This FAQ provides a list of websites that are good sources of information on a range of poverty-related demographic and socioeconomic topics on the state, county, and city level, arranged by source type.
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Census Bureau
The Census Bureau’s Poverty page offers several tools for finding local information about socioeconomic characteristics, demographic information, and guidance on how to choose the right estimate for individual needs, including the data resources listed below.
American Community Survey (ACS)
An ongoing survey providing socioeconomic data for states, counties, and other jurisdictions. Period estimates represent characteristics of the populations and housing over a specific period of data collection. One-year estimates provide 12 months of collected data for areas with populations of 65,000 or more. Three-year ACS estimates provide 36 months of data for areas with populations of 20,000 or more. Five-year estimates provide 60 months of collected data for all areas. For guidance on using ACS data, see the Census Data Users Guide.
Data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States in tables, databases, news releases, reports, and public-use microdata files. Published tables provide Consumer Expenditure Survey data by classifications that include income quintile, income decile, income class, age of reference person, size of consumer unit, number of earners, composition of consumer unit, region of residence, housing tenure, type of area (urban-rural), race, Hispanic origin, occupation, and highest education level of any member. Conducted by the Census Bureau on behalf of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, data are collected by a quarterly interview survey and weekly diary survey (mutually exclusive samples).
Consumer Expenditure Survey Extracts
Consumer-unit level data going back to 1980. Produced by the Congressional Budget Office and distributed by the National Bureau for Economic Research.
Subnational economic data from the Census Bureau in an annual series by industry, including the number of establishments, recent employment, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll. These data can be useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for other statistical series, surveys, and databases.
Census Bureau resource offering data on population, housing, economic, and geographic information including for children and families in the form of tables and maps for U.S. territories and states, counties, cities, towns, tribal areas, and congressional districts.
Population and Housing Unit Estimates (PEP)
From the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program, produces estimates for the United States, individual states, counties, cities, towns, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its municipios.
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Program (SAIPE)
A limited range of estimates for selected statistics on poverty and income for states, counties, and school districts, which combine data from administrative records, post-census population estimates, and the decennial census with direct estimates from the American Community Survey to provide reliable single-year estimates. The SAIPE model-based single-year estimates better reflect current conditions than multi-year survey estimates.
State Data Center (SDC) Program
SDCs are joint projects of the Census Bureau and particular states that make state data available to the public through a network of state agencies, universities, libraries, and regional and local governments. Find links to states’ lead agencies on the SDC Member Network page.
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
All-inclusive information about the income and program participation of individuals and households in the United States and extensive data on many other factors of economic well-being. The SIPP also collects extensive information about family dynamics, educational attainment, housing expenditures, asset ownership, health insurance, disability, childcare, and food security, providing information that places the income and program recipiency of individuals and households into the family and social context.
Other Federal Government Agencies
In addition to the Census Bureau, many other federal agencies collect publicly available statistics on state, county, and local socioeconomic characteristics and demographics, including the sources for listed below.
Bureau of Economic Analysis – Regional Economic Accounts
State, county, and metropolitan statistical area personal income including per capita income back to 1969.
Bureau of Labor Statistics – Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities
Annual data on the rate and number of work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatal injuries. Offers insight on how these statistics vary by incident, industry, geography, occupation, and other characteristics.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
- Compressed Mortality File
- Longitudinal Studies of Aging (LSOA) – historical survey
- National Center for Health Statistics
- National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
- National Health Care Surveys (multiple)
- National Vital Statistics System (NVSS)
- National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
- National Immunization Survey (NIS)
- National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)
- PLACES: Local Data for Better Health
- Resources for Researchers on Accessing Data for Research
Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services Interactive Tools
Look up information on providers, view healthcare-related activity by geography, and visualize data interactively.
NCES collects, collates, analyzes, and reports statistics on education systems in the United States; conducts and publishes reports; and reviews and reports on education activities internationally. IPEDS provides information on U.S. colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions.
Department of Health & Human Services Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
Databases sponsored by the HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), derived from administrative data, cover encounter-level, clinical, and nonclinical information including diagnoses and procedures, discharge status, patient demographics, and charges for all patients, regardless of payer (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, uninsured), since 1988.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Consolidated Planning/CHAS Data
Custom tabulations of American Community Survey (ACS) data from the U.S. Census Bureau. “CHAS” data (Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy) show the extent of housing problems and housing needs, particularly for low-income households. CHAS data are used by local governments to plan spending for HUD funds, and may also be used by HUD to distribute grant funds.
Department of Housing and Urban Development: HUD User
Data and links to research, publications, and datasets related to housing, community development, and more.
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics
Crime and justice statistics for states, selected large counties, and metropolitan areas, including information on corrections, courts, crime type, tribal crime and justice, forensic sciences, law enforcement, recidivism and reentry, and victims of crime.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Information by state, county, and Metropolitan Statistical Area on employment, inflation and prices, unemployment, pay and benefits, spending and time use, productivity, workplace injuries, and international and regional resources. See also:
- Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject
- Local Area Unemployment Statistics
- Occupational Employment Statistics
Economic Report of The President
Annual report from the Council of Economic Advisers including current and foreseeable trends and annual numerical goals on topics including employment, production, real income, and federal budget outlays; employment objectives for significant groups of the labor force; annual numeric goals; and a plan for carrying out program objectives.
Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology
Interagency committee dedicated to improving the quality of Federal statistics. Created by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to inform and advise OMB and the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy on methodological and statistical issues affecting the quality of Federal data.
Usually a triennial, cross-sectional survey of families in the United States including information on balance sheets, pensions, income, and demographic characteristics. Information is also included from related surveys of pension providers and the earlier such surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve Board. No other study collects comparable information.
USDA Economic Research Service
Wide range of poverty-related data products on county, state, national, and international levels, including food insecurity, farm household income and characteristics, and county-level poverty and employment information.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service – Census of Agriculture
Complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Even small plots of land—whether rural or urban—growing fruit, vegetables or some food animals count if $1,000 or more of such products were raised and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the Census year. Taken only once every five years, this census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income, and expenditures.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Agricultural statistics at the state, county, zip code, and Congressional district levels. Reports, statistical tables, and some mapping features based on recent Census of Agriculture results and other surveys.
Federal Statistics Sources
Internal Revenue Service Tax Statistics
Providing a wide range of tables, articles, and data describing and measuring elements of the U.S. tax system.
Midlife in the United States (MIDUS)
A national longitudinal study of health and well-being conducted in multiple waves concerning midlife (i.e., ages 30 to 70) designed by a multidisciplinary team of scholars of psychology, sociology, epidemiology, demography, anthropology, medicine, and health care policy. Funded by the National Institute on Aging.
National Science Foundation: Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT)
Integrated data system and source of longitudinal information on the education and employment of the college-educated U.S. science and engineering workforce. Data collected through biennial surveys: National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG); National Survey of Recent College Graduates (NSRCG) (discontinued after 2010); and Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR).
Social Security Administration Research, Statistics, & Policy Analysis
Demographic and socioeconomic data, as well as data on Social Security Programs. For example, data on SSI recipients by state and county are available for every year since 1998.
Academic Institutions
Tools for exploring hundreds of measures of child well-being and policy analysis. Analyze data by race/ethnicity; compare policy indicators across states; or compare data across states, metropolitan areas, counties, large cities, and large school districts. Managed by the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy, Heller School, Brandeis University; supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space. IPUMS enables study of change, comparative research, merging across data types, and analyses of individuals within family and community contexts. Data and services available without charge. IPUMS is part of the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation at the University of Minnesota.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)
Facilitates research on crime and justice through the preservation, enhancement, and sharing of computerized data resources; the production of original research based on archived data; and specialized training workshops in quantitative analysis of crime and justice data. NACJD is part of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
NORC at the University of Chicago
NORC at the University of Chicago gathers data and develops measures in a wide range of areas including economics, education, global issues, health, public affairs, research science, and society and culture.
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods
Began in the mid-1990s as an interdisciplinary effort to unite the longitudinal study of individual lives with social contexts, especially neighborhoods, families, peers, schools, and the criminal justice system. Note: Nearly all PHDCN data require an individual application with supporting materials to obtain the data. Hosted by Harvard University.
Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN)
Creates demographic media such as user guides, websites, and hands-on classroom computer materials, using U.S. census data. Provides charts to visualize trends, allows data downloads, and creates interactive maps. Based at the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center.
University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study
Longitudinal panel-study resource for data on aging, health, and economic well-being of approximately 20,000 adults over age 50 in the United States since 1990. Conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and supported by the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration.
For Wisconsin data, see also:
Long-term study of over 10,300 men and women who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. The WLS provides information about the life course, intergenerational transfers and relationships, family functioning, physical and mental health and well-being, and morbidity and mortality from late adolescence through 2011. WLS data also cover social background, youthful aspirations, schooling, military service, labor market experiences, family characteristics and events, social participation, psychological characteristics, and retirement.
Wisconsin Food Security Project
Localized information about the food security infrastructure in Wisconsin. Users can create custom maps, community profiles, and charts, with selected data also downloadable. Promotes food security by helping planners and policymakers identify strengths and gaps in their communities and by helping service providers and individuals and families to locate food-related resources. A collaboration between the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Human Ecology, and UW Extension Institute for Health & Well-Being.
Nongovernmental Organizations
In addition to government sources of poverty-related statistics at sub-state levels, several other data resources from nongovernmental organizations are available for public use, including those listed below.
American Economic Association: Data Resources For Economists
Includes links to primary and secondary data sources, including U.S. macro and regional data sources, and information about finance and financial markets.
Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center
County-, city-, and community-level indicators of children’s well-being, allowing users to create specific tables and graphs in many combinations and comparative formats. The site notes that the data were assembled through the national Kids Count Network; availability of specific indicators varies among states.
Child Care and Early Education – Research Connections
Resources indexed on the site cover an extensive range of research on child care and early education and related policies, bringing together original research, syntheses, fact sheets and briefs, datasets, instruments, and other research-related resources from the wide range of social science disciplines and professional fields that study early care and education. A collaboration between the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research and National Center for Children in Poverty and the Department of Health and Human Services.
General Social Survey Data Explorer
Data on contemporary American society to monitor and explain trends and constants in attitudes, behaviors, and attributes, some since 1972. In addition, because the GSS adopted questions from earlier surveys, trends can be followed for up to 70 years. The survey contains a standard core of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest. Topics include civil liberties, crime and violence, intergroup tolerance, morality, national spending priorities, psychological well-being, social mobility, and stress and traumatic events. The survey is conducted by the independent research institution NORC at the University of Chicago.
Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts
Information by state in the following categories: demographics and the economy; health costs and budgets; health coverage and uninsured; health insurance and managed care; health reform; health status; HIV/AIDS; Medicaid and CHIP; Medicare; minority health; providers and service use; and women’s health.
Source data used in MDRC analyses on a wide range of topics related to poverty such as public program participation, program evaluation efforts in cities, and barriers to employment.
National Bureau Of Economic Research (NBER)
Exceptional source of historical economic and trade data, as well as some series on health care and vital statistics.
New York City Longitudinal Survey Of Well-Being
Repeated panel study conducted by the Columbia Population Research Center which is tracking the dynamics of poverty, hardship, and well-being among representative samples of residents of New York City. The Poverty Tracker website provides interactive tools for exploring the longitudinal survey data.
Data on tax rates on income, consumption, comparisons among states, results of opinion polls on taxes, state corporate income tax rates and brackets, state and local tax rates, and much more. Some sections have extensive time series, whereas others have only the most recent year or two.
Union Membership and Coverage Database
Private and public sector labor union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the monthly household Current Population Survey (CPS). Economy-wide estimates begin in 1973; estimates by state, detailed industry, and detailed occupation begin in 1983; and estimates by metropolitan area begin in 1986. The database was created in 2002 and is updated annually.