As you explore the sources listed below, think about the differences based on:
- source of data: government, non-profit, private
- focus of data: labor, demographic, business, etc.
- unit of analysis: individual, hhd, family, firm, geography (e.g., city), organization (e.g., non-profit), etc.
- geography of data: e.g., is the data organized by geography? (e.g., a list of the 100 largest cities; unemployment by state, etc.) Does the data have a geo-code? (e.g., an address or at least a zip code for a firm?). What's the smallest geographic scale available (e.g., Census Tract? City? County?)
- access to data: is it free? Or for a fee? (And does UM have a subscription?)
- frequency of data: is it annual? every 10 years (the decennial census); every five years (the Economic Census), etc.
- format of output: Some sites are more user-friendly than others. Some are best for finding a single data point (e.g., the current unemployment rate for the US), while others are better for finding a large data set (e.g., the unemployment rate for all metropolitan areas). Some sources work better to present the data on the screen, while others are better if you want to download the data in a usable format (e.g., Excel format). Finally, some have the capacity to present the data in charts and (increasingly) in thematic maps (online GIS).
US Census Bureau, including:
- Data • Data Tools and Apps -- very useful set of links, including...
- American FactFinder
- Business Dynamics Statistics
- Censtats
- Census Business Builder
- Census Explorer
- Census Flows Mapper
- Glossary
- International Database
- and many other useful links.
- American Community Survey • information guide • 1-yr, 3-yr, 5-yr estimates explained • (note: the ACS replaced the US Census "long form" after the year 2000)
- 2010 Census
- Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) • (info about PUMS)
- Economic Census • data set by geography • changes from the 2007 to the 2012 Economic Census
- Censtats Databases • access to Business Patterns (by County, Zip or Metro Area)
- State and County QuickFacts
- County Business Patterns
- Center for Economic Studies (CES) • Applications and Data Analysis Tools • LED Extraction Tool • Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) • OnTheMap (online mapping tool)
- Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE)
- US Census Geography • Maps and Data • Reference/Definitions • Standard Hierarchy of Census Geographic Entities
Other US Government Resources
US Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) • including:
- Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject
- Public Data Application Programming Interface (API)
- Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) (known as the ES 202 Program until 2003)
- Occupational Employment and Wages
- Wages by Area and Occupation
- National Employment Matrix
- Industry-occupation matrix data, by occupation
- Current Population Survey (CPS) (monthly labor force statistics -- a joint effort by the Census Bureau and BLS)
US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) (data at the national, international, regional and industrial levels) - including:
- Regional Economic Accounts (including GDP and personal income information by state and metro areas)
- Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II)
US Economic Development Administration (EDA)
DATA.GOV • Local Government • Data Catalog
HUD, Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R)
Fedstats (a nice gateway to federal statistics)
Bureau
of Transportation Statistics
Federal Reserve Bank • Economic Research & Data
International Sources
United Nations Development Program (UNDP): • Human Development Reports • Human Development Data (1980-2015)
UN Statistics Division • UNdata • UN comtrade
World Bank • data
International Labour Organization • statistics
Globalization and World Cities Research Network
IMF • data and statistics
European Union • statistics
OECD • statistics
Inter-American Development Bank • research and data
World Government Data (Guardian.co.uk)
Europa World Plus (UM access)
International Economic Development Council
Resources at UM
Stephen S. Clark Library • Government Information • Spatial and Numeric Data Services (SAND) • GIS
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) • Find Data
U-M Spatial Analysis &
GIS
UM China Data Center
ProQuest: Statistical Insight
Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy (IRLEE) •
Research Guides/Resources from the UM Library
Urban & Regional Planning (AAE Library, Rebecca Price librarian) • Statistics / GIS (a useful guide with links) • (AAE Library, Rebecca Price librarian)
State and Local Government Information
Geospatial Data
Other
Social Explorer (license required, best to link through UM)
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) • data • Economic Indicators and Releases
econdata.net • "ten best sites" • Data Collections
Economic Policy Institute: Datazone
SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council
of Governments)
visualizingeconomics.com/
The Northeast-Midwest Institute
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership
Telling Stories with Numbers
Telling Stories with Numbers (a brief talk given to the Agora Journal)
The Non-Digital Alternative Approach to Thoughtful Writing
Wendell Berry, "How To Be a Poet"
