Research Guides: Census Data: Online Census Data

New Census Data Site

The Census Bureau has a new data exploration platform to view and download data. This is still a work in progress. If you don't see what you're looking for, Ask Us! If you feel the Bureau's new site is missing functionality, let them know. There is a feedback email located on the front page.

Use the Chrome browser for best results.

Explore census data
Data.census.gov is the new platform to access demographic and economic data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The vision for data.census.gov is to improve the customer experience by making data available from one centralized place so that data users spend less time searching for data and content, and more time using it. ...
Use the Chrome browser for best results.
Census Survey Explorer
The Census Survey Explorer lets you find a specific survey or census by filtering and searching by geography, frequency, topics, and subtopics. [Beta version at this time]
What is data.census.gov ?
The vision for data.census.gov is to improve the customer experience by making data available from one centralized place so that data users spend less time searching for data and content, and more time using it. ...

CensusCD products Online

The following CensusCD products are online.

CensusCD 1970 by Geolytics
Call Number: Electronic resource
This product allows you to map and/or download data from the 1970 Census. However, be aware that variables used today, might not have been in use in 1970.
CensusCD 1990: Long Form by Geolytics, Inc.
Call Number: Electronic resource
The product lets you download 1990 Long Form census data or map that same data using an internal mapping software. The census geography available is down to the block group level.
CensusCD neighborhood by Geolytics
Call Number: Electronic resource
Contains nation-wide tract-level data from the 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses. Combines U.S. Bureau of the Census data into one product with variables and tract boundaries that are consistently defined across census years.

Historical Data

Finding historic census data can be a little difficult. The Census Bureau makes available the data from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses online at American Factfinder. However, they do not provide access to the earlier censuses at this time.

Explore census data
Data.census.gov is the new platform to access demographic and economic data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The vision for data.census.gov is to improve the customer experience by making data available from one centralized place so that data users spend less time searching for data and content, and more time using it. ...
Use the Chrome browser for best results.
Census Reporter
Census Reporter gathers Census and American Community Survey data historically for public and private use. There is a limit to the number of geographic areas you can download at one time.
Historic Census Publications
This guide comes from the University of Michigan's Library. Most of the resources it points to are freely available. Each census year is listed with links to the sites and the geography available. There may be some that are limited to Michigan's students, staff and faculty. If that happens, check with our own online catalog, the Baker/Berry Reference Desk or the Evans Map Room for alternatives.
NHGIS (National Historical Geographic Information System)
The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) is a project that created and freely disseminates a database incorporating all available aggregate census information for the United States from 1790 to the present.
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*Collect and enrich historical and contemporary U.S. Census summary data.
* Incorporate these data into a Geographic Information Systems framework.
*Create a web-based system for access to both census data and the metadata.
U. S. Census Bureau Data Repository
The ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) announced a new data repository of census information from the U. S. Census Bureau. This new repository preserves and disseminates survey instruments, specifications, data dictionaries, codebooks, and other materials from the U. S. Census Bureau.

Other Census Data Online site(s)

These resources are freely available online. These resources include other types of counts the Census Bureau collects.

alteryx
Alteryx provides access to a variety of population and housing statistics from the 2010 Census.
MapED
MapED is a dynamic data mapping tool that provides geographic context to National Center for Education Statistics, Census, and other education demographic datasets. This site is from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
NHGIS (National Historical Geographic Information System)
The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) is a project that created and freely disseminates a database incorporating all available aggregate census information for the United States from 1790 to the present.
more...less...
*Collect and enrich historical and contemporary U.S. Census summary data.
* Incorporate these data into a Geographic Information Systems framework.
*Create a web-based system for access to both census data and the metadata.
Social Explorer
This resource lets you visualize historical and current census data. Social Explorer also includes data for crime, health, religion, censuses for Canada and the United Kingdom and development indicators.
To take full advantage of Social Explorer, you must create an account within the resource.