Princeton University. This searchable database contains items from the quarterly published bibliography from 1986 to the present. Pre-1986 issues of Population Index are available through JSTOR for subscribing institutions only (including UW-Madison).

Population Reference Bureau (Population Reference Bureau)
The Population Reference Bureau's web site lists its areas of focus as Evironment, HIV/AIDS, Population Trends, and Reproductive Health. Within those areas, topics include aging, education, family planning, fertility, gender, health, marriage/family, migration, mortality, policy, poverty, race/ethnicity, and youth. In service of these topics, the PRB web site carries reports, data sheets, and serial publications, in addition to a database called the DataFinder. The DataFinder contains data on 95 demographic variables for more than 220 countries, 28 world regions and sub-regions, the world as a whole, the United States as a whole, and the U.S. states.

Population Studies Center (PSC) Data Archive (University of Michigan)
The data archive at the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center (PSC) primarily serves the data needs of researchers at the center. The site contains the PSC data archive catalog, outside links, and a specialized Census Support section.

Question and Answer Center (Ask Census) (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The Question and Answer Center of the U.S. Census web site includes a searchable database of over 300 frequently-asked questions regarding the U.S. Census, and their answers. You can also use this feature to e-mail your own question if you do not find the answer in the database.

School District Demographics System (SDDS) (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education)
The School District Demographics System (SDDS) site provides access to school district geographic and demographic data useful for describing and analyzing characteristics of school districts, children, and K-12 education. The site draws on data from Census 2000 and 1990, including special tabulations, and intercensal estimates as well. Data can be downloaded or viewed as tables or maps.

Scientific Research on the Internet (University of Maryland, Department of Sociology)
This site offers a variety of social science data related to the impact of the Internet on society. Studies include the PEW Biennial Media Consumption Survey from 1998 and 2000, The Internet and American Life: Daily Tracking Survey and many others. Studies can be viewed using SDA interface format.

SEARCH -- The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics (The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics)
SEARCH is a nonprofit consortium that exists to help state and local justice agencies exchange information with one another or with the federal government. The site provides links to special projects including the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), Law Enforcement IT, Integrated Justice, Drug Courts, and Internet Crimes Against Children. A text-only version of the site is available.

SimplyMap (Geographic Research, Inc.)
SimplyMap is a web-based mapping site that allows users to create thematic maps and reports using demographic, business and marketing data. The product is particularly strong for recent estimates and projections, at geographic levels as small as ZIP codes, census tracts, or block groups. SimplyMap draws on Census 2000 data, 2006 & 2007 Census estimates, 2011 & 2012 Census projections. Other groups of variables include consumer expenditures, consumer price index, business counts, market segments, retail sales, and sales potential. Note: UW-Madison subscribes to SimplyMap via IP authentication. Each user must also register at the SimplyMap site to create a personal workspace.

Social Explorer (Queens College CUNY and Andrew A. Beveridge)
The Social Explorer website provides demographic information about the United States, using an online thematic map application. A free version of the Social Explorer for the general public includes U.S. Census data maps and reports to the tract level from 1940 to 2000, and maps and reports of religious adherents in the U.S. for 1980, 1990 and 2000 at the county level. A subscription version of Social Explorer covers a larger collection of maps plus custom reporting features.

Social Science & Government Data Library (University of California, Berkeley)

The Social Science and Government Data Library (SSGDL) is a collaboration between the UC-Berkeley Library and UC DATA on the University of California, Berkeley campus. The SSGDL web site carries both an extraction system and FTP links for U.S. Census Data. The extraction system contains 1990 census 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). Users can pick both geographies and variables.

The FTP files available from the site include:

  • Census 2000: Summary File 1 (SF1), Redistricting Data (P.L. 94-171), Race and Hispanic or Latino Summary
  • 1990 Census: Congressional Districts in the U.S., Equal Employment Opportunity File, Public Law 94-171 data, Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) - 1% and 5% data, Summary Tape File 1B (includes PR files), Summary Tape File 3 (includes 3A, 3B, and 3C), Subject Summary Tape Files
  • 1970 Census Fifth Count Special Tabulation
  • County & City Databook 1988 and 1994
  • Current Population Survey files between 1988 and 1993
  • Economic Census Data (1987, 1992, 1997)
  • TIGER/Line 1997 files

Downloaded FTP files use the "Go" extraction system.

Social Security Death Index (Ancestry, Inc)
This index contains data from the Death Master File (DMF) from the Social Security Administration (SSA). It has over 77 million records of decedents created from SSA payment records. Fields include last name, first name, state issued social security number, birth data, death date, last residence and lump sum payment.

State and County QuickFacts (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
This site provides easy access to look up figures for individual states, counties, MSAs, or Congressional Districts from STF1A, 3A, Tiger map files, USA Counties general profile and County Business Patterns economic profile (one unit at a time!).

State and Metropolitan Area Data Book (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
An old standby source from the U.S. Census Bureau has received its first update since the 1997/98 edition: the State & Metropolitan Area Data Book, 2006. This data compendium provides a useful complement to the annual Statistical Abstract of the United States by breaking out the numbers by states and metropolitan statistical areas. The data, presented in Excel files and PDF, covers topical areas from agriculture to veterans. Sources include various federal statistical bureaus and other government agencies, foundations and associations, and private research organizations. The files can be downloaded from the site in Excel and PDF; an electronic copy and printout is also available in the DISC library.

State of the Nation's Cities: A Comprehensive Database on American Cities and Suburbs (Center for Urban Policy Studies, Rutgers University)
This database of 77 cities and suburbs was contracted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of the 1996 United Nations' Habitat II conference. The SONC database brings together over 3,000 variables from a wide variety of sources, allowing easy comparability of indicators on employment and economic development, demographic measures, housing and land use, income and poverty, fiscal conditions, and a host of other health, social, and environmental indicators." Users may download in a variety of formats including plain ASCII, SPSS portable file, Excel file, SAS formatted file, and a special file for Macintosh users.

Statewide Database (California) (Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California Berkeley)
The Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California Berkeley produces this database containing information related to the ethnic, political, and demographic makeup of California. Data is available in DBF, tab-delimited text, or fixed-field ASCII, while several formats of maps are available as well. Data is kept current and goes back to the 1990 general election.

Statistical Abstract of the United States (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The Statistical Abstract of the United States, otherwise known as the National Data Book, contains a large collection of tables on social and economic conditions in the United States, in PDF and Excel. Selected international data are also included. Nearly the entire run of the Statistical Abstract has been placed online as PDF documents under the "Earlier Editions" link, back to the first edition in 1878. Also available in PDF is the Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970. Click on the "Mini Historical Statistics" link to access selected historical statistics in Excel format. For a more extensive run of Statistical Abstract tables in manipulable format, visit DISC in person to use the CD-ROM edition.

Summary Tape File Information (1990) (CIESIN)
Useful and brief definitions for the U.S. Census of Population and Housing datasets STF1A, 3B etc. to help users determine which they need.

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
SIPP is a nationwide longitudinal survey for the U.S. that collects information on topics such as poverty, income, employment, and health insurance coverage. SIPP core content covers demographic characteristics, work experience, earnings, program participation, transfer income, and asset income; additional topical modules are also included with each wave. Data access for SIPP starting with 1996 through 2001 is available through DataFerret. Accompanying SAS, SPSS, Stata setup files and SIPP data files starting with 1984 are available from this NBER site.

The China County-Level Data on Population (Census) and Agriculture, Keyed to 1:1M GIS Map (1990) (CIESIN)
From the site: "The China County-Level Data on Population (Census) and Agriculture, Keyed to 1:1M GIS Map contains 1990 census and agricultural economic variables at the county level for the People's Republic of China, 1990. Also included are geocoded China county boundary GIS data at 1:1M for 1990. The tabular data are available in dBase IV® and ARC/INFO® export formats."

The Human Life Table Database (Max Plank Institute for Demographic Research and Department of Demography at the University of California-Berkeley,Institut national d'études démographiques)
The Human Life Table Database, compiled by the Max Plank Institute for Demographic Research, the Department of Demography at the University of California-Berkeley, and the Institut national d'études démographiques (INED) in Paris, provides population life information for a variety of countries. It includes “complete life tables in text format, abridged life tables in text format; references to statistical publications and other data sources, and scanned copies of the original life tables as they were published.” Users may browse data by country.

The US Counties IN Profile (Stats Indiana and Indiana Business Research Center, Indiana University Kelley School of Business)
“The US Counties IN Profile” allows users to pick a state and county and see how they are ranked in terms of various statistical categories. Categories include population, number of households, labor force, unemployment rate, per capita personal income, poverty rate, and many others. Users can choose the state, and then choose a county and also see how the county ranks in terms of other counties within the state. Also available are comparisons between two counties. Data is provided in HTML tables only.

TransMONEE: Database of Socio-Economic Indicators for CEE/CIS Countries (United Nations Children's Fund and Innocenti Research Center)
TransMONEE contains over 150 economic and social indicators divided into ten different topics (population, natality, child and maternal mortality, life expectancy and adult mortality, family formation, health, education, child protection, crime indicators, and economic indicators) for 27 transition countries in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. Annual time series data is available as far back as 1989. The TransMONEE data and country profiles are both available in Excel format.

U.N. Social Indicators (United Nations Statistics Division)
Most-recently-collected year's worth of basic figures for many countries, in HTML tables, in these categories: population, child-bearing, youth and elderly populations, education, human settlements, literacy, water supply and sanitation, income and economic activity, housing, and unemployment.

U.S. Census Resources on the Web (Beth Harper, Government Documents Reference Librarian, University of Wisconsin--Madison)
Beth Harper, a Government Documents reference librarian at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, compiled this annotated bibliography of web sites regarding the U.S. Census. The site is divided into three categories: statistics about people, statistics about economics, and general statistics.

U.S. Demography (CIESIN)
Included here are informative explanations of the following datasets: Public Use Microdata Samples, Current Population Survey, Economic Census Data, County Business Patterns, County City Data Book, Statistical Abstract Supplement, National Economic Social and Environmental Databank, Regional Economic Information System, Enhanced County to County Migration 1985-1990, TIGER 1992 Boundaries, and STF3A Standard Extracts.

U.S. STF3A Census Data (CIESIN)
Available via FTP in SAS transport file format. "The STF3A data were transformed from the CD-ROM Dbase format into state level SAS datasets. From there, we decided to dump out subsections by state. Thus if you need all tracts for a state you grab one file, if you need only tabulated blockgroups (090) you grab another. All variables are formatted and labeled. We applied the naming convention used by the State Data Center of Missouri. Variable lists and SAS programs are provided to open these files up and recreate the formats. (Fairly simple, use libname with xport option). The entire collection fits on 4 CD-ROMs." (from an email posting from Hank Meij)

UNdata (United Nations)
The United Nations is undertaking to bring together many of its various statistical databases under a single interface, at UNdata. As of February 2008, UNdata carries 14 databases containing over 55 million data points, covering a range of topics including population, industry, energy, trade and national accounts. The databases are accessible either by keyword searching from a single search page, or through a menu of databases. UNdata will be replacing the UN Common Database, which is slated to be discontinued in the summer of 2008. Indicators formerly offered through the UN Common Database will be listed under Key Global Indicators, and will be searchable through the main interface as well. However, the trade information in UNdata will not be replacing UN Comtrade, which will continue to cover a deeper and more fully-featured set of merchandise statistics.

Understanding the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) (UCLA)
This document presents a general overview of PUMS, while specifically discussing the distribution of census questionnaires, privacy protection, selection of PUMS 5% data, and structure of the 1990 PUMS 5% data which includes geographic, household, and person information.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Statistical Division (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division)
The UN/ECE contains statistical data regarding European member countries, an archive of documents, census recommendations, and links to other statistical agencies. The online data consists of six databases: Gender Statistics Database; Trends in Europe and North America; Human Settlements Database; Demographic Database; Robotics; and Gas Centre Database. Most of the information in these databases is presented in either chart or graph format.

United Nations Scholars' Workstation (Yale University)
"The United Nations Scholars' Workstation is a collection of texts, finding aids, data sets, maps, and pointers to print and electronic information. Subject coverage includes disarmament, economic and social development, environment, human rights, international relations, international trade, peacekeeping, and population and demography." See also Yale's excellent Related Resources on the Internet for links to other International Studies-related sites.

United States Historical Census Data Browser (University of Virginia and Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR))
Data presented here describes the people and the economy of the U.S. for each state and county from 1790 to 1960 as provided by U.S. Census results.

Uruguay, Banco de Datos (Universidad de la República)
The Data Bank of the Sociodemographic and Political Information Unit (UISDP) is a source of qualitative and quantitative information about Urugayan research in Political Science, Sociology, Social Work, Population, and International Relations areas. Sources for datasets are the faculty at the Universidad de la Republica and in Uruguayan private centers of research. The web page provides access to more than a hundred data banks at Latin American and world-wide statistical institutions. Most of the web site is in Spanish.

USA Counties (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
The USA Counties database is a part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Censtat collection of online tools. The drop-down menu system allows users to create reports for the United States, the 50 states and the District of Columbia, or any of the 3,141 counties and county equivalents. Topics include: age, agriculture, ancestry, banking, building permits, business patterns, crime, earnings, education, elections, employment, government, health, households, housing, income, labor force, manufactures, population, poverty, retail trade, social programs, veterans, vital statistics, water use, and wholesale trade. The data comes not only from the U.S. Census but also from other federal agencies such as Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Social Security Administration. In April 2008, the Census Bureau announced that downloadable data files in Excel format have been added to the USA Counties site. Users can now bypass the drop-down menus and directly download files by topic, each file containing data for all of the counties nationwide.

Veteran Data & Information (U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs)
The Veteran Data & Information site includes demographic and socio-economic characteristics of U.S. veterans of military service, the geographical distribution of the veteran population, and other statistical data and information on U.S. Veterans Affairs programs. The Demographics section of the site includes a collection of Excel pivot-tables called VetPop2004, comprising the VA’s latest official estimate and projection of the veteran population and their characteristics from April 2000 to September 2033. The Trends section of the site includes Excel tables covering various topics from 1971-1995, and a Census 2000 section features Excel tables with various sortings of the 2000 Census data on the veteran population in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Vietnam Demography and Society Research Projects (Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of Washington and Institute of Sociology, Hanoi - Vietnam)
The Vietnam Demography and Society Research Projects comprise two component projects: the Vietnam Life History Survey 1991 (VLHS) and the Vietnam Longitudinal Survey 1995-1998 (VLS). The Vietnam Life History Survey included 4 samples of about 100 households each, stratified by urban/rural areas. Data includes both individual and household files. Questions included household composition, marriage and fertility history, educational and employment history, residence history, and materials and contents of home. The Vietnam Longitudinal Survey was the first longitudinal survey to be conducted in the field of sociology in Vietnam, with a baseline of 1,855 households and 4,464 individuals interviewed in the first round of the survey. Three follow-up surveys were subsequently administered. For both the VLHS and the VLS, codebooks and data (in SPSS) can be freely downloaded from the site.

Wisconsin Blue Book (Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau)
Wisconsin’s answer to the statistical abstract is the Blue Book, published by the Legislative Reference Bureau. The 2005-2006 edition is 87th in a series that began in 1853 and is currently published on a biennial basis. The statistical section of the Blue Book is just one chapter of 12, comprising about a quarter of the total. The Blue Book also includes biographies and photos of Wisconsin elected officials, the text of the Wisconsin state constitution, and in-depth description of Wisconsin governmental structure and function. Older editions back to 1995-1996 are available from the site as well. The online version is available solely in PDF, and print copies are distributed for free to Wisconsin libraries and schools, and for a low cost to individuals.

WisStat (University of Wisconsin-Extension and Applied Population Laboratory, UW-Madison)

WisStat allows users to access economic and demographic variables for the state of Wisconsin. The data is taken from:

  • Census 2000 (SF1, SF3)
  • Census 1990 (STF1, STF3)
  • Population Estimates (1960-1996) from WI Dept. of Administration
  • Adjusted Gross Income (1987-1995) from WI Dept. of Revenue
  • Employment and Wages by Industry (1994) from WI Dept. of Workforce Development

Users first choose a geography (levels from state through block group), and then select among tables from the various data sources. Data tables can be downloaded and viewed in various forms (columns or rows, HTML or CSV). An “Other Tools” section offers selected summary profiles and an online mapping tool for the geography of the user’s choice.

World Development Indicators (UW-Madison Subscription) (World Bank)
The World Development Indicators (WDI) is the World Bank's premier annual compilation of data about development. The latest WDI includes approximately 800 indicators in 87 tables, organized in six sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links. The tables cover 152 economies and 14 country groups-with basic indicators for a further 55 economies. WDI timeseries data begins in 1960. The latest "print version" is online at http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.web/worlddevelopmentindicatorstext. Note: UW-Madison subscribes via IP-authentication.

World POPClock (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
Up-to-the-day estimate of the world's population and population projections to the year 2050 (under the link "World Population Information).

World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision Population Database (United Nations Population Division)
This database contains population estimates and projections for countries and regions worldwide, through the year 2050. The methodology takes into account the impact of HIV/AIDS as well as other mortality, fertility, and migration trends. Database users can select up to 5 variables from up to 5 countries or regions, one of four projection variants, and beginning and ending years, to display to screen or download as a CSV file.

World Population: 1950-2050 (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
Simple table with year, population, average annual growth rate, and average annual population change.

World Vital Events per time Unit (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
Lists births, deaths, and natural increase by year, month, day, hour, minute and second.

Xreferplus (UW-Madison subscription) (Xreferplus)

UW-Madison now subscribes to xreferplus, a collection of over 100 reference sources. The sources range from encyclopedias to thesauri to image collections, and may be searched either individually or all at once. Two of the sources have data-related features: The CIA World Factbook and U.S. Census 2000 State & County Statistical Quickfacts.

To access the tables in The CIA World Factbook, click “Browse selected key statistics.” A selection of tables will appear, any one of which can be customized to include columns on around 150 indicators (some numeric, some text). A table can be sorted by column and exported to Excel or a tab-delimited text file. (The CIA World Factbook site at http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html contains the most current edition which includes online updates.)

U.S. Census 2000 in xreferplus uses the same table-generation interface as the World Factbook. The information comes from the State & County Quick Facts provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, but does not include cities as the Census Bureau site now does (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/). The xreferplus tables are useful for comparisons across states or across counties within a state, while the Census Bureau Quick Facts site offers a profile of an individual state or city or county, plus links to other related census data. On both sites, tables may be exported as Excel or text files.

Non-data-related social science sources in xreferplus that may be of interest include: Collins Dictionary of Economics; The Penguin International Dictionary of Finance; The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science; Gale’s World of Sociology.

Note: UW-Madison subscribes to xreferplus via IP-authentication.

ZIP Code Resources Page (MABLE/Geocorr)
This page describes a series of tools for helping users deal with 5-digit U.S. postal ZIP code areas. It focuses primarily on tools for linking ZIP codes to other geographies (such as counties, cities, metro areas) and to demographic information from the 1990 decennial census. Excellent explanation of the “messiness” of using the ZIP code as a geographic unit.

(Back to the Crossroads Search main page)



Page created 18 January, 2002.
Last updated 15 May, 2002; content generated dynamically.

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