The following are some popular sources for data broken out by topic of interest:
Population
(by age, sex, other characteristics, and geography)
Integrated Public-Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
The Minnesota Population Center (MPC), the producer of IPUMS, is one of the world's leading developers of demographic data resources. They provide population data to thousands of researchers, policymakers, teachers, and students. All MPC data are available free over the internet. IPUMS is available for international, USA and Current Population Study (CPS) populations.
American Factfinder
The Census Bureau conducts nearly one hundred surveys and censuses every year. Data from the following surveys and censuses are available in American FactFinder: Decennial Census, American Community Survey, Puerto Rico Community Survey, Economic Census, Population Estimates Program, and Annual Economic Surveys.
Demographic Yearbook
The United Nations Demographic Yearbook collects, compiles and disseminates official statistics on a wide range of topics based on data collected from national statistical authorities since 1948. The Demographic Yearbook disseminates statistics on population size and composition, births, deaths, marriage and divorce on an annual basis. Special topics issues include economic activity, educational attainment, household characteristics, housing, ethnicity and language, among others.
Census Bureau's International Database
The Census Bureau's International Data Base (IDB) offers a variety of demographic indicators for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more. The IDB has provided access to demographic data for over 25 years to governments, academics, other organizations, and the public.
Mortality
(Deaths, mortality rates, life tables)
National Death Index (NDI)
The National Death Index (NDI) is a central computerized index of death record information available to investigators solely for statistical purposes in medical and health research. The NDI is a national file of identifying death record information (beginning with 1979 deaths) compiled from computer files submitted by State vital statistics offices. Death records are added to the NDI file annually, approximately 12 months after the end of a particular calendar year.
Human Mortality Database
The Human Mortality Database (HMD) at the University of California, Berkley, was created to provide detailed mortality and population data to researchers, students, journalists, policy analysts, and others interested in the history of human longevity. It contains original calculations of death rates and life tables for national populations (countries or areas), as well as the input data used in constructing those tables. The input data consist of death counts from vital statistics, plus census counts, birth counts, and population estimates from various sources.
Demographic Yearbook Mortality Tables
The United Nations Demographic Yearbook collects, compiles and disseminates official statistics on a wide range of topics based on data collected from national statistical authorities since 1948. The Demographic Yearbook disseminates statistics on population size and composition, births, deaths, marriage and divorce on an annual basis. Special topics issues include economic activity, educational attainment, household characteristics, housing, ethnicity and language, among others.
Census Bureau's International Database
The Census Bureau's International Data Base (IDB) offers a variety of demographic indicators for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more. The IDB has provided access to demographic data for over 25 years to governments, academics, other organizations, and the public.
Pennsylvania Department of Health Death Statistics
The Pennsylvania Division of Statistical Registries collects data that can be analyzed to help solve public health problems. Registries include a large volume of the latest available and historical state, county and municipality data by age, race/ethnicity and various death-related topics.
National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Data and Software
The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute works to provide information on cancer statistics in an effort to reduce the burden of cancer among the U.S. Population. Data and statistical tools allow researchers to examine stage at diagnosis by race/ethnicity; calculate survival by stag at diagnosis, age at diagnosis and grade or size of tumor; and determine trends and incidence rates of cancers at various sites over time.
(PRI affiliates: SEER*Stat software is available for use on the computers in 806 Oswald)
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The survey is unique in that it combines interviews and physical examinations.
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has monitored the health of the nation since 1957. NHIS data on a broad range of health topics are collected through personal household interviews. For over 50 years, the U.S. Census Bureau has been the data collection agent for the National Health Interview Survey. Survey results have been instrumental in providing data to track health status, health care access, and progress toward achieving national health objectives.
Fertility
(births, birth rates, infertility)
NCHS NVSS Birth Data
The National Vital Statistics System is the oldest and most successful example of inter-governmental data sharing in Public Health. NCHS collects and disseminates official vital statistics data, provided through contracts between NCHS and vital registration systems operated in the various jurisdictions legally responsible for the registration of vital events & births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths. Legal authority for the registration of these events resides individually with the 50 States, 2 cities (Washington, DC, and New York City), and 5 territories (Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).
NCHS Infertility Faststats
The FastStats site provides quick access to statistics on topics of public health importance and is organized alphabetically. Links are provided to publications that include the statistics presented, to sources of more data, and to related web pages.
Demographic Yearbook
The United Nations Demographic Yearbook collects, compiles and disseminates official statistics on a wide range of topics based on data collected from national statistical authorities since 1948. The Demographic Yearbook disseminates statistics on population size and composition, births, deaths, marriage and divorce on an annual basis. Special topics issues include economic activity, educational attainment, household characteristics, housing, ethnicity and language, among others.
Census Bureau's International Database
The Census Bureau's International Data Base (IDB) offers a variety of demographic indicators for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more. The IDB has provided access to demographic data for over 25 years to governments, academics, other organizations, and the public.
Pennsylvania Department of Health Birth Statistics
The Pennsylvania Division of Statistical Registries collects data that can be analyzed to help solve public health problems. Birth statistics are organized by the lowest level of geography available and the primary topic for each report. Note that many of the reports include breakouts by age, race, and/or Hispanic origin of the mother.
DHS STATcompiler
STATcompiler is maintained by MacroInternational and includes key population and health statistics published in DHS final reports. Created tables include multiple indicators, residence breakdown, and age categories associated with an indicator topic. STATcompiler includes indicators from the Reproductive Health Surveys (RHS).
CDC Reproductive Health Surveys
Under the MEASURE CDC project, CDC assists countries throughout the world with developing, implementing, and analyzing large national reproductive health surveys that provide high quality, population-based data about reproductive health indicators. Each country's needs guide the survey content. Countries use data from these surveys to evaluate programs and interventions, assess reproductive health status, and develop policy. This assistance also builds national capacity to conduct survey research within assisted countries.
Migration
Yearbook of Immigration Statistics
The Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, produced by the Department of Homeland Security, is a compendium of tables that provides data on foreign nationals who, during a fiscal year, were granted lawful permanent residence (i.e., admitted as immigrants or became legal permanent residents), were admitted into the United States on a temporary basis (e.g., tourists, students, or workers), applied for asylum or refugee status, or were naturalized. The Yearbook also presents data on immigration law enforcement actions, including alien apprehensions, removals, and prosecutions. The Yearbook tables are released as they become available.
Geographical Mobility/Migration
The US Census Bureau Geographical Mobility/Migration refers to the movement of people from one location to another at various geographic levels. Movers are classified by type of move and characteristics of movers. The Census Bureau collects data on Migration from a variety of different surveys, including American Community Survey, Current Population Survey, Survey of Income and Program Participation, and Decennial Census. Depending on your needs, one survey may be more suitable than another.
Spatial Data
Geolytics Census CD products
User-friendly software packaged with the Decennial Census data along with the boundary data files associated with census geographies to create an all-in-one census data extraction and mapping package. Decennial Census data are available in this format from 1970 to 2010, with additional packages of normalized data between years for temporal analysis. Data can be extracted in several file formats as well as in a summary reports. Multiple layers of data may be mapped quickly within the program itself or exported into ArcView shapefile or MapInfo format.
ESRI Data CDs
Several CDs of boundary and attribute data for both domestic and international studies. These data are included with ESRI software.
ESRI StreetMap Pro
Streets and boundary data. Provides road locations, names, and address ranges for the entire United States.
TIGER Census Boundary Files
Governmental and statistical boundaries for states, counties, census tracts, block groups, places, and other entities in the United States, Puerto Rico, and island areas. TIGER was developed at the Census Bureau to support the mapping and related geographic activities required by the decennial and economic censuses and sample survey programs.
Mapping the USA
Agricultural, environmental, and other physical data in GIS format
EPA's air monitoring files
These are raw files which contain data from multiple official and non-official monitoring stations across the country. The main reported pollutants are:
- Particulate Matter 2.5 and 10
- Ozone
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
- Carbon Monoxide (CO)
- Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data
It provides data for toxic chemical releases reported by industrial and federal facilities. Contains exact facility locations and amount of release for each particular chemical (including zinc, arsenic and others).
EPA's Natinal Air Toxic assessment
It provides cancer assessment rates for the entire US at the census tract level.
PA DEP Oil and Gas Reports
It contains fracking data for the entire PA including exact well locations.
County Health Rankings
It contains a lot of health related data at the county level.
Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA)
Pennsylvania’s official public access open geospatial data portal.
USDA's Food Access Research Atlas
It provides food desert indicators for each census tract in the US.
National Land Cover Database (NLCD)
It provides nationwide data on land cover and land cover change at a 30m resolution with a 16-class legend.
Additional Resources for Members of PRI
Other spatial data resources
Various boundary and point files such as SNAP stores, Health Service Areas, Telephone Areas, Schools, School Catchment Areas, Marcellus Wells, and Pipelines etc. A number of data sets containing spatially-related data are available through the Population Research Institute’s (PRI) Data Archive.
Association of Public Data Users
PRI associates wishing to receive regular data updates from the Association of Public Data Users (APDU), a national network that links users, producers and disseminators of government statistical data, are encouraged to join the PSU Yammer APDU update group.