Information At Your Finger Tips. Factopedia Editor Brian Harrod has spent years researching the biggest and best list of interesting facts organized for you
Population / Demographics Resources
The following are some popular sources for demographic data, broken out by topic of interest:
50 Largest U.S. Cities – Data supplied by Bureau of the Census and by the cities in response to questionnaires. Ranking of 50 largest cities based on July 1, 1999, census estimates.
ACCRA Cost of Living Index – Some 250 urban areas are surveyed, more than BLS. ACCRA reports index figures for 60 representative goods and services, compares one city to another, presents some data as weighted averages, and lists actual retail prices.
America’s Children – America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, developed by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics.
American FactFinder – U.S. Census Bureau – “a new data access and dissemination system that provides useful facts and information about your community, your economy, and your society. The system will find and retrieve the information you need from some of the Census Bureau’s largest data sets.” Users can create a variety of tables, reports, or maps with information on their community, the economy, or American society.
American Demographics, Inc. – home of two magazines which focus on consumer trends and market research. Although geared towards businesspeople and advertisers, the statistical and marketing data is presented in an easy-to-read format that is appropriate for laypersons as well.
America’s Safest and Most Dangerous Cities – ‘Most Safe’ and ‘Most Dangerous’ American cities. Results are based on a city’s rate for six basic crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. All cities of 75,000+ populations that reported crime data to the FBI for the six crime categories were included in the rankings and each of the six crimes were given equal weight. Final 1999 statistics were used in determining the rankings.
Ancestry.com: 1940 Census – “On April 1, 1940 history was made as the 16th U.S. Census was taken in America and its territories. And today, each and every one of the 134 million records is ready for you to explore here on Ancestry.com. Simply search for your family member by name and you could find records that include details like address, age, occupation, income, education level and more. Almost 9 out of 10 Americans has a relative in the 1940 Census. See who you can discover, right now.”
BestLittleBaby: Baby Names – “With over 70k baby names and hundreds of name generators and name lists, you are sure to find the perfect baby name!”
Best Places to Live – Money magazine’s editors picked the top neighborhoods around America’s 10 favorite big cities. The magazine editors surveyed more than 1,200 cities and chose the top 10 cities. Conclusions were based on a city’s rate of population growth, real estate demand and local income levels.
Census Finder – A comprehensive directory of U.S., United Kingdom and Canadian links to free census records online categorized by country, state, and county.
CensusScope – tool for investigating U.S. demographic trends, brought to you by the Social Science Data Analysis Network, at the University of Michigan.
Checkthem: Search Public Records – “Find people using our public background search. We search billions of reports for phone numbers, criminal records, arrest records, address history, marriage/divorce records, and much more.”
Child Stats – This web site offers easy access to federal and state statistics and reports on children and their families, including: population and family characteristics, economic security, health, behavior and social environment, and education.
City-Data.com – “Stats about all US cities – real estate, relocation info, crime, house prices, schools, races, income, photos, sex offenders, maps, education, weather, home value estimator, recent sales, etc.”
City Profiles for Major U.S. Cities – Whether you’re deciding to move or accept a short-term assignment, finding detailed information on an unfamiliar city is critical, but often difficult…until now. Just click on a city name to review an in-depth report, including taxation and cost-of-living data, education resources, arts and recreation activities, crime statistics and additional sources of information. Site is from the RealEstateJournal section of The Wall Street Journal web site.
Consumer Price Index, 1800-1996 – if a Model-T cost $395 in 1919 what would it cost today? Use this handy guide, taken primarily from the two-volume Historical Statistics of the United States, enables us to convert historical prices to current dollars
CountryReports.org – Country information from around the world. A resource for business, tourists, students and teachers.
Dismal Scientist, The – Economics is the subject, with emphasis on the United States. Statistics and rankings for states or Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) are available based on factors such as demographics, income, population density, number of new business incorporations, etc. Forecasts and summaries of major economic releases are expressed in clear, non-technical language.
E-Conflict World Encyclopedia – The E-Conflict World Encyclopedia site profiles the nations of the world. View maps and flags or listen to national anthems. There are over 1,400 pages of written text on the nations
EconData.net – Site is designed to help practitioners, researchers, students, and other data users quickly gain access to relevant state and substate socioeconomic data. The site aims to be a convenient, comprehensive first stop for anyone searching among the vast, disparate array of public and private data sources on the Web.
Global Statistics – The data at this site ranges from country profiles (provinces and main cities) to the highest mountains in the world, to a list of all countries in the world with their capitals, surface area and population.
Governments on the WWW – Comprehensive database of governmental institutions on the World Wide Web: parliaments, ministries, offices, law courts, embassies, city councils, public broadcasting corporations, central banks, multi-national organisations etc. Includes also political parties. Online since June 1995. Contains more than 11000 entries from 215 countries and territories as of October 1998. Frequently updated.
H-DEMOG – Michigan State University – a discussion list and scholarly network for demographic history. Includes subscription information and commands, list archives, academic announcements and conference notices, and links to related resources.
History of the Minimum Wage – What was the minimum wage in 1941? This site provides a “history of federal minimum wage rates under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938-1996.”
HomeTownLocator gazetteer: Census Data – This site allows you to browse physical and cultural features of the United States, arranged by individual state. From each state listing, you can learn about various physical and cultural attributes within each county, such as hospitals, bays, airports, oilfield, and post offices. After browsing a list of each type of feature, you can elect to view an aerial photograph of the feature and its environs as well.
International Data Base – is a computerized data bank containing statistical tables of demographic, and socio-economic data for all countries of the world.
Kids Count: Census Data Online – iThis site of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the U.S. By providing policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being.
Legacy.com: Obituaries – “Legacy.com is the leading provider of online obituaries for the newspaper industry. Legacy.com enhances online obituaries with Guest Books, funeral home information, and florist links.”
NationMaster.com – a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD. Using the form above, you can generate maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease.
National Center for Education Statistics – “The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education.”
National Compensation Survey – Site provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings; compensation cost trends, benefit incidence, and detailed plan provisions. Detailed occupational earnings are available for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, broad geographic regions, and on a national basis.
National Transportation Statistics – detailed national-level data on the U.S. transportation system, its economic performance, safety record, energy use, and environmental impacts.
nybizdb.com – Complete company data, address data, maps for new york businesses.
Population Reference Bureau – Site provides timely and objective information on U.S. and international population trends and their implications.
Population Studies Center – University of Michigan – Information on this interdisciplinary demographic research center (sociology, economics, anthropology, public health, and social work). Includes project descriptions and publications and material on graduate programs.
Poverty Clock -Tracks the number of new people living on less than $1 per day this year.
PriceWiki – “Prices of products in different places of the world. Database of prices of common items in different places of the world.”
Progress of Nations, The – “The nations of the world ranked according to their achievements in child health, nutrition, education, family planning and progress for women.”
Public Access to Labor Statistics (BLS LABSTAT) – The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ comprehensive WWW site permits easy entry into the full range of economic data and analysis produced by BLS.
PublicRecordFinder.com – “OnlineSearches.com is your gateway to public records. Use our free Public Records Directory to quickly find the public record sources you need. We provide thousands of links to free public record searches in every state and county in the United States.”
Public Records Online – Site is an information portal to official state websites, and those Tax Assessors’ and Recorders’ offices that have developed websites for the retrieval of available public records over the internet. Public records information that you may find includes copies of deeds, parcel maps, GIS maps, tax data, ownership information and indexes, and will vary to the extent that the particular office has developed their site.
StateMaster.com – statistical database which allows you to research and compare a multitude of different data on US states.
State and County QuickFacts – Site provides frequently requested Census Bureau information at the national, state and county level.
State Birds – This site by 50States.com, lists the official state bird for all 50 states. Images presented are drawn from ‘Audubon’s Birds of America’by John James.
State Flowers – The 50 state flowers: history, growing info and more.
State Tax Rates and Structure – Compiled by the Federation of Tax Administrators, this site includes information on individual and corporate state income taxes, state sales taxes, state excise taxes, state and local tax burdens, and links to electronic filing sites for all fifty states.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – the government entity responsible for the various indexes that make up the Consumer Price Index. All the indexes are here, going back as far as 1913.
United States Counties – This site by National Association of Counties provides information on all U.S. counties, such as county officials, courthouse addresses, county seats, cities in a county.
U.S. Voting and Registration Data – Information on reported voting and registration by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics is collected for the nation in November of congressional and presidential election years in the Current Population Survey (CPS).
Virtual Gumshoe – Investigative resources available on the Web.
Vizala – “Vizala aims to be the internet’s most useful database for country, demographic, social, and economic information. Instead of just providing answers, our robust analytics allow for in-depth analysis and provide a complete picture of your topic of interest.”
Working in the 21st Century – This site by the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, is a portrait of the U.S. workforce at the beginning of the New Millennium that includes a set of charts and related information about subjects ranging from education levels to retirement plans.
World Heads of State – “The Central Intelligence Agency publishes and updates the online directory of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments weekly. The directory is intended to be used primarily as a reference aid and includes as many governments of the world as is considered practical, some of them not officially recognized by the United States. Regimes with which the United States has no diplomatic exchanges are indicated by the initials NDE.”
Worldwide 2001 Cost of Living Survey City Rankings – The world’s most expensive cities are Tokyo, Moscow, and Hong Kong. The least expensive city surveyed is Blantyre in Malawi followed by Bangalore in India. This site provides a survey of City Rankings.
