Public Data Sources

There are many places to access local, state, national and international data–and many of those sources have data tools built right into their web sites to help you quickly find what you need. From U.S. Census data about the neighborhoods you serve, to federal data to compare your clients to national averages, data are everywhere. Learn more about how to use Public Data by checking out our emPower Tools!

Education Data

All Levels

Data on all levels of education including Early Learning, K – 12, and Higher Education.

Digest of Education Statistics

This page within the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) website includes a variety of national- level Preschool through Graduate School data and supplemental data on population, labor force, and economic trends.

Open the Digest of Education Statistics.

Data.Gov (Education Specific)

The education section of this site includes access to hundreds of federally-collect data on K-12 and Postsecondary education in the US.

Open Data.Gov.

Education Policy and Data Center

Provides links to data specific to education in developing countries; does not include US-specific data.

Open the Education Policy and Data Center.

Kids Count Data Center

A project of the Annie E Casey Foundation, this site provides easy access to a variety of national and state-level data. It is a very easy site to navigate and a great resource for the data-novice.

Open Kids Count Data Center.

King County Best Starts for Kids Initiative (BSK)

This dashboard provides a variety of social, health, and education data collected from BSK-funded programs in King County, Washington.

Open King County Best Starts for Kids Initiative.

Early Learning
Kids Count Data Center (Early Childhood Specific)

Easy to use source for national and state-level early learning data.

Open Kids Count Data Center.

US Department of Education (Early Learning Specific)

Provides access to a variety of national and state-level early learning data collect by the federal government.

Open the US Department of Education site.

Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA)

ECTA maintains a useful and easy-to-navigate list of early childhood data and research organized by topic.

Open the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center site.

K-12
US Department of Education (K-12 Specific)

Provides access to a variety of national and state-level K-12 data.

Open the US Department of Education site.

K- 12 Practitioners’ Circle

This page within the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) website provides fast and easy access to a variety of K-12 data.

Open the K-12 Practioners’ Circle.

Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)

Survey data of public schools collected by the US Department of Education every two years; includes variety of student demographic and teacher characteristics at school and district level.

Open the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)

Collection of data on Washington State public schools. Includes variety of student demographic data available by school and district.

Open the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction site.

Higher Education
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

Variety of data from US colleges and universities; useful in examining general trends in post-secondary education.

Open the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System site.

NCHEMS Information System

Targeted at policymakers and policy analysts, this site provides a variety of state-level data from several national sources.

Open the NCHEMS Information System.

Health Data

Data on various health and medical measures exist at many levels, from local to international.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

A wide variety of data on various health and disease measures, including data for alcohol use, cancer, diabetes, environmental health, suicide and violence.

Open the CDC site.

Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Center for Health Statistics

Provides access to current, high quality health data that covers deaths, births, pregnancies, abortions, behavioral risk factors and hospitalizations. These data are also used by policy makers, health professionals, community-based organizations, and researchers to understand trends, identify high-risk populations and geographic areas, set prevention priorities, and plan targeted health promotion strategies. The Center also provides data on the financial performance of Washington hospitals.

Open the Washington State Department of Health Center for Health Statistics.

King County and Seattle Public Health

Provides regular, updated data on the Health of King County’s population. Data are intended to inform the community, including policy makers, medical personnel, researchers, community-based organizations, government agencies and individuals.

Open the King County and Seattle Public Health site.

World Health Organization (WHO)
  • A wealth of data on various health measures on a global scale. Languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.
    • Global Health Observatory (GHO): Data and analyses on global health priorities, such as maternal/newborn mortality, communicable diseases, traffic fatalities, drinking water, violence against women and more.

Open the WHO site.

Health Data.Gov

Data on a wide range of topics, including environmental health, medical devices, Medicare & Medicaid, social services, community health, mental health, and substance abuse. The data is collected and supplied from agencies from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as state partners. This includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, among others.

Open Health Data.Gov.

U.S. Census Data

The Unites States Census Bureau is an incredible wealth of data on a wide variety of topics. Here are a few tools to wade through the data:

Languages: English, Spanish

U.S. Census Data

Landing page for access to U.S. Census data in many formats, including interactive web applications and data visualizations.

Open the U.S. Census site.

American Community Survey

A nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing. The ACS collects information such as age, race, income, commute time to work, home value, veteran status, and other important data.

Open the American Community Survey.

American Housing Survey

A longitudinal housing unit survey conducted biennially in odd-numbered years. It provides current information on a wide range of housing subjects, including size and composition of the nation’s housing inventory, vacancies, physical condition of housing units, characteristics of occupants, indicators of housing and neighborhood quality, mortgages and other housing costs, persons eligible for and beneficiaries of assisted housing, home values, and characteristics of recent movers.

Open the American Housing Survey.

QuickFacts

State and County QuickFacts provides frequently requested Census Bureau information at the national, state, county, and city level.

Open QuickFacts.

Local and State

For organizations working in Seattle, King County and other parts of Washington State, using local, regional and state data to show and tell your story can be powerful.

City of Seattle Data

Public data for Seattle, including data on business, various community measures, education, finance, public safety, transportation and more.

Open the City of Seattle’s site.

King County Data

Public data for King County, including data on environment and waste management, health and wellness, equity and justice, safety and much more.

Open King County’s site.

Washington State Data

Public data for Washington State, including data on health care, demographics, education, economics, labor, transportation and much more.

Open the Washington State site.

King County Communities Count

This easy-to-navigate source includes a variety of social, health, and education indicators for King County.

Open King County Communities Count.

Crime Data

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) collects data on crimes in the United States using the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program. This includes several types of data sources and tools. Note: submitting data to the UCR is voluntary, so is not always reliable for every jurisdiction. Learn more about the limitations of the UCR here.

Crime Data Explorer

A new tool for exploring UCR crime data from the various databases. Allows the user to explore by geographic area or dataset. Limited information for some states, but worth exploring. Some data go back as far as 1995.

Open the Crime Data Explorer.

Crime in the United States

Database of U.S. crimes collected in the UCR as “crimes known to police.” Find crime data by city, county or state broken down by age, gender and more. Data go back to 1995.

Open the Crime in the United States site.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

Much more detailed information about each crime committed in a year. Includes data on human trafficking. Can find data from 2011 online.

Open the NIBRS.

Hate Crime Statistics

Includes data for crimes motivated by bias against the victim’s perceived race, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin as well as bias crimes committed by or directed toward juveniles. Data go back to 1996 (early years in PDF).

Open the Hate Crime Statistics site.

Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA)

Details about officers who are killed or assaulted. Data go back to 1996 (early years in PDF).

Open the LEOKA site.

Use-of-Force Data Collection

Data on use-of-force incidents in the United States. Program still being piloted; check back for any data release info.

Open the Use-of-Force Data Collection.

Other sources of crime and justice data

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): The mission of the BJS is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.

Labor and Economic Data

Information on who is working in what industry, unemployment, and a wide variety of economic factors are all available nationally and internationally from sources such as:

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Data on U.S. employment, unemployment, productivity, workplace injuries, wages, prices and more.

Open the Bureau of Labor Statistics site.

Bureau of Economic Analysis

Data on U.S. Gross Domestic Produce (GDP), Consumer Spending, Prices and Inflation and more.

Open the Bureau of Economic Analysis site.

International Monetary Fund

Data on all sorts of economic measures on a global scale, including economic projections by region.

Open the IMF site.

Economic Surveys and Programs

In addition to conducting the Economic Censuses every five years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts more than 100 economic surveys covering annual, quarterly, and monthly time periods for various sectors of the economy. These surveys measure a wide variety of economic activities, from capital expenditures for food manufacturing companies to annual auto dealership sales.

Open the Economic Surveys and Programs site.

Public Opinion Data

Understanding how the average person in the U.S. feels about a topic, or tracking trends in public sentiment over time, can add impact and context to your story. These groups house data on public opinion information going back decades on a wide variety of topics.

Pew Research Center

A nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. Pew conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and data-driven social science research.

Open the Pew Research Center site.

Gallup

Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world.

Open Gallup’s site.

International Data

Organizations serving immigrants and/or refugees from countries outside of the United States may benefit from data on countries of origin, or international data can also provide comparisons and context. Some international data sources include:

European Union (EU) Open Data Portal

Access to more than 12,000 datasets from various EU agencies and governments.

Open the EU’s Open Data Portal.

Gapminder

An independent Swedish foundation with no political, religious or economic affiliations. Gapminder is a fact tank, not a think tank. Gapminder fights devastating misconceptions about global development. Gapminder produces free teaching resources making the world understandable based on reliable statistics. Gapminder promotes a fact-based worldview everyone can understand.  Gapminder collaborates with universities, UN, public agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Open Gapminder.

International Monetary Fund

Data on all sorts of economic measures on a global scale, including economic projections by region.

Open the IMF’s site.

Open Data UK

Open source UK data on economic measures, environment, education, crime and justice, cities, social measures, transportation and more.

Open Open Data UK’s site.

Unicef

Data impacting children and women globally, including data on water, sanitation, hygiene, child disabilities, child health, child nutrition, education, gender equality and much more.

Open Unicef’s site.

World Bank

The World Bank has global development data, including data on poverty and debt, along with population data.

Open the World Bank’s site.

World Factbook

Compiled by the CIA, The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, a World Oceans map, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.

Open the World Factbook.

World Health Organization (WHO)
  • A wealth of data on various health measures on a global scale. Languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.
    • Global Health Observatory (GHO): Data and analyses on global health priorities, such as maternal/newborn mortality, communicable diseases, traffic fatalities, drinking water, violence against women and more.

Open the WHO’s site.

Environmental Data

Data on climate and environmental harms can help make the case that your neighborhood needs environmental justice. Various government agencies and NGOs collect environmental data, including:

Environmental Defense Fund

Reports and publications about climate and environmental justice concerns.

Open the Environmental Defense Fund’s site.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Caution: the availability–and credibly–of the data may differ based on current leadership.
    • EPA Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool: In order to better meet the Agency’s responsibilities related to the protection of public health and the environment, EPA developed this tool. It is based on nationally consistent data and an approach that combines environmental and demographic indicators in maps and reports.

Open the EPA’s site.

Search Engines for Open Source and Public Data

The amount of public data online is vast. Several groups have created search engines to help you search for public data sources, including:

Data.gov

A search engine for accessing U.S. open source data on a wide variety of topics, including agriculture, climate, consumers, education, public safety, etc.

Open Data.gov.

Google Public Data Directory

Google has a tool for exploring various public data sources from around the world.

Open the Google Public Data Directory.

Enigma Public

Thousands of public databases made searchable and free for non-commercial use.

Open Enigma Public.

Open Data Network

Wealth of data that are easy to browse, with many visualizations. Good place to find “fast facts” about topics or areas (including Seattle, King County and Washington State).

Open the Open Data Network.