open-civic-datasets

A curated collection of verified open source government and civic datasets for exploration and community impact projects.

Datasets Overview

This repository provides direct access to government datasets with working links, API endpoints, and documentation. All links verified September 2025.

Category	Count	Key Sources	Geographic Scope	** % With API**
🏥 Health	8	CDC PLACES • SVI	County → Census Tract	100%
🏠 Housing	6	HUD CHAS • Affordability	Tract → National	100%
🏛️ Government	6	311 Requests • Federal	City → National	100%
🌍 Environment	5	NOAA • EPA AQI	Station → Global	100%
💰 Economic	5	BLS • BEA Statistics	County → National	100%
👥 Demographics	5	Census ACS • Decennial	Block → National	100%
🎓 Education	4	College Scorecard • IPEDS	Institution → National	75%
🚗 Transportation	4	DOT Stats • NYC Taxi	Route → National	50%
🚨 Crime	2	Gun Violence • Missing Persons	County → National	50%

Total: 45 datasets across 9 domains • 🔧 37/45 with APIs (82%)

Complete Dataset Catalog

Click to expand full dataset table (45 datasets)

Dataset Name	Category	Primary Link	Additional API or Data Link	Description	Geographic Levels	Update Frequency	Has API	Key Features	Record Count
CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)	Health	https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/place-health/php/svi/svi-data-documentation-download.html	https://svi.cdc.gov/data/	16 census variables measuring social vulnerability across 4 themes: socioeconomic status, household characteristics, racial/ethnic minority status, housing/transportation. Critical for emergency preparedness and health equity analysis.	National, State, County, Census Tract, ZIP Code	Biennial	Yes	Emergency preparedness, health equity, disaster response, vulnerability assessment, 4 vulnerability themes	80,000+ census tracts
CDC PLACES Health Data - County	Health	https://data.cdc.gov/500-Cities-Places/PLACES-Local-Data-for-Better-Health-County-Data-20/swc5-untb	https://data.cdc.gov/resource/swc5-untb.json	40 health measures: 12 health outcomes, 7 preventive services, 4 risk behaviors, 7 disabilities, 3 health status, 7 social needs. Small area estimation for all US counties.	County	Annual	Yes	Chronic disease indicators, health outcomes, preventive care, community health assessment	3,100+ counties
CDC PLACES Health Data - Census Tract	Health	https://data.cdc.gov/500-Cities-Places/PLACES-Local-Data-for-Better-Health-Census-Tract-D/cwsq-ngmh	https://data.cdc.gov/resource/cwsq-ngmh.json	Neighborhood-level health indicators for 83,522 census tracts. Same 40 health measures as county data but at granular neighborhood level.	Census Tract	Annual	Yes	Neighborhood health, environmental justice, health equity, community interventions	83,522 census tracts
CDC PLACES Health Data - ZIP Code	Health	https://data.cdc.gov/500-Cities-Places/PLACES-Local-Data-for-Better-Health-ZCTA-Data-2024/qnzd-25i4	https://data.cdc.gov/resource/qnzd-25i4.json	ZIP Code level health data covering 32,520 ZCTAs. Perfect for healthcare delivery planning and community health assessments.	ZIP Code	Annual	Yes	Healthcare planning, insurance analysis, community health centers, population health	32,520 ZIP codes
CDC PLACES Health Data - Place Level	Health	https://data.cdc.gov/500-Cities-Places/PLACES-Local-Data-for-Better-Health-Place-Data-20/eav7-hnsx	https://data.cdc.gov/resource/eav7-hnsx.json	City and town level health data. Same 40 health measures for incorporated places and census designated places.	Place/City	Annual	Yes	Municipal health planning, city comparisons, local health departments	29,923 places
CDC WONDER Mortality Data	Health	https://wonder.cdc.gov/	https://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/wonder-api.html	Death certificates, cause of death, mortality trends, age-adjusted death rates by geography and demographics.	National, State, County	Annual	Yes	Mortality analysis, public health surveillance, cause of death tracking	Millions of death records
CDC BRFSS Behavioral Risk Factors	Health	https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/annual_data/annual_data.htm	https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/data_tools.htm	Adult health behaviors, chronic disease prevalence, preventive service use from 400,000+ annual interviews.	National, State, Metro	Annual	Yes	Health behavior surveillance, risk factor monitoring, prevention planning	400,000+ interviews/year
CDC Environmental Health Tracking	Health	https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/DataExplorer/	https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/apihelp	Environmental health data linking environmental hazards with health outcomes. Air quality, water quality, climate.	National, State, County	Varies	Yes	Environmental health, climate health, exposure assessment	Varies by indicator
HUD CHAS Housing Affordability API	Housing	https://www.huduser.gov/portal/dataset/api-terms-of-service.html	https://www.huduser.gov/portal/dataset/chas-api.html	Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy data. Housing problems by income level (30%, 50%, 80% AMI), cost burden analysis.	National, State, County, City, Census Tract	Annual	Yes	Housing affordability, cost burden, HUD program eligibility, housing needs assessment	Millions of households
HUD CHAS Census Tract Data	Housing	https://hudgis-hud.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/HUD::acs-5yr-chas-estimate-data-by-tract/about	https://services.arcgis.com/VTyQ9soqVukalItT/arcgis/rest/services/	Census tract-level housing affordability and housing problems data. Essential for neighborhood-level housing analysis.	Census Tract	Annual	Yes	Neighborhood housing, local planning, community development, housing equity	80,000+ census tracts
HUD Fair Market Rents	Housing	https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html	https://www.huduser.gov/portal/dataset/fmr-api.html	Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment standards and rental market analysis by metro area and county.	National, Metro Area, County, ZIP Code	Annual	Yes	Section 8 vouchers, rental market analysis, affordable housing development	3,000+ areas
HUD Income Limits	Housing	https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html	https://www.huduser.gov/portal/dataset/fmr-api.html	Area median income calculations, housing program eligibility thresholds by geography.	National, State, County, Metro	Annual	Yes	Housing program eligibility, income qualification, affordable housing development	3,000+ areas
HUD Physical Inspection Scores	Housing	https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/pis.html		HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center physical property inspection results for HUD-owned, insured, or subsidized properties including public housing and multifamily assisted housing. Point-in-time property scores ensuring decent, safe, sanitary housing conditions.	National, State, County, Property	Annual	No	Property condition assessment, housing quality scores, compliance monitoring, property management	20,000 inspections/year
American Housing Survey	Housing	https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs.html	https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ahs/data.html	Comprehensive national housing stock data: housing quality, costs, neighborhoods, demographics.	National, Metro	Biennial	Yes	Housing stock analysis, housing quality, neighborhood characteristics	50,000+ housing units
Federal 311 Service Requests	Government	https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/?tags=311		Non-emergency municipal service requests: potholes, graffiti, noise complaints, streetlight outages across cities.	City, Ward, District, Point	Daily	Yes	Municipal services, government efficiency, community needs, service delivery	Millions of requests
NYC 311 Service Requests	Government	https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/311-Service-Requests-from-2010-to-Present/erm2-nwe9		Real-time NYC service requests since 2010. Incident location, agency response times, complaint types.	City, Borough, Community Board, Point	Real-time	Yes	NYC services, agency performance, neighborhood patterns, emergency response	30M+ requests
Chicago 311 Service Requests	Government	https://data.cityofchicago.org/Service-Requests/311-Service-Requests/v6vf-nfxy		Chicago service requests with location, type, status, response times since 2011.	City, Ward, Point	Daily	Yes	Chicago municipal services, response analysis, community needs	5M+ requests
OpenFEMA Disaster Data	Government	https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/api	https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/developer-resources	Disaster declarations, individual assistance, public assistance, hazard mitigation grants, National Risk Index.	National, State, County, Tribal	Daily	Yes	Emergency management, disaster response, risk assessment, recovery programs	Millions of records
FEMA National Risk Index	Government	https://www.fema.gov/flood-maps/products-tools/national-risk-index	https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/	Natural hazard risk assessment for all US counties and census tracts. 18 hazard types.	County, Census Tract	Annual	Yes	Risk assessment, emergency planning, community resilience, hazard mitigation	70,000+ geographies
USA Spending Federal Contracts	Government	https://www.usaspending.gov/	https://api.usaspending.gov/	Federal spending, contracts, grants, direct payments with recipient and location data.	National, State, County, Recipient	Daily	Yes	Government spending analysis, contract tracking, transparency, economic impact	Millions of transactions
DOT Transportation Statistics	Transportation	https://data.transportation.gov/	https://data.transportation.gov/browse?sortBy=relevance&page=1&pageSize=20	Traffic safety, aviation data, freight movement, highway performance, transit ridership, infrastructure condition.	National, State, County, Route	Monthly	Yes	Transportation planning, infrastructure investment, safety programs, economic impact	Millions of records
NYC Taxi & Limousine Data	Transportation	https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/about/tlc-trip-record-data.page		Trip records since 2009: pickup/dropoff locations, trip distance, fare amounts for yellow/green taxis and FHV.	City, Borough, Taxi Zone	Monthly	No	Urban mobility, transportation demand, economic impact, traffic patterns	Billions of trips
GTFS Transit Data	Transportation	https://transitfeeds.com/	https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs	Public transit schedules, routes, stops, service patterns for transit agencies nationwide.	Agency, Route, Stop	Real-time	Yes	Transit planning, accessibility analysis, multimodal transportation	1,000+ agencies
Highway Performance Monitoring	Transportation	https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/hpms.cfm	https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/hpms/shapefiles.cfm	Highway conditions, traffic volumes, pavement quality, bridge conditions by road segment.	National, State, County, Segment	Annual	No	Infrastructure planning, pavement management, traffic analysis	4M+ road segments
NOAA Climate Data Records	Environment	https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/climate-data-records	https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/	Long-term climate measurements: temperature, precipitation, ocean data, satellite observations spanning 30+ years.	Global, National, State, County, Station	Daily	Yes	Climate research, weather forecasting, agricultural planning, environmental monitoring	Billions of observations
EPA Air Quality Monitoring	Environment	https://www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data	https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/documents/data_api.html	Air Quality Index, pollutant concentrations (PM2.5, ozone, NO2), health advisories, trends analysis.	National, State, County, Station	Hourly	Yes	Public health, environmental compliance, air quality forecasting, health impact	Millions of measurements
EPA Toxic Release Inventory	Environment	https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program		Chemical releases and transfers from industrial facilities. Pollution prevention, waste management data.	National, State, County, Facility	Annual	Yes	Environmental compliance, pollution tracking, community health, industrial monitoring	20,000+ facilities
USGS Water Data	Environment	https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis	https://waterservices.usgs.gov/	Real-time and historical water data: streamflow, groundwater, water quality from monitoring stations.	National, State, County, Station	Real-time	Yes	Water resources, flood monitoring, drought assessment, water quality	1.5M+ monitoring sites
NOAA Storm Events Database	Environment	https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/	https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/ftp.jsp	Severe weather events: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, with damage estimates and casualties.	National, State, County	Monthly	No	Disaster planning, insurance, climate research, emergency management	1M+ events
Gun Violence Archive	Crime	https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/	https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/methodology	Gun violence incidents, mass shootings, officer-involved shootings with casualty data.	National, State, County, City	Daily	No	Gun violence research, policy analysis, public safety	60,000+ incidents/year
National Missing Persons Database	Crime	https://www.namus.gov/	https://www.namus.gov/api/CaseSets	Missing persons cases, unidentified remains, unclaimed persons with demographic details.	National, State, County	Real-time	Yes	Missing persons investigations, cold cases, victim identification	100,000+ cases
Census American Community Survey	Demographics	https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/acs-1year.html	https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html	Demographics, economics, housing, social characteristics. 1-year estimates (65k+ pop) and 5-year estimates (all areas).	National, State, County, City, Tract, Block Group	Annual	Yes	Demographic analysis, market research, policy planning, resource allocation	Millions of estimates
Census Decennial Census	Demographics	https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/decennial-census.html	https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html	Complete population and housing counts every 10 years with detailed demographic characteristics.	National, State, County, City, Tract, Block	Decennial	Yes	Population counts, redistricting, demographic baselines, historical trends	300M+ people
Census Geographic Services	Demographics	https://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/		Address geocoding, geographic boundary files, TIGER/Line shapefiles, coordinate conversion.	National, State, County, Tract, Block	Annual	Yes	Address standardization, geographic analysis, spatial mapping, GIS applications	Millions of addresses
Current Population Survey	Demographics	https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/cps/cps-basic.html		Monthly labor force data, employment, unemployment, demographics, income, poverty.	National, State, Metro	Monthly	Yes	Labor statistics, employment trends, demographic monitoring	60,000+ households/month
American Time Use Survey	Demographics	https://www.bls.gov/tus/		How Americans spend their time: work, leisure, household activities, care giving by demographics.	National, Demographic Groups	Annual	Yes	Time use research, work-life balance, social policy, economic analysis	10,000+ respondents/year
College Scorecard	Education	https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/		Higher education outcomes: graduation rates, earnings, debt, demographics, completion rates by program.	National, State, Institution	Annual	Yes	College selection, higher education policy, institutional assessment, ROI analysis	7,000+ institutions
IPEDS Higher Education Data	Education	https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data	https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/	Comprehensive higher education data: enrollment, finances, staff, graduation rates, student aid.	National, State, Institution	Annual	No	Higher education research, institutional analysis, policy development	6,000+ institutions
School & District Navigator	Education	https://www.nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/	https://educationdata.urban.org/documentation/	K-12 school and district characteristics: enrollment, demographics, finances, performance.	National, State, District, School	Annual	Yes	School research, district analysis, education policy, parent information	130,000+ schools
Civil Rights Data Collection	Education	https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/data.html	https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/data.html	School discipline, access to courses, teacher equity, harassment and bullying data.	National, State, District, School	Biennial	No	Education equity, civil rights monitoring, discipline analysis	100,000+ schools
Bureau of Labor Statistics API	Economic	https://www.bls.gov/developers/	https://api.bls.gov/	Employment statistics, wages, inflation (CPI), productivity, workplace injuries, occupational outlook.	National, State, Metro, County	Monthly	Yes	Economic analysis, labor market research, policy development, business planning	Millions of data points
Bureau of Economic Analysis API	Economic	https://apps.bea.gov/api/signup/	https://apps.bea.gov/api/	GDP, personal income, international trade, regional economic data, input-output accounts.	National, State, County, Metro	Quarterly	Yes	Economic forecasting, regional development, policy analysis, business intelligence	Millions of estimates
Census Business Dynamics	Economic	https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/business-dynamics.html		Business formation, job creation/destruction, establishment dynamics by industry and geography.	National, State, County, Metro	Annual	Yes	Entrepreneurship research, economic development, business lifecycle analysis	Millions of establishments
County Business Patterns	Economic	https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/cbp-nonemp-zbp.html		Business establishment counts, employment, payroll by industry and geography.	National, State, County, ZIP Code	Annual	Yes	Economic development, industry analysis, market research	7M+ establishments
Quarterly Census Employment Wages	Economic	https://www.bls.gov/cew/		Employment and wage data by industry, county, and ownership sector from unemployment insurance.	National, State, County, Industry	Quarterly	No	Local economic analysis, wage research, industry trends	10M+ establishments

Download the Dataset Catalog as a Spreadsheet

Download Complete Dataset Catalog (Excel)

The spreadsheet contains all datasets organized by category with:

• Direct links to data sources
• API endpoints where available
• Dataset descriptions and key features
• Geographic coverage levels
• Update frequencies

Categories Included

• Health & Public Health - CDC health indicators, social vulnerability, environmental health
• Housing & Real Estate - HUD affordability data, fair market rents, housing conditions
• Government & Civic Services - 311 requests, emergency management, federal spending
• Transportation - DOT statistics, transit data, traffic safety
• Environment & Climate - NOAA climate data, EPA monitoring, water resources
• Public Safety - local incident data
• Demographics & Census - Population data, economic indicators, geographic boundaries
• Education - School performance, higher education outcomes
• Economic & Business - Employment statistics, business data, economic indicators

Key Datasets

• CDC Social Vulnerability Index - Community vulnerability assessment
• HUD CHAS Housing Data - Housing affordability by income level
• CDC PLACES Health Data - Health measures for all US communities
• 311 Service Requests - Municipal service delivery tracking
• OpenFEMA Disaster Data - Emergency management information

Additional Dataset Discovery Resources

Government Data Portals

Portal	Focus	Key Features
Data.gov	Federal datasets	300,000+ datasets across all agencies
Census.gov Data	Demographics & economics	Interactive data explorer, APIs
CDC Data & Statistics	Public health	Disease surveillance, health behaviors
NOAA Data.gov	Climate & weather	Real-time and historical climate data
NASA Open Data	Space & earth science	Satellite imagery, climate data
USGS Data Catalog	Earth sciences	Water, geology, natural hazards

State & Local Government

Portal	Coverage	Example Data
Open Data Network	Multi-jurisdictional	Unified search across 1,000+ portals
NYC OpenData	New York City	2,000+ datasets, real-time feeds
Chicago Data Portal	Chicago	600+ datasets, APIs available
California Open Data	California state	Budget, health, transportation
Texas Open Data	Texas state	Education, criminal justice, health
DataSF	San Francisco	500+ datasets, data stories

International & Global

Portal	Scope	Key Datasets
World Bank Open Data	Global development	Economic indicators, poverty data
UN Data	Global statistics	SDGs, population, environment
OECD Data	Developed countries	Economic, social, environmental
European Data Portal	European Union	1M+ datasets from EU countries
Open Government Data	United Kingdom	Government transparency data
Government of Canada Open Data	Canada	Federal government datasets

Academic & Research

Platform	Specialization	Access
Google Dataset Search	All domains	Free search engine for datasets
Kaggle Datasets	Machine learning	Community-contributed datasets
Harvard Dataverse	Research data	Peer-reviewed research datasets
ICPSR	Social sciences	Survey data, longitudinal studies
Zenodo	Open science	Research outputs, preprints
Registry of Open Data on AWS	Cloud datasets	Large-scale public datasets

Private Sector & APIs

Source	Type	Common Use Cases
Socrata Open Data	Government data platform	Municipal data APIs
Quandl	Financial & economic	Market data, economics
OpenWeatherMap	Weather data	Current/forecast weather APIs
Reddit API	Social media	Posts, comments, community data

Contributing

Report broken links or suggest new datasets by opening an issue.