The following statistical sources, some are listed more than once. Other good statistical guides are the Datasets, Research Guide on Statistics and Find Statistics Databases.
National Statistics. State Statistics. County/City Statistics.
Many of the major statistics gathered from the federal government are from Census counts. Population is done every 10 years while economic and government counts are done every 5 years.
American Factfinder by the U.S. Department of Census provides demographic tables and maps for the Country, States, Counties, Cities, Towns and American Indian reservations.
American Community Survey by the U.S. Department of Census. The changing of census data from decennial to annual has been started here.
Census of Government by the U.S. Department of Census provides data on federal government budget, spending, federal employee payroll and retirement, and tax collections. Census has the Decennial Census back to 1790, and the Statistical Abstracts of government statistics on social and economic conditions in the U.S., back to colonial times to present.
Childtrends Databank by Childtrends. Provides national trends and research on over 80 key indicators on children and their well-being. Note the data tends to come from the government but is analysis by this nonpartisan organization. It is searchable by subgroup (indicators) like child, family or community characteristics; age or alphabetically.
Data, Government and Geographic Information Service by University of California, San Diego provides links to many data sets listed here but also includes things like California Tobacco survey, General social survey (questions on bankruptcy, jobs, unions, leisure, etc.). Note many sets are only available to UCSD students but some we own via our own Datasets.
FedStats by Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy. Links to statistics and information produced by 70+ agencies of the federal government.
Internet Data Sources for Social Scientists by Cornell University links to data sets available from various universities and organizations. TIP: You might be required to register at the site to use their data.
Kids Count by the Annie E. Casey Foundation provides tables and indicators on the well-being of children in the United States.
Minority Links by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the latest federal data on racial and ethnic populations in the United States. Ethnic groups included are Black/African; Hispanic/Latino; Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native.
National Center for Education Statistics by Department of Education. Provides table of contents to the major educational statistical publications or quickfacts on figures related to education in the United States.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service is a federally funded resource for statistics on justice and substance abuse.
National Survey of America's Families by the Urban Institute provides low-income family well-being of children and non-elderly adults from 13 states including California.
Population Reference Bureau has many statistical sites based on federal data.
Research Forum Statistics by National Center for Children has research projects that include statistical data on family and children.
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics by various Federal agencies dealing with criminal activities. Note the data tables are in .pdf and at the bottom of the page. The data is several years old.
Poverty and Welfare Statistics by CSU, Fullerton Library. Links to federal statistics in welfare, poverty, social security, and income levels.
Many of the statistics gathered for California are either available from the federal government or organizations that have gathered California data and made it available to the public.
California Department of Finance by California Department of Finance provides California data used in state planning and budgeting.
California Local Government Finance Almanac by Michael Coleman of Coleman Advisory Services. Data, statistics, analyses, and articles on California city and county finance.
California Statistical Abstracts by California Department of Finance. This compilation of data on California economics, social and physical aspects. Data is available in both excel and .pdf format.
Census of Government by the U.S. Department of Census provides data on various state finance, taxation, payroll, retirement and library statistics.
Population Estimates for Metropolitan Areas by the U.S. Department of Census provides time series data that estimates population growth in metropolitan areas annually since the 1990 census.
Population Estimates for Counties by the U.S. Department of Census provides time series of birth, death and migration data for the counties.
Public Assistance Facts and Figures (California) by CA Department of Social Services provides graphs and charts of the amount of public assistance given monthly.
Rand California by Rand Corporation provides time series statistics dealing with business, education, community, health, government finance and public opinions only on California.
Regional Economic Accounts by Bureau of Economic Analysis provides state local income, gross state product and other economic indicators. The data is available either .pdf with graphs and charts or .xls for study.
State and Local Data by U. S. Bureau of Labor is data dealing with employment, unemployment and wages. Note many of the data sets have ten years of time series.
State and Metropolitan Quick Facts by U.S. Department of Census is a a collection of statistics basic demographic, retail and housing data.
State Government Tax Collections by U.S. Department of Census provides a summary of taxes collected by state for up to 25 tax categories. These tables and data files details the tax collections by type of tax imposed and collected by state governments.
State Health Facts by Kaiser Family Foundation. Statistics from each of the 50 states to help in developing health policy. Data could be bar graphs, tables or color-coded maps.
Many of the statistics gathered at this level are by the U.S. Department of Census or a local/regional economics think tank.
Southern California Regional Data by the Southern California Association of Governments. This gives data from airports, highways/roads, housing and planning. There are GIS mapping capabilities too.
Community Information by Zip Code by CSU Northridge Librarian Mary Finley. This list of web sites for finding data by zip code and population, education, health, environment, business or politics.
Local Health Statistics Online by CSU Northridge Library provides links to Los Angeles city and county health statistics.
Los Angeles County/City Statistics and Facts by CSU Northridge Librarian Mary Finley. This list web links for all types of agencies in L.A. that provide statistics. Data like LAX airport, community planning, school crime, etc.
Orange County Finance and Budget by County of Orange (CA). This site provides data on the counties budget, community indicators, facts and figures on population by city, Orange county sales tax, appropriations, etc. There are reports on public finance and comparisons for Orange County against other counties in California.
Population Estimates for Cities and Towns by U.S. Department of Census provides time series estimates of population growth in cities and towns annually since the 1990 census.
Population Estimates for Metropolitan Areas by U.S. Department of Census provides time series estimates of population growth in metropolitan areas annually since the 1990 census.
Rand California by Rand Corporation provides time series statistics dealing with business, education, community, health, government finance and public opinions down to the country level.
San Fernando Valley Statistics and Facts by CSU Northridge Librarian Mary Finley. This list of web sites for finding statistics specific to the San Fernando Valley area (not a county or a city).
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates by U.S. Department of Census provides updated estimates of income and poverty statistics for the administration of federal programs and the allocation of federal funds to local jurisdictions. They were developed for states, counties and school districts.
State of the Cities Data Systems by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This set of data is based on the last four census and files mainly are related to housing.
USA Counties by U.S. Department of Census provides time series on many social and economic statistics on all 3,142 counties (sometimes school districts) in the United States; including local area unemployment figures, poverty estimates, housing, labor force data, etc.
Return to main Research Guide for Public Policy page
Content maintained by Kelly Janousek
