Finding Statistics: U.S. Census etc.

U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau is the largest federal agency charged with collecting, analyzing, and providing public access to statistics collected at the U.S., State, Local, and International levels. The following links are useful for finding specific statistics:

2010 Census quick and easy access to the latest Census of Population and Housing
American Factfinder provides comprehensive access to the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, the American Community Survey, Economic Survey, population estimates, and more.
Data Access Tools includes links to additional search engines and databases.
Fact Sheets
Subjects A-Z This is usually the best starting point if you think the social, demographic, or economic information you want should be at this site, but you don't know where.
State & County QuickFacts is also a good starting point for state, county, and city-level (for cities with populations over 25,000 people) information.
Search the Census website.
Publications is a massive online full-text collection of Census Bureau publications including:
- Statistical Abstract of the United States--current and historical years of the Statistical Abstract of the United States are available online; see the Library Catalog record for print years of Statistical Abstract with the most recent in the Oviatt Library Reference Room (ref HA 202). Note: due to federal government budget cuts, the U.S. Census Bureau ceased compilation of the Statistical Abstract with the 2012 edition.
- Census Briefs on population and business topics.
- Census of Population and Housing, which includes historical data.

Other Federal Agencies

FedStats provides a gateway to statistics from over 100 federal agencies and some of the more popular are listed below:


Bureau of Economic Analysis: Economic data including the Survey of Current Business, Regional Economic Accounts and more.
Bureau of Justice Statistics: Site offers many interesting statistics on crime including the important compilations Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics and The World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems, a factbook which provides narrative descriptions of the criminal justice systems of countries around the world.
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index plus other price indexes, employment/unemployment, average earnings, etc. This site also includes the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics: Includes TranStats, North American Transportation in Figures, and more.
Economic Research Service (Department of Agriculture): Economic and other social science analysis and information on agriculture, food, natural resources, and rural America. State Fact Sheets and more.
Energy Information Administration: Energy statistics/topics.
Internal Revenue Service, Tax Statistics: There's a wealth of information about the financial composition of individuals, business taxpayers, tax exempt organizations and more. The same types of information you would find in the Statistics of Income Bulletin (SOI Bulletin).
National Agricultural Statistics Service: This agency (NASS) studies virtually every facet of U.S. agriculture--production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, farm labor and wages, farm aspects of the industry.
National Center for Education Statistics: Includes Tables & Figures Search along with much, much more.
National Center for Health Statistics: Choosing the Data Warehouse gets you to many statistics as well as to CDC Wonder. Try Fast Stats A-Z for frequently requested statistics.
National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Studies: Data on scientists and engineers in the United States.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Statistics on banks and the banking industry.
Federal Reserve Board: Includes their statistical releases and Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District (commonly known as The Beige Book) which reviews current economic conditions in the United States (see link at the bottom of the Beige Book page to access other years of this resource).
GPO Access: Site makes available many government resources including Economic Indicators and the Economic Report of the President.
Treasury Dept. Bureau of the Public Debt: Information on Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds & Special Securities sold by the Bureau. Includes current as well as some historic rate information.
Statistical Programs of the United States Government: This publication from the Office of Management and Budget discusses budgets and plans for the federal programs that collect statistics; the appendices include a list of federal statistics websites.