Access, use, and reproduction of the electronic resources made available through the Grinnell College Libraries are governed by license agreements with publishers which may impose greater restrictions on use than does copyright law. The user is responsible for observing these agreements as well as the copyright laws of the United States (Title 17, United States Code), including the fair use guidelines that protect scholarship and research.
When accessing subscription databases from off-campus, you will be asked to sign in using your campus username and password. If you have any problems accessing library resources from off campus, please contact Rebecca Ciota or Tony Lewis.
Crime
Demographic/Population - U.S.
Demographic/Population - World
Economic Data - Banks & Lending
Economic Data - Corporations
Economic Data - Trade and Tariffs
Economic Data - U.S. Real Estate
Economic Data - World
Energy
Environment and Climate
General Sources - U.S.
General Sources - World
Health
Historical Data
Miscellaneous
Politics, Polling, and International Relations
Sources for Raw Data Sets
Web sites


Provides access to current and historical census data and demographic information, as well as economic data, crime data, environmental data, and more. Users can create maps and reports to illustrate, analyze, and understand demography and other social changes. Most data is for the U.S., but some data on Canada and European countries is also available.

Over 1000 tables of statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. Tables are available in PDF and Excel formats only.

The major benefit of the Gapminder site is Gapminder's ability to quickly and easily visualize data, particularly correlations and changes over time.
Several dozen thematic collections of data visualizations that document progress in global development.

Provides statistics and data for hundreds of economic and social indicators, going back 40 years in some cases, for every country in the world. Includes a catalog of available World Bank datasets of use to policymakers, advocacy groups, journalists, and academics.

Searchable database of statistics gathered by the UN Statistics and Population divisions as well as other agencies, such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program, and more. Topics include agriculture, crime, education, energy, industry, labor, national accounts, population, and tourism.

Cross-search publicly available data sets. Includes data sets from around the world, with the strongest coverage in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. A project of the Open Knowledge Foundation.
A list of links to the Web sites of the national statistics-gathering agencies for all of the countries in the world.

The statistical office of the European Union. Economic, demographic, social, and other statistics. The current Eurostat Yearbook is also available in print in the Burling reference collection.

Economic, social, and political data for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Statistics and data on a wide range of topics, including the economy, demographics, health, crime, education, science and technology, and transportation, for countries in Europe, North America, and Central Asia.

Social, economic, environmental, demographic, and technology-related statistics.

Several databases of demographic information, plus databases on disability, oil, the Millennium Indicators, and more.

AMERICAN FACTFINDER HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. Please use "Explore Census Data" at http://data.census.gov.
Statistics and aggregate data from the U.S. Decennial Census, American Community Survey, Puerto Rico Community Survey, Annual Population Estimates, Economic Census, and Annual Economic Surveys.
Statistics and aggregate data from the U.S. Decennial Census, American Community Survey, Puerto Rico Community Survey, Annual Population Estimates, Economic Census, and Annual Economic Surveys. Replaced American FactFinder on July 1, 2019.

Statistics on 95 demographic variables, including education, health, and employment. Statistics are available at the state level for the United States, at the country level for more than 220 countries; statistics are also available for the world as a whole and for 28 world regions and sub-regions. Statistics can be displayed as rankings, bar graphs, or maps.
Demographic/Population - World

National and sub-national indicators of poverty for a selection of developing countries. Good source for poverty data for small areas (city, province, etc.).


Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Economic, social, demographic, and other data is included. This online database supports browsing, querying, pivoting, and dynamic charting as well as downloading data.

Statistics on 95 demographic variables, including education, health, and employment. Statistics are available at the state level for the United States, at the country level for more than 220 countries; statistics are also available for the world as a whole and for 28 world regions and sub-regions. Statistics can be displayed as rankings, bar graphs, or maps.


PDF versions of published statistical sources from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Topics include finance, trade, transportation, agriculture, health, education, science, and more. OECD Data can also be accessed through the OECD.Stat database above.

Statistics on the environment, economy, social indicators, etc.

Statistics and data on a wide range of topics, including the economy, demographics, health, crime, education, science and technology, and transportation, for countries in Europe, North America, and Central Asia.

Social, economic, environmental, demographic, and technology-related statistics.

Statistics on refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons.

AMERICAN FACTFINDER HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. Please use "Explore Census Data" at http://data.census.gov.
Statistics and aggregate data from the U.S. Decennial Census, American Community Survey, Puerto Rico Community Survey, Annual Population Estimates, Economic Census, and Annual Economic Surveys.

Annual data on the solvency of state governments in the United States, measured using five different criteria. Compiled by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

Part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Provides data on national accounts, international accounts, regional accounts, and industry accounts. Excellent source for local (state, county, MSA) economic data.

Statistics and aggregate data on inflation, employment, unemployment, pay and benefits, consumer spending, time use, productivity, and workplace injuries. Individual-level and household-level microdata from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is available through ICPSR.

Data on the Earned Income Tax Credit, as well as general income and tax information, from the Brookings Institution. Contains much of the same data as the Tax Statistics site from the IRS, but with a more user-friendly interface that allows online searching and manipulation of the data.
This is the best place to find historical data that is too old to be included in FRED.


Almost 400,000 time-series data sets, all related to the economy in some way. U.S. and international data. From the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Current and historical information on public debt, federal investments and trust funds, state and local government series securities, interest rates, and federal borrowing.

Data on the number, size, sales, inventories, etc. of businesses in the United States. Data is available broken down at a number of geographic levels and for many specific industrial classifications.

Provides statistics and data for hundreds of economic and social indicators, going back 40 years in some cases, for every country in the world. Includes a catalog of available World Bank datasets of use to policymakers, advocacy groups, journalists, and academics.
Print Location: Burling HC 800.A1 A356
1996-present. Current volume in reference; earlier volumes on second floor.

Data on international banking, securities, derivatives, foreign exchange, debt, payment and settlement systems, and property prices.

External debt information for developing countries from the World Bank. Focuses on financial flows, trends in external debt, and other major financial indicators for developing countries. Includes over 200 time series indicators from 1970 to 2013, for most reporting countries.

1972–present. Provides economic data from the International Monetary Fund's eLibrary database. Also available in print (most recent year is in Burling Reference; issues back to 1977 are on the second floor).

Economic, social, and political data for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Provides country-level data on foreign exchange, imports/exports, reserves, consumer prices, industrial production, commodity prices, banks, and more from the International Monetary Fund's eLibrary database. Some data is available as far back as 1940.

Data on labor produced by the International Labor Organization, a part of the United Nations that tracks various labor-related statistics.

1970-present. Produced by the Economic Statistics Branch of the United Nations Statistics Division.


Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Economic, social, demographic, and other data is included. This online database supports browsing, querying, pivoting, and dynamic charting as well as downloading data.

Standardized, internationally comparable data on GDP, purchasing power parity and more for 188 countries, 1950-2004.


PDF versions of published statistical sources from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Topics include finance, trade, transportation, agriculture, health, education, science, and more. OECD Data can also be accessed through the OECD.Stat database above.
Online 2001-present; volumes for 1991-2000 on Burling 2nd floor (HA 12.5 U.63). Published by the United Nations. Primarily economic data and statistics.

Statistics on the environment, economy, social indicators, etc.

Statistics and data on a wide range of topics, including the economy, demographics, health, crime, education, science and technology, and transportation, for countries in Europe, North America, and Central Asia.

Social, economic, environmental, demographic, and technology-related statistics.
Economic Data - Banks & Lending

You can find additional data on American mortgage lending on this guide under "Economic Data - U.S. Real Estate."

Includes both industry-level statistics and data on individual banks and bank branches.

Download detailed data on topics including consumer credit, banking, and interest rates.

Information about financial institutions (banks, bank holding companies, etc.) collected by the Federal Reserve System.
Print Location: Please see a librarian for access.

1950–present. The definitive source for data on corporations in the United States and around the world. Access is via individual username and password; please contact Julia Bauder [bauderj] or Kevin Engel [engelk] to have an account created for you.
Print Location: DASIL

Copious, often real-time data about corporations, securities, and more. This data can only be accessed from the Bloomberg terminal in DASIL.
Note: Access via the Bloomberg terminal in DASIL.
Search by ticker symbol to get current and historical information about a given company, including stock price and key statistics. Also includes data on various U.S. and overseas indexes.
Economic Data - Trade and Tariffs

External trade data for the European Union. This site is designed for downloading data for analysis rather than for quick access to individual statistics.

Developed by the World Bank. Country-level data about exporting firms. Click "DATABANK" in the right sidebar to access the data.

From the Office of Trade and Industry Information, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Print Location: Burling 2nd Floor HF91 .U473
1983-present. Produced by the United Nations. Detailed statistics on international trade in various commodities.

International trade data and U.S. tariff data from the United States International Trade Commission. Data goes back to 1989. Requires a free registration.

Created by the Office of Trade and Industry Information (OTII), Manufacturing and Services, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. Includes information about trade between the U.S. and foreign countries and between individual states of the U.S. and foreign countries.


1962–present. The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database provides detailed import/export statistics from nearly 300 countries around the globe. Numerous commodities are represented, and the database is continuously updated as new statistics become available.

Statistics on trade, foreign direct investment, and more from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Replaces an assortment of previously separate UNCTAD databases and statistical handbooks.

Provides access to databases covering imports, exports, and protection data (tariff and non-tariff measures), as well as tools to assess the impact of trade policy scenarios in terms of various economic indicators. Developed by the World Bank in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Center, the United Nations Statistics Division, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), among others.

1992–present. Provides extremely detailed import and export data for over 25,000 commodities. Free registration required.
Economic Data - U.S. Real Estate

Detailed historical data on conventional mortgages used to purchase single-family homes, as well as some data on home prices and mortgages for multi-family homes.

Relative changes in U.S. residential real estate prices, 1987-present.

PDF version of the Annual Energy Outlook published by the U.S. Department of Energy. Contains projections of energy demand, supply, and prices in the U.S. through 2030. Some data is also available for download in Excel format.

Global energy data, 1965-present. From the company formerly known as British Petroleum.

Country-level statistics, data and graphs on the consumption, production, trade, and cost of various sources of energy.

Statistics and data on international energy production and consumption from the U.S. Department of Energy. Also includes data on petroleum prices and carbon emissions. Most time series data extend back to 1980.

PDF version of the Monthly Energy Review published by the U.S. Department of Energy. Contains data on the production, consumption, trade, and prices of various sources of energy. Some time-series data extends back to 1949. Data tables can also be downloaded in Excel format.

Observational and model-generated data related to climate change. Managed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Land cover, predicted distribution for common vertibrate species, and land ownership/stewardship information for the entire United States.

1970-2000. From the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

1893-present. Historical weather data for several dozen Iowa locations.

Data on climate and weather events from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dozens of databases with information on air quality, water quality, pollution, Superfund sites, and more.

Water quality information and surface and ground water levels from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Statistics and data on land use, water use, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, nutrition, and food aid. Also includes a spatial database of agricultural land-use data with online mapping capabilities.

Data on farms, agricultural workers, crops, livestock, and more. Data can be found under both "Data and Statistics" and "Census." ("Census" points to the Census of Agriculture, which surveys all farms in the United States once every five years.)

Statistics and data on land use, water use, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, nutrition, and food aid. Also includes a spatial database of agricultural land-use data with online mapping capabilities.
Politics, Polling, and International Relations
Print Location: Burling Ref JK1967 .A8
Voting statistics for national and statewide elections, 1956 to the present. Some of this information is also contained in the online CQ Voting and Elections Collection.

"The project produces aggregate-level data on resistance campaigns from 1900-2006 (NAVCO 1.1), annual data on campaign behavior from 1945-2006 (NAVCO 2.0) and events data on tactical selection during campaigns from 1987-2011 (NAVCO 3.0)."

Data about U.S. federal and state regulations, created by using text-mining and topic-modeling techniques on the Code of Federal Regulations and the administrative laws of each of the 50 states.

Produced by the Center for Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich. Contains two major datasets, Geographic Research on War, Unified Platform (GROWup) and the Ethnic Power Relations Datasets.

Several datasets on cases heard before the Supreme Court of the United States, 1946-present (with a lag of 1-2 years). Datasets are available in Excel, Stata, SPSS, and SAS formats.

Several datasets on armed conflict, 1946-present. Some datasets are georeferenced.
Links to the Secretary of State websites for all states in the U.S., plus Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Typically, election data for each state can be found on the website for its Secretary of State office. From the National Association of Secretaries of State.


A collection of research tools that covers a host of information about voting in America both past and present. Covers political parties, campaigns and elections, and demographic information about voters. To download historical election return data, click on the "Export/Download" link in the left-hand sidebar.
Detailed, individual-level data on which people donated money to which candidates.

Searchable database of U.S. public opinion data from academic, commercial, and media survey organizations, such as Gallup, Pew, network TV news bureaus, and more. In many cases, you can download the full data set from the survey through RoperExpress. View the Terms of Use for this resource.

Searchable archive of New York Times/CBS News Polls since 1976. Raw data from these polls is available through ICPSR.

Download bulk data on campaign finance, lobbying expenditures, 527 groups, and the personal finances of politicians. A project of the Center for Responsive Politics.

Maintained by a professor of political science, who says, "These pages are meant to include the most useful data sources on processes of international conflict and cooperation, as well as data covering international economic, environmental, political, and social data and data on similar topics for the United States."

1940s-present. Coded datasets of policy changes based on Congressional hearings, Congressional roll call votes, executive orders, State of the Union addresses, and more.

Compiles surveys conducted by hundreds of polling organizations in the United States and more than 80 other countries from 1986 to the present. Each of the records reports a question asked, the percentage of respondents who gave each answer, and some information about the sample and survey methodology. The raw data is NOT available from this source; for some surveys, you may be able to find raw data through ICPSR or another source.

Data on the weapons industry, arms transfers (1950-present), multilateral peacekeeping operations (2000-present), and military spending (1988-present).
Print Location: Burling Ref JK1965 .B86 2010
1788-2008. Extensive data on American presidential elections, including turnout data for all presidential elections. Also includes some data on gubernatorial and Congressional elections.

Extremely detailed data on spending by the U.S. federal government. Includes data on contracts, grants, loans, and "other financial assistance." Both microdata and aggregate data are available.
By the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Includes county-level data about cancer mortality rates back to 1971.

Surveys on health and health care conducted in 75 developing countries from 1984 to the present. Both statistics and raw data sets are available. Some data sets are available in GIS formats.

Maintained by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Includes both statistics and microdata.


Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Economic, social, demographic, and other data is included. This online database supports browsing, querying, pivoting, and dynamic charting as well as downloading data.

Statistics on 95 demographic variables, including education, health, and employment. Statistics are available at the state level for the United States, at the country level for more than 220 countries; statistics are also available for the world as a whole and for 28 world regions and sub-regions. Statistics can be displayed as rankings, bar graphs, or maps.


PDF versions of published statistical sources from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Topics include finance, trade, transportation, agriculture, health, education, science, and more. OECD Data can also be accessed through the OECD.Stat database above.

International time-series data on a variety of health-related indicators, including data on health care systems.

Health data from the World Health Organization's European division. Includes the European Health for All Database.

The North and South American division of the World Health Organization.
PDF versions of the World Health Report published annually by the World Health Organization (WHO). Each report examines a different topic in global public health. Reports are available online back to 1995.

State-level and county-level indicators about the fairness and overall functioning of the criminal justice system. Data can be filtered by race, gender, age, and other variables. Data is not yet available for all states.

Data about alleged crimes that occurred on and near every college campus in the United States, 2001-present.
Maintained by the FBI. Crime statistics down to the city level for the entire U.S. Also has statistics about crime on college campuses. For microdata on crime, see the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data within ICPSR.
From the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education. School district level data on racial disparities in students taking AP classes, being disciplined, and many other topics.
A searchable database of financial information for more than 600,000 American not-for-profit organizations.
Information about and links to various types of data on student success in higher education. A product of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP).

NCES is the primary federal entity collecting and analyzing education-related data for the United States and other nations. The NCES catalog can be searched to locate NCES publications and data products, many full-text or available for download, including The Condition of Education, The Digest of Education Statistics, TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) and the NAEP (Nation's Report Card). NCES also makes available extremely detailed data about pre-K through graduate education and about libraries.
From the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. Data on drivers, number and types of vehicles, miles traveled, fuels, and more.

PDF version of the Monthly Energy Review published by the U.S. Department of Energy. Contains data on the production, consumption, trade, and prices of various sources of energy. Some time-series data extends back to 1949. Data tables can also be downloaded in Excel format.
PDF scans of historical publications related to economics. Most of the publications were originally produced by the Federal Reserve or various government agencies.


A fully searchable and downloadable electronic database of quantitative facts of American history, covering topics such as economics, education, government, international migration, law, natural resources, religion, sociology, and trade.
Print Location: Burling Reference HA 4675 .M552 2003
Print Location: Burling Reference HA 175 .M55 2003
Print Location: Burling Reference HA 1107 .M5 2003
Enter an amount, a starting year, an ending year, and a country (U.S., U.K., Japan, or China) and find out how much the amount was "worth" in each time based on up to seven different scales.
Price, wage and exchange rate data for Europe (and, in a few cases, parts of Asia and Africa bordering the Mediterranean), 800-1815.
A comprehensive source of maps, geospatial and geostatistical data for the United States.
The National Historical Geographic Information System. Provides "aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2000." Free registration required.
Harmonized base layers of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., as well as layers of environmental data, from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Data from UNEP's Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report, as well as other environmental and socioeconomic data.
Lists of geographic area codes for all levels and all areas in the United States.
Do you have geographic data that isn't at the geographic level you want? This tool will help you allocate data for one geographic area (e.g., counties) to larger (e.g., metropolitan statistical areas) or smaller (e.g., townships) geographic areas. Created by the Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis for the state of Missouri.
Print Location: 4th Floor West Gov Doc CD
Grinnell has a great deal of data on CDs from the US Geological Survey. Browse the government documents CDs on the fourth floor (USGS data will be in the Is) or search in the catalog.

A sample of responses from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

Primarily economic microdata about individuals and households in the United States. The dataset for researching wage descrimination and related topics
From the home page: "The Socioeconomic High-resolution Rural-Urban Geographic Platform for India (SHRUG) is a geographic platform that facilitates data sharing between researchers working on India. It is an open access repository currently comprising dozens of datasets covering India’s 500,000 villages and 8000 towns using a set of a common geographic identifiers that span 25 years."

"The Microdata Library facilitates access to data collected through sample surveys of households, business establishments or other facilities. These microdata sets may also originate from population, housing or agricultural censuses or through an administrative data collection processes. The Library contains supporting documentation from censuses and surveys conducted or supported by the World Bank, as well as by other international organizations, statistical agencies and other agencies in low and middle-income countries."

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) maintains and provides access to the world's largest archive of raw data sets in the social sciences. Before downloading data, you will be prompted to create a MyData account. You must be on campus to create this account. As long as you log in to your MyData account from an on-campus computer at least every 6 months, you will also be able to download data while you are off campus.

Maintained by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Includes both statistics and microdata.

Time-series data on voting behavior and political opinions back to 1948.

Data from several studies related to migration in the United States and Latin America.

Survey data about the demographics, attitudes, and behaviors of Americans. Time-series data back to 1972 is available for some questions.


Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. A project of the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota, this site distributes microdata sets from historical and current censuses of both the U.S. and foreign countries. These data sets have been harmonized, so items from one census can easily be compared to items on another census.

The most comprehensive catalog of data sets in the United States; also a good source for some international data.

Surveys on health and health care conducted in 75 developing countries from 1984 to the present. Both statistics and raw data sets are available. Some data sets are available in GIS formats.

Raw data from many historical public opinion polls, including several hundred state-level polls, Harris polls, and the Computer Assisted Panel Study.

Data sets from the Mexican Migration Project, Latin American Migration Project, American Fertility Surveys, National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, Texas Higher Education Opportunity Project, and more.

Distributes data from five of Pew's research centers: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Pew Internet and American Life Project, Pew Global Attitudes Project, and the Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends studies.

1940s-present. Coded datasets of policy changes based on Congressional hearings, Congressional roll call votes, executive orders, State of the Union addresses, and more.

Provides downloads of full public opinion data sets from academic, commercial, and media survey organizations, such as Gallup, Pew, network TV news bureaus, and more. RoperExpress is only for downloading full data sets to analyze. To search for quick public opinion statistics, use iPoll. View the Terms of Use for this resource.

SDA allows online analysis of various datasets, including the General Social Survey, the American National Election Study, the U.S. Census Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS), and a few others. This is a good option if you want a quick answer and don't want/need to download the entire dataset to get it.

Several thousand data sets on a variety of topics, including crime, demographics, the economy, education, employment, the environment, health, religion, social indicators, and more. Historical and longitudinal data is also available. Much of the data was collected in the United Kingdom, although some international data sets are available. Registration is required; this registration is free for academic users.

Extremely detailed data on spending by the U.S. federal government. Includes data on contracts, grants, loans, and "other financial assistance." Both microdata and aggregate data are available.

A statistical database providing quantitative data on business, finance, media, politics, and other areas of interest, culled from market research reports, trade publications, scientific journals, and government documents.
= Restricted resource
= Images
= Video files
= Audio files
= Scholarly articles
= Quantitative data
= Newspapers
= Highly recommended

Julia Bauder
Social Studies and Data Services Librarian
Tel: 641-269 4431
Or, request a Library Lab. Julia will get in touch with you to set up an appointment to meet.
Looking for more information on data sources? Check out my book, The Reference Guide to Data Sources!
Need help loading data into a statistical software package or analyzing it? The Data Analysis and Social Inquiry Lab is here to help!
Do you have a favorite data source that isn't listed here? Is there a statistical database that you think the library should buy? Let us know!