Research Guides: Find Data & Statistics: Alternatives to U.S. federal data

Missing government statistics?

Many U.S. government websites are in transition right now, and their statistical reports are down. But since the government is the biggest source of free statistics, this can make research tough. We have collected some key sites for finding U.S. federal statistics during the transition.

Try these sites that have archived or backed-up government data:

Big Local News data collection
Collects data and documents with analysis tools for journalists, including data extracts shared by other journalists.
CDC data on Internet Archive
Archived capture of files on data.cdc.gov as of January 2025
Census reporter
Uses data from the Census' Annual Community Survey to provide easy, appealing statistical dashboards. The site is designed particularly for journalists and other writers to explore facts and context about any U.S. location.
Data Lumos
Project to archive key public access datasets such as CDC risk factor data, Katrina flood data, COVID data snapshots, and more. Many of the datasets are in SAS format only.
End Of Term Web Archive
The End Of Term Web Archive collects and makes available a large zipped file of websites and data files harvested from the .gov and .mil domains before each presidential change since 2008. This is a comprehensive collection of content that may or may not have become unavailable.
Extracted Data Dataverse
Backups of data extracts from government websites. Mostly focuses on environmental justice, but includes related social justice data.
Guide to data rescue efforts
Guide at American University that links to various data archives and links for government data rescue projects
IPUMS
Provides access to census and survey data from more than 100 countries, harmonized to be more comparable across geographies or years. Includes data from a variety of CDC, Census, and education surveys.
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics microdata backup
Internet Archive (Wayback) archived copy of the NSF NCES microdata files in CSV and SAS formats. Preserved surveys include the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey institution data, the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), and the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR) microdata samples, among others.
PolicyMap (VCU login required)
PolicyMap is a data and mapping tool that provides access to indicators related to demographics, housing, crime, mortgages and home sales, health, jobs and more. Data is available at common U.S. geographies such as zip code, county, and state, as well as other geographies such as school districts, watersheds, hospital referral regions, and political boundaries. To save your map/data, create a free, personal PolicyMap account with your VCU email address.
SimplyAnalytics (VCU login required)
Web-based mapping application that lets users create interactive maps, charts, and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data.
To save your data, please create a personal account using your VCU email address.