Urban affairs & planning: Aggregate data
Urban Affairs & Planning at Virginia Tech conducts basic and applied research on national and international development patterns, focusing on key forces shaping metropolitan growth such as demographics, environment, technology, design, and transportation.
Aggregate data sources can be data-discovery tools
Some sources of aggregate data provide only tables and source information, leaving the original microdata out of sight. Online, it is common for tables to be exportable in CSV or other delimited formats so they can be combined in new tables or maps; it's sometimes possible to combine or query variables directly online. Larger providers permit bulk downloading of their data via application programming interfaces (APIs). For repositories of microdata, see the research datasets tab.
This guide is divided into sources principally devoted to the US data (including Virginia) and to international and transnational data collections that may include US data as well.
US data presented in tables
- StatistaStatista combines market research and analysis, content and information design, ecommerce, global consumer surveys, and digital and consumer market outlooks, consolidating statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources and makes it available on four platforms: German, English, French and Spanish.
- Sage DataVery large compendium of standardized and structured statistical data permits comparisons across providers and variables. DataPlanet (aka Sage Data) says it contains more than 18.9 billion data points from more than 70 source organizations in over 3.9 billion time series. Data are available in tables and visualizations, which can be shared and reused using unique identifiers (DOIs). Extensive source notes link to original publishers, so you can check for related and/or later data.
- Data.census.govNew portal to data and digital media published by the US. Census Bureau. Searchable, downloadable, with extensive user help. Replaces American FactFinder portal.
- Statistical Abstract of the U.S. from ProQuestStatistical Abstract of the United States (including historical Statistical Abstracts published annually since 1878) is a comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States as compiled by US federal agencies. Searchable across all records and browsable by year. Tables can be downloaded as spreadsheets or PDF. Published by the US Census Bureau through 2011 edition, subsequently continued by ProQuest.
- Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition OnlineThe Historical Statistics of the United States (HSUS) Millennial Edition Online provides data on social, behavioral, humanistic, and natural sciences including history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, international migration, and trade - quantitative facts of American history.
- Data.govPortal to data compiled by many US federal agencies. Browse by topic from the landing page or access the searchable data catalog from the Data menu at the top of the page. Files may be in TXT, HTML, XLS, CSV. or other formats.
- See the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) site for technical standards and guidelines behind the federal data.
- Missouri Census Data Center Public Data ArchiveMCDC's Uexplore web application provides access to the Missouri Census Data Center's public data archive, which features US Census and other public data. Files in the archive can be either database files (data tables comprised of rows/observations and columns/variables in a special format) or non-database (mostly metadata, special navigational index pages, or sometimes original raw input files) in a variety of common formats.
- National Center for Charitable Statistics: Data & ToolsNCCS is a national clearinghouse of data on the nonprofit sector in the United States. This open-access version of NCCS Webster contains a variety of tools and reports to help you learn more about the nonprofit sector: find a nonprofit organization in your area, view IRS Form 990 images, analyze financial data on the sector, look at trends in charitable giving, or download data.
- PolicyMapPolicy Map offers both extensive data and mapping options about communities across the US, especially for topics of interest for public policy. Data are aggregated from multiple sources and normalized to map across different geographical levels, from census tracts and ZIP codes to states. Data reports may be downloaded as tables without maps (which is also a feature of the data made available in Social Explorer and SimplyAnalytics). PolicyMap uniquely permits users to upload and map their own data. Focus is on information compiled since the early 2000s.
- Social ExplorerSocial Explorer focuses on representing patterns in historical demographics of the United States since the first census in 1790. International coverage has less historical depth but includes recent census data from Canada and the UK, EuroStat's European Statistics, and the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The easy-to-use web interface lets users create maps and tables to illustrate, analyze, and understand demography and social change. In addition to its comprehensive data resources, Social Explorer offers features and tools to meet the needs of demography experts and novices alike.
- Complements the broader but recent US coverage in PolicyMap for social policy and the US and Canadian coverage in SimplyAnalytics for business.
- CSG State DataTabular data from the US Council of State Governments' annual The Book of the States, state performance comparisons, and infographics
- Virginia Statistical Abstract: VaStat (Print only)CEASED PUBLICATION. Annual compilation formerly published by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at UVa provided Detailed profiles of counties and cities are provided. Employment and income statistics by area, taxation figures by local governments, population and demographics, industry profiles, and other economic drivers are all detailed in report and data sets.
- New River Valley Data DashboardProvides regional demographic, economic and community health data with annotated graphs and tables, which are hotlinked to original sources at the state or national level. Data are for Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, and Pulaski Counties and the city of Radford, typically covering the most recent five years. The NRV Dashboard is maintained by the New River Valley Regional Commission.
- America Votes... Election Returns by State (from CQ Press)Maps of current congressional districts; tables of returns for post-WWII general and primary elections for president, governor, senator, and representative. Online coverage begins with vol 31 (2013-14). Use print volumes for vols 1-30 (1956-2012), call number JK1967 .A8.
- Vital Statistics on American Politics, 2005-Narrative and tables on parties and elections, public opinion, branches of government, federalism, and public policy. Published in odd-numbered years. VT Library has print versions from 1994 and 2003 (call number JK274 .S74).
- USAFacts"USAFacts is a new data-driven portrait of the American population, our government’s finances, and government’s impact on society. We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit civic initiative and have no political agenda or commercial motive. We provide this information as a free public service and are committed to maintaining and expanding it in the future." Relies on on publicly available data sources from all levels of government, but does not break out data for individual states or localities. Partners include the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and, the Penn Wharton Budget Model. USAFacts is a project of Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO.
International and transnational aggregate data
Find statistical agencies
- World Data Atlas (Knoema)Directory to world and regional statistical sources, national data, maps, rankings. Arranged by country name and by topic. Includes links to national statistical agencies. Easy to use to discover data, but you should find corroboration elsewhere, as this free version hides sources of individual tables behind a subscription paywall..
- List of national and international statistical servicesVery extensive directory of governmental and intergovernmental statistical agencies, with links though no annotations, from Wikipedia.
- United Nations Statistics DivisionPortal to data, reports, and explanations of methodologies from UN divisions and official statistics produced by countries. Menus across top of the landing page permit browsing by topic or data project (notably UNData) Domains include agriculture, crime, education, energy, industry, labor, national accounts, population, and tourism. You can also find indicators such as Sustainable Development Goals. Data can be downloaded in statistical software formats and bulk-downloaded via API.
Find data by subject
- Our World in Data"The mission of Our World in Data is to make data and research on the world’s largest problems understandable and accessible." Leverage interpretative essays and data visualizations of very long run trends in policy problems to inform your own (re)search. Broadly organized around the UN Global Sustainability goals, themes include health, food provision, the growth and distribution of incomes, violence, rights, wars, culture, energy use, education, and environmental changes.
Produced by the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford.
- Sage DataVery large compendium of standardized and structured statistical data permits comparisons across providers and variables. Default graph on landing merely illustrates recent price information -- enter DP via the small search box or browse options in lefthand sidebar. DataPlanet (aka Sage Data) says it contains more than 18.9 billion data points from more than 70 source organizations in over 3.9 billion time series. Data are available in tables and visualizations, which can be shared and reused using unique identifiers. Extensive source notes link to original publishers, so you can check for related and/or later data.
- EIU ViewpointA key resource for political economy and area studies/comparative politics, EIU Viewpoint integrates Economist Intelligence Unit Country Reports and other forecasts, analyses, news, and data at the global, regional, and country level for almost 200 countries. Some content updated daily. "Two-Year Forecasts" continue approach and format of the former Country Reports; "One-Click Reports" resemble the forecasts but conspicuously do not provide tabular data. Data are interactive and include some visualizations; tables can be exported to Excel. Coverage goes back to 2011, with coverage to 1996 planned. See also the definitive Country Reports archives:
- 1996-2021: EIU.com classic platform.
- 1952-1995: Economist Intelligence Unit Country Reports Archive from ProQuest provides digitized versions of original print reports.
- StatistaStatista combines market research and analysis, content and information design, ecommerce, global consumer surveys, and digital and consumer market outlooks, consolidating statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources and makes it available on four platforms: German, English, French and Spanish.
- International Monetary Fund dataMacroeconomic and financial data, outlooks, and reports from the IMF. Searchable; many browsing options by country, indicator,and publication type. Bulk download via an API is available (requires sign-in).
Entire IMF eLibrary will become open access on Jan 1, 2020. - World DataBankThe World Bank's Open Data initiative is intended to provide all users with access to World Bank data. The data catalog lists available World Bank datasets, pre-formatted tables, reports, and other resources. Microdata library facilitates access to data collected through sample surveys of households, business establishments, population, housing or agricultural censuses, or through administrative data collection processes.
- Penn World TablePWT is a database of information on relative levels of income, output, inputs and productivity, with country and period coverage depending on the release. Maintained by University of California, Davis, and University of Groningen; originated at the University of Pennsylvania (and not to be confused with business data from Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS).)
- OECD DataThe Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is an intergovernmental organization that gathers "information on a broad range of topics to help governments foster prosperity and fight poverty through economic growth and financial stability."
- OECD Data focuses on compilations and data an publications using OECD information.
- OECD.Stat provides data in tables, mostly for national-level comparison, that can be queried, exported, and visualized.
- Migration Policy Institute: Research & InitiativesPortal to MPI's narrative reports, policy briefs, fact sheets, media, and maps as well as numerical data on immigration and migration and policies affecting them. Browse by topic or world region.
- MPI's Immigration Data Matters is an essential, annotated directory (PDF) that links users to more than 220 data sources, organized by topic and region, and offers tips on how to access more complicated datasets.
- Statistics Canada Historical PublicationsHistorical Collection consists of over 90,000 digitized issues from Statistics Canada titles from the 19th to the early 21st century that were originally published in print, including the Canada Year Book, The Daily, Canadian Social Trends, and the Consumer Price Index.
Cite the data you use
- How to Cite Data (Michigan State)Comprehensive libguide from MSU Libraries provides general rules for data citation, with examples for citing datasets and tabular data in principal style manuals used in social science.
- Annotation for Transparent Inquiry (ATI) at a GlanceATI is a new approach to connecting readers of qualitative and mixed-methods research to the underlying data, such as those curated by the Qualitative Data Repository at Syracuse University. ATI facilitates transparency by allowing scholars to “annotate” specific passages in an article. Annotations amplify the text and, when possible, include a link to one or more data sources underlying a claim; data sources are housed in a repository. (VT's institutional membership in the QDR is provided by the University Libraries.)