POLS 3700: Research Methods in Criminal Justice: Statistics

National Statistics

Uniform Crime Reports (Federal Bureau of Investigation) 

Bureau of Justice Statistics 

State / Local Statistics

Georgia Bureau of Investigation - Crime Statistics 

Georgia Department of Corrections - Reports

UGA Police Department - Crime Statistics 

Prisons and Jails

Vera Institute of Justice Incarceration Trends

National / State / International Data

Statista

• A statistics portal that gathers data on more than 80,000 topics from a wide variety of sources. Includes market research, consumer and industry reports, and more.  Includes criminal justice data (state, national, international).

PolicyMap:  Data and mapping application that provides access to continuously updated data related to demographics, socio-economics, mortgages and home sales, health statistics, jobs and employment, education and more. 

Contains data collected by other federal and state agencies aggregated into one place.

​Federal Statistics

These federal agency programs collect, analyze, and disseminate statistical data and information:

• Bureau of Economic Analysis collects information on economic indicators, national and international trade, accounts, and industry.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics reports on justice systems, crime, criminal offenders, and victims of crime.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics measures labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the U.S. economy.
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics provides data on airline on-time performance, pirates at sea, transportation safety and availability, motorcycle trends, and more.
• Census Bureau is the main source of data about our nation's people and economy.
• DAP Public Dashboard provides a window into how people are interacting with the government online.
• Data.gov is the home of the U.S. Government's open data. Find federal, state, and local data, tools, and resources to conduct research, build apps, design data visualizations, and more. 
• Economic Research Service informs public and private decision making on economic and policy issues related to agriculture, food, the environment, and rural development.  
• Energy Information Administration provides data on U.S. use of coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and more.
• National Agricultural Statistical Service researches data on food production and supply, organic sales, chemical use, demographics of U.S. producers, and more. Every five years it conducts the Census of Agriculture that provides agricultural data for every county in the United States.
• National Center for Education Statistics researches education in the United States. It publishes the Digest of Education Statistics, which includes international comparisons of students, and the annual report to Congress, The Condition of Education, which reports the progress of American education.
• National Center for Health Statistics is the principal health statistics agency for improving the health of the American people.
• National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics publishes data on the American science and engineering workforce and the progress of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States.
• Office of Personnel Management provides statistics on the Federal civilian workforce through data sources such as FedScope.
• Social Security Administration Office of Research Evaluation and Statistics offers data on social security program benefits, payments, covered workers, and more.
• Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income examines tax returns to report on such things as sources of income, exemptions, use of medical savings accounts, migration and geographic data, tax information on foreign corporations controlled by U.S. parent corporations, exports, international boycotts, and investments and activities in the U.S. by foreign persons.

You may also search a federal agency's website to see what types of statistical information it provides. Find the U.S. government department or agency you want to search.

The best database for locating population data is Social Explorer.  It includes:

• Census data from 1790 to 2010
• American Community Survey (all)
• Religion data - InfoGroup 2009
• Religion data - RCMS 1980 to 2000

To find data, click on Maps and Tables and select one of two ways to use Social Explorer:

Browse Maps to easily create maps of specific statistics that you can export.  Ready menu choices include many of the available topics.

Browse Tables to retrieve more detailed tables containing various groupings of statistics.  How to use:  Select a dataset to query and follow the steps.   The list of topics, datasets, and suggested search keywords below might be helpful.

• ancestry  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : ancestry
• children in poverty  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : children poverty
• college housing/dormitory population  Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : group quarters 
• college graduates  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : educational attainment
• correctional institution population Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : group quarters
• emergency/transitional shelter population (total count of homeless population not available)  Use latest Decennial Census. Restrict to Summary File 1. Search by Keyword :group quarters type
• English ability  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  english
• families Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : families  Alternative: Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : household type
• foreign-born population  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : foreign  alternative : nativity
• grandparents & grandchildren  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : grandparents  Alternative for grandchildren : Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : relationship 
• high school graduates  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : educational attainment
• Hispanic / Latino population  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset or Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : hispanic   
• homes - single detached, duplexes, mobile  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  units structure (duplex = 2 units in structure)
• housing characteristics : age, costs, bedrooms, facilities   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keywords  :   year built ; costs ; bedrooms ; facilities
• income by sex of workers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keywords  : income work sex
• industry of workers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : industry
• marital status  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : marital
• movers (past year)   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : residence
• non-family households   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset or Decennial Census. Search by Keyword  : non-family  (or nonfamily)
• nursing facility population  Use latest Decennial Census. Search by Keyword : group quarters
• occupation of workers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : occupation; or detailed occupation to find a table containing data for the full list of occupations used in detailed EEO tabulations.
• older population  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset or Decennial Census.  Search by Keyword : age  (tables often include older age ranges). Also search by Keyword : 65 
• owner occupied housing units  Use latest Decennial Census or American Community Survey 5 year dataset .  Search by keyword : tenure   To find total number of persons living in owner occupied homes : population tenure
• place of work (i.e., county or town)   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  place work
• poverty status   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  poverty
• religious affiliation   Use latest Religion (InfoGroup data) dataset.  Select broad table categories and look in table for individual denominations or Search by Keyword for individual denominations, e.g., Baptist.  NOTE: These data do not come from the Census Bureau.
• renter occupied housing units  Use latest Decennial Census or American Community Survey 5 year dataset.  Search by keyword : tenure   To find total number of persons living in rental units : population tenure
• same sex partner households  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword : partner  (At present the Census Bureau groups this demographic with "unmarried partner" households.)
• school enrollment and dropouts (i.e., not high school graduate, not enrolled)   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : school
• single-parent families   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : household type 18
• Spanish speakers  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : language
• travel time to work   Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  :  travel
• unmarried partner households  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : partner
• year moved into house  Use latest American Community Survey 5 year dataset. Search by Keyword  : moved