Library Guides: Researching Your Hometown: Statistics, Data and Maps

U.S. Census Data

data.census.gov
Interface for U.S. Census data, replacing American FactFinder. Find a table you can use, and customize it for your county or other geographic subdivision, or search by ZIP code.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Editions from 2013-present are available.

Data and Statistics USA.gov Find data and statistics by topic.
DATA.gov Home of the U.S. Government’s open data. Here you will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.
Google Public Data
Good for data visualization, e.g., population bubble animations, using statistics from the census, bureau of labor statistics, bureau of economic analysis and some others

New York Times Mapping America Tool
Excellent map visualizations and very easy to get census-tract-level data by hovering over it, but data can't be exported
Proquest Statistical Datasets Data and graphics for more than 500 datasets from government and private industry, both domestic and international. Emphasis is in 20th century U.S. economic data and includes diverse subjects such as health, politics, demographics, social services and environmental data. Time spans vary by topic. Charting, plotting and mapping options available. Export data into MS Excel, XML, PDF, or into shape files for GIS.
PolicyMap.com
Much data and mapping here must be paid for, but not all, and there are also options for a free, 7-day trial membership. Will map data on demographics, but also economic, housing, environment, health, education, and various other quality-of-life variables.

dwellr
dwellr powers your phone with neighborhood-level statistics on topics such as home values, education, and how people get to work so that you can explore where you want to dwell. Powered by the U.S. Census. Apple and Android apps available.

Bureau of Justice Statistics Statistics on Corrections, Federal State and Tribal Courts, Employment and Expenditure, and Victims, among others.
CrimeSolutions.gov
Research-based solutions to crime problems, from the National Institute of Justice
CureViolence.org
NGO establishing outposts in cities to reduce the level of violence, with some success
Illinois Traffic Stop Study Results On July 18th, 2003 an Illinois Senate Bill was signed into law. This law established a four year statewide study of traffic stops to collect data to identify racial bias. The study began on January 1st, 2004 and was originally scheduled to end December 31, 2007. However, Public Act 96-0658 has extended the Illinois Traffic Stop Study. All Illinois law enforcement agencies must continue to collect and submit traffic stop data until July 1, 2015.
Missouri Vehicle Stops By Race Data from the Missouri Attorney General's office
more...less...
Missouri’s state law requires that all peace officers in the state report specific information including a driver’s race for each vehicle stop made in the state. Law enforcement agencies are required to turn in the data to the Attorney General, and the Attorney General is required to compile the data and report to the Governor no later than June 1 of each year. The law allows the Governor to withhold state funds for any agency that does not comply with the law.
Search Local Crime (Uniform Crime Reports)
Uniform Crime Reports
U.S. crime statistics from the FBI.

An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2016 Election
Maps the Presidential Election of 2016 down to the precinct level and provides a tool to compare different places' voting behavior.
Federal Election Commission: Official Results
The official source of primary, runoff and general election results for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and, when applicable, U.S. President.
Find My State or Local Election Office Website
State and/or county election office websites usually contain at least a few years of election results, which is especially useful when looking at past races and non-presidential elections.