GIS Data

GIS Data Sources (V.13)

This is not a complete list and it’s a work in progress with more links added as they are found. Some data will be easily incorporated into your GIS software, other will need some processing. Ask your instructor for help.

Disclaimer: this is a collection of links that were current on the date shown below. Links in the internet come in and out of existence constantly. Contact us to report a broken link or to suggest new one(s).

Last updated: 9/2/24

Return to Resources for learning GIS @ MHC

Worldwide/Europe/USA data

Check the Q: drive in the folders \Data&Maps (general data provided by ESRI with ArcGIS) and \Business Analyst\US_2015\Data (very extensive census data for US)
Free GIS Data https://freegisdata.rtwilson.com/

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Office of Geographic Information MassGIS http://www.mass.gov/mgis

Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau https://data.census.gov/
Statistical Abstract of the United States http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2011/compendia/statab/131ed.html
State Data Center http://www.census.gov/sdc/www/
United States Public Elementary-Secondary School Data https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances.html
US Census International Programs https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/international-programs/about/idb.html

Other US Government institutions

US Government’s Open Data. http://www.data.gov/
United States Bureau of Justice Statistics https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=kfa
United States Department of Labor http://www.bls.gov/data/
Center for Disease Control http://wonder.cdc.gov
CDC county level data for diabetes http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/county.html
Environmental Protection Agency https://www.epa.gov/data
Federal Geographic Data Committee http://www.fgdc.gov/dataandservices
North American Transportation Atlas Data https://www.bts.gov/geospatial/national-transportation-atlas-database
United States Fish and Wildlife Service seamless wetlands data http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/Data/Data-Download.html
National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/
Department of Homeland Security (legal immigration data) http://www.dhs.gov/data-statistics

International Organizations

World Health Organization https://www.who.int/data/GIS
United Nations Statistics Division http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm
Global Health Observatory (GHO) data http://www.who.int/gho/en/
International Organization for Migration http://www.iom.int/
UN Refugee Agency (check the link to UNHCR Statistical Online Population database) http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/demographics
Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net) http://www.fews.net/data
USGS FEWS NET Data Portal https://earlywarning.usgs.gov/fews
Uppsala Conflict Data Program http://ucdp.uu.se/
Demographic and Health Surveys https://dhsprogram.com/

NGO’s and Universities centers

The GDELT Project (Inventory of events happening all over the world) http://gdeltproject.org/
The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) https://www.nhgis.org/
AAG Historical GIS clearinghouse and forum http://www.aag.org/cs/projects_and_programs/historical_gis_clearinghouse/hgis_projects_programs
General Social Survey http://gss.norc.org/
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/
The Odum Institute data archive http://odum.unc.edu/archive/
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research http://www.icpsr.org/
Panel Study of Income Dynamics http://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/
Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) http://www.ciesin.org/index.html
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program Spatial Data Repository http://spatialdata.dhsprogram.com/home/
Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) ( home of the Gridded Population of the World) http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/gpw-v4/sets/browse
Pew Research Center (Unauthorized Immigrants in the U.S. 2012) http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/unauthorized-immigrants-2012/
Global Administrative Areas https://gadm.org
Country level data from DIVA-GIS http://diva-gis.org/gdata
The International Disaster Database. Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters – CRED. http://www.emdat.be/database
The Humanitarian Data Exchange https://data.humdata.org/
UC Berkeley Geospatial Innovation Facility http://gif.berkeley.edu/resources/data.html
Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) http://www.ciesin.org/
Poverty Mapping Collection https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/povmap

Adapted (expanded) in part from Robert N. Parker & Emily K. Asencio. 2009. GIS and Spatial Analysis for the Social Sciences. Coding, Mapping, and Modeling.

Return to Resources for learning GIS @ MHC