ECO 400 Finding Statistics and Data: Additional Data Sources

Find Data by Topic (UC-San Diego)

Harvard library guides on Statistics and Data

Social Science Data and Statistics Resources (Tufts)

Master Data Repository List (Clarivate Analytics)

Data.gov (U.S. Government’s open data)

Explore Census Data and Guidance for Data Users

Economic Indicators and Releases (NBER)

FRED Economics Data

[Banking] Bank Data and Statistics (FDIC)

[Demographic] IPUMS Current Population Survey (microdata)

[Education] Educational Data Explore (Urban Institute)

[Education] National Center for Education Statistics (the Institute of Education Sciences)

[Education] IPUMS Higher Ed (STEM labor force data)

[Environment] Environmental Dataset Gateway (EPA)

[Health] National Center for Health Statistics (CDC)

[Health] COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) Research Guide

[Health] State Health Facts Online (Kaiser Family Foundation)

[Housing] Housing and Urban Development (HUD) User Datasets

[Safety] Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics (FBI)

[Safety] Campus Safety and Security Data (US Department of Education)

[Transportation] Bureau of Transportation Statistics Data

[Transportation] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTS) Data

[Telecommunication] Federal Communication Commission Data

Open ICPSR

Urban Institute Data Catalog (economic and social policy research)

UN Data
IMF data
OECD Data
World bank Data
World Health Organization Data

PA Economy (BLS)

PA County Profile

PA  Labor Statistics

PA Health Statistics or A-Z topic list

PA Education Statistics

PA State Data Center 

PA Crash Facts & Statistics (PENNDOT)

PA Driver and Vehicle Statistics (DMV)

PA Voting and Registration Statistics

RAND State Statistics (State-by-state statistics for Business & Economics, Community, Education, Energy & Environment, Government Finance, Health & Socioeconomics, Population & Demographics.)

Measuring Social Capital

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

Adult Education and Lifelong Learning Survey (AELL) of the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Program

American Community Survey (ACS)

American Time Use Survey (ATUS)

General Social Survey (GSS)

American National Election Survey (ANES)

Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (SCCBS)

Giving and Volunteering in the United State

The production of social capital in US counties

World Values Survey

USA Covid Policy Dataset (Github)

COVID-19 Research Datasets (Princeton)

Yanagisawa, M., Kawachi, I., Scannell, C. A., Oronce, C., & Tsugawa, Y. (2021). Association between county-level social capital and the burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States. Annals of epidemiology, 59, 21–23. 

Benitez, J., Courtemanche, C., & Yelowitz, A. (2020). Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19: evidence from six large cities. Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, 3(4), 243-261.

Greyling, T., Rossouw, S., & Adhikari, T. (2021). A Tale of Three Countries: What is the Relationship Between COVID-19, Lockdown and Happiness?. The South African journal of economics. Suid-afrikaanse tydskrif vir ekonomie, 89(1), 25–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/saje.12284

Highlighted Resource: IPUMS

The IPUMS project, based at the University of Minnesota, provides census and survey data from around the world. In addition to their international projects (highlighted on our international microdata page), they provide a number of key US government datasets, harmonized over time. Access to IPUMS requires the setup of a free account. 

IPUMS Datasets

• IPUMS USA - Census decennial census microdata from 1790-2010 and American Community Survey (ACS) microdata from 2000-present. These data are harmonized and may not include all variables included in the Census Bureau public use files.
• IPUMS CPS - Current Population Survey (CPS) microdata from 1962-present. Conducted by the Census Bureau, CPS includes demographic, employment, and supplemental data on topics such as fertility, tobacco use, volunteer activities, voter registration, internet use, food security, and more. Curious about the difference between the CPS and the APS? Check out this guide.
• IPUMS Health Surveys - provides microdata from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS ) from 1960s to the present, and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) from 1996-present. Both surveys are conducted under the US Department of Health & Human Services.

Highlighted Resource: ICPSR

ICPSR is a major US-based archive containing more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It also hosts a range of special collections. Accessing ICPSR requires the creation of an account using your WCU email address. 

Specialized ICPSR collections:

• Resource Center for Minority Data. Collects data focused on minorities from the ICPSR archive.
• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. Provides access to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the National Incident-Based Reporting System, FBI Uniform  Crime Reporting, Annual Parole Survey and more
• National Addiction & HIV Data Archive
• Health & Medical Care Archive
• National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging
• US Census Bureau Data Repository

US Government Microdata

• MDAT microdata tool on data.census.gov (Beta). Create cross-tabulations using variable from various Public Use Microdata sets (no microdata download)
• Census and American Community Survey. Census Bureau. Public use microdata files. These differ from IPUMS versions as they have not been harmonized over time. 
• National Longitudinal Surveys (Youth, Children & Young Adults, Young Women and Mature Women, Young Men & Older Men). Bureau of Labour Statistics. Public use microdata files are available.
• Consumer Expenditure Survey. Bureau of Labour Statistics. Public use microdata files are available.
• American Time Use Survey. Bureau of Labour Statistics. Public use microdata files are available.
• National Center for Education Statistics Surveys & Programs. Includes a range of longitudinal surveys, some of which have public use microdata and some restricted use data available by application. 
• CDC's National Center for Health Statistics Surveys & Data Collection Systems. Includes public use microdata files for: National Health Interview Survey, National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey, National Survey of Family Growth, and other current and historical data.
• Sustance Abuse & Mental Health Data Archive. US Dept. of Health & Human Services. Microdata available for the National Mental Health Services Survey, National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and others.
• Map & Data Library microdata search

Other US Microdata Sources

• General Social Survey (NORC, University of Chicago). Since 1972, the GSS has been monitoring societal change and studying the growing complexity of American society
• Panel Study of Income Dynamics (Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan). Study began in 1968 with a nationally representative sample of over 18,000 individuals. Information in these individuals and their descendants has been collected continuously, including data covering employment, income, wealth, expenditures, health, family life, and other topics.
• National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (known as "Add Health", University of North Carolina). Longitfudinal study of a nationally representative sample of over 20,000 adolescents in grades 7-12 during the 1994-5 school year, who have been followed through several waves of data collection.
• Map & Data Library microdata search

Adapted from University Toronto - US Microdata Guide

Word Bank Microdata Library

Comparison of Major Sources of Macroeconomic Data: Home

Council of European Social Science Data Archives. Data catalog bringing together social science data archives across Europe.

Dataverse Project. Searchable network of collection of social science research data worldwide, from Harvard.   Some of the sources listed are restricted to Harvard University.

Demographic and Health Surveys. Assists developing countries to monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition programs with data on family planning, health, and survival, HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections, & reproductive health. 

European Social Survey.  Academically driven cross-national survey that has been conducted every two years across Europe since 2001. The survey measures the attitudes, beliefs and behavior patterns of diverse populations in more than thirty nations. 

Gesis Data Catalogue. From the Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences, the largest institution for the Social Sciences in Germany.  Descriptions and data for studies available at the Gesis Data Archive. 

Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research (ICPSR). Consortium of institutions working to acquire and preserve social science data. Includes survey data, census records, election returns, economic data, and legislative records.

International Household Survey Network. Central Data Catalog provides searchable metadata from thousands of surveys and censuses conducted in low- and middle-income countries. From the World Bank.

IPUMS International. From the Minnesota Population Center. Project dedicated to collecting and distributing census data from around the world. Collects and preserves data and documentation, harmonize the data, and disseminate it absolutely free.

ISSP – International Social Survey Program.  Program of cross-national collaboration on surveys important for social science research. Brings together pre-existing social science projects adding a cross-national perspective to national studies.

LIS: Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg. Microdata from the Luxembourg Income Study and Luxembourg Wealth Study with variables on market income, public transfers. taxes, household and person-level characteristics, labor markets, and expenditures.

Princeton University Data & Statistical Services Gateway. Guide to microdata by subject and by country.  Some of the sources listed are restricted to Princeton University.

Social Science Data Archives at the Australian National University. Provides a service for the collection and preservation of digital research data and to make these data available for secondary analysis by academic researchers and other users.

South Africa Data Archive, National Research Foundation, South Africa. Provides access to holdings of South African and other data sets, including Statistics South Africa.

UK Data Archive. Largest collection of digital data in the social sciences and humanities in the United Kingdom.  See registration section for non UK Users. Most data can be ordered free of charge.