Historical Statistics and Data
Resources are listed by relevance and breadth of scope.
- Historical Statistics of the United States, Earliest Times to the Present, Millennial Edition [via Cambridge University Press]Historical Statistics of the United States (HSUS) is the long-awaited 4th edition of the landmark government reference tool, last published in 1975. This expanded digital edition (available also as a five-volume print edition) updates and expands the original tables and introduces dozens of new topics. HSUS was culled from more than 1,000 sources to produce nearly 2,000 tables containing some 37,000 time series covering virtually every quantifiable dimension of American history: agriculture, population, the economy, government, welfare and work. Some data from the 1975 edition have been extensively revised, and data determined to be unreliable or inaccurate have not been included. Each series is fully documented and placed in historical context by a scholar in the field. Tables can be downloaded and viewed, as well as graphed and merged into custom tables.
- International Historical Statistics (IHS) This link opens in a new windowThe online IHS updates the last print edition of International Historical Statistics, which was published in 2007 in 3 volumes. It now includes 260 years of rich data, collected between 1750-2010 and available online. Data tables can be downloaded as ePDFs and/or Excel files.
- NHGIS (National Historical Geographic Information System) This link opens in a new windowA project to create and freely disseminate a database incorporating all available aggregate census information for the United States between 1790 and 2000. Census Tract Shapefiles are available for select areas for the 1940 - 1990 census. The NHGIS consists of three major components: 1) Collect and enrich historical and contemporary U.S. Census summary data; 2) Incorporate these data into a Geographic Information Systems framework; 3) Create a web-based system for access to both census data and the metadata. Free access, but requires you to register and login to use.
[Coverage: United States; 1790 - 2011] - Global Price and Income History Group This link opens in a new windowThis group is described as "A research team measuring prices, income, and economic wellbeing around the world before 1950" The Web site includes a rich collection of data sets and working papers.
- Mapusa This link opens in a new windowMap USA provides maps and census data at the tract and county level from 1940 to 2000. It is a project designed and hosted at Brown University. 2010 data has also been added.
- National Map This link opens in a new windowUSGS mapping resources from The National Map include a national map viewer, links to historic and current topo maps.
- Atlas of Historical County BoundariesThe Atlas presents (in maps, text, and downloadable GIS data) complete data about the creation and all subsequent changes (dated to the day) in the size, shape, and location of every county in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia. It also includes non-county areas, unsuccessful authorizations for new counties, changes in county names and organization, and the temporary attachments of non-county areas and unorganized counties to fully functioning counties. The principal sources for these data are the most authoritative available: the session laws of the colonies, territories, and states that created and changed the counties. [Coverage: 1788-present]
- California Open Data This link opens in a new windowIncludes links to numeric and geographic data covering a variety of topics including demography, health statistics, state contracts, traffic records. Statistics and data sets are available from state agencies and links are provided to other data sources - local, federal and other sources.