Guides @ UF: Open Access Research and Resources: Government & Public Data

Government & Public Data

Government and public institutions generate vast amounts of open data, ranging from health statistics to climate resources and economic trends. These datasets are often freely available and support research across disciplines.

Try These First

Data.gov
U.S. government's central open data portal, covers everything from agriculture to science.
Census Bureau Data
Key source for demographics, housing, and economic indicators.
CDC
Public health and epidemiological data.
NOAA OneStop
Environmental datasets, including weather patterns, ocean data, geographical data, and climate change indicators.

Florida-Based Data

Florida Geographic Data Library
GIS datasets on land cover, infrastructure, and environmental protection.
MyFlorida 411
Centralized search portal for datasets, public records, and government services across Florida's state agencies.
Florida Geospatial Open Data
GIS datasets by category and from different sources.
Florida Department of Revenue
Access detailed revenue data published by the Florida Department of Revenue, including statistics on sales tax, property tax, corporate income tax, etc.
Transportation Data Portal
Provides traffic counts, roadway characteristics, safety data, and GIS resources.
Gainesville Open Data Portal
Explore local datasets from the City of Gainesville on topics like public safety, city services, zoning, and sustainability.

More Specialized Sources

U.S. Government, Health, Social Sciences, Environment & Geospatial, International

U.S. Government

Data.gov
U.S. government's central open data portal, covers everything from agriculture to science.
USAspending.gov
Discover how federal funds are allocated, from contracts to grants. This data can be useful for public policy, political science, economics, and other related fields.
Congress.gov
Official site for federal legislative information, including the Congressional Record.
NHGIS
Provides access to historical U.S. census data. Ideal for studying long-term trends across geographic regions.
GovInfo Bulk Data Repository
Provides official U.S. government publications. Ideal for large-scale policy, legal, or historical research projects.

Health

CDC
Public health and epidemiological data.
SAMHDA
Substance abuse and mental health data archive, includes survey datasets.

Social Sciences

ICPSR
Public-access social science datasets. Free with an account.
National Center for Education Statistics
Education trends, school performance data and large-scale surveys.

Environmental & Geospatial

NOAA OneStop
Environmental datasets, including weather patterns, ocean data, geographical data, and climate change indicators.
USGS Earth Explorer
Satellite imagery and terrain maps. Great for environmental research and GIS projects.
EPA Environmental Datasets
Open data on air quality, water, hazardous waste, and environmental justice indicators.

International

World Bank Open Data
Global economic and development indicators, including poverty, education, and infrastructure metrics.
UNdata
Statistical databases from the United Nations on population, trade, energy, health, and more.
OECD Data
Economic, education, and social indicators from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.