Research Guides: Black Studies: Finding Data

Public Data Sets

U.S. Census Bureau This link opens in a new window
Leading source of up-to-date demographic data about the United States people and economy.
IPUMS This link opens in a new window
Database of census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space. Users must create a free account to access.
ICPSR Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window
Data archive hosting 16 specialized data collections in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other social science fields.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
FRED Economic Research
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Download, graph, and track 672,000 US and international time series from 89 sources
State of Working America Data Library
Provides researchers, media, and the public with easily accessible, up-to-date, and comprehensive historical data on the American labor force. It is compiled from Economic Policy Institute analysis of government data sources. Use it to research wages, inequality, and other economic indicators over time and among demographic groups.
General Social Survey
Contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest since 1972 to facilitate time-trend studies as well as replication of earlier findings.
American National Election Studies
ANES produces high quality data from its own surveys on voting, public opinion, and political participation.
National Center for Education Statistics
The primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.

CLASP Center for Law and Social Policy - Data This link opens in a new window
CLASP conducts analysis of national, state, and local data to accurately document racial disparities and disparate policy impacts by race to inform our policy recommendations and advocacy.

American Immigration Council
State-by-state immigration data and facts.
World Bank
Free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
UN Statistics Department
Compiles and disseminates global statistical information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and support countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems.

Policy Commons This link opens in a new window
Over 12 million working papers, policy briefs, data sources, and media from more than 35,000 municipalities, IGOs, NGOs, think tanks, and research centers.
Pew Research Center This link opens in a new window
A nonpartisan think tank publishing public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis, and other data-driven social science research.
RAND Reports This link opens in a new window
Research on children and families; education and the arts; energy and environment; health care; infrastructure and transportation; international affairs; law and business; national security; public safety; science and technology.

Urban Institute
Nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity.
The Brookings Institute
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. with a mission to conduct in-depth, nonpartisan research to improve policy and governance at local, national, and global levels.
The American Enterprise Institute
AEI is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity and strengthening free enterprise.
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action.
Center for Economic Policy Research
CEPR is Europe’s leading network of Economic Policy Researchers.
Center for the Study of Social Policy
Policy research on children and families. 1979-Current.

CLASP Center for Law and Social Policy - Data This link opens in a new window
CLASP conducts analysis of national, state, and local data to accurately document racial disparities and disparate policy impacts by race to inform our policy recommendations and advocacy.

Southern Poverty Law Center
A nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.
Measure of America-SSRC Project
Provides tools for understanding the distribution of well-being and opportunity in America, health, education, and living standards.
Institute for Research on Poverty
IRP researches the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality in the United States. We bring together social scientists from across research disciplines such as economics, sociology, social work, and demography. The result is a well-rounded understanding of poverty issues.
Neighborhood Data for Social Change
A project of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, NDSC is a free, publicly available online resource for civic actors to learn about the trends, challenges, and opportunities facing Los Angeles County neighborhoods through maps, charts, data analysis, and storytelling.

PolicyMap This link opens in a new window
Mapping and analytics tool with applications for research related to social sciences, urban studies, real estate and housing analysis, community development, public administration, public health, political science, education, business, economics, statistics, geography and more.
Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Online research tool designed to provide quick and easy access to current and historical census data and demographic information.

My Community Explorer (U.S. Census)
An equity tool to identify underserved communities.
Mapping L.A.
Demographic data visualized by neighborhood from the LA Times
LAPD Crime Mapping
Interactive maps of crimes by type and neighborhood Sept 2011-Present.
Food Access Research Atlas
Presents an overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility. Offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes.