Research Guides: Reporting on New York City: Census Data

Census Data

The United States Census Bureau is a federal statistical agency with a mission to "serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy." The Census Bureau is a primary source of demographic, business, housing, and other data. The Census Bureau conducts more than 130 surveys and programs each year. The annual American Community Survey is the most commonly used source for up-to-date demographic information, produced in 1-year and 5-year estimates (learn about the differences in these estimates).

Basic demographic information is available in the New York City Census Profile. (To find the same information for any of the boroughs, search the county name in the search bar and click the "Profile" link.)

Census data can be accessed through many different sites:

Census Reporter
An independent project to make it easier for journalists to write stories using information from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Best for quick statistics and graphic overviews, and can be searched by community district.
Data.census.gov
Official datasets from the United States Census Bureau, including decennial Census and American Community Survey (ACS). Best for the full breadth of tables available from the Census and downloadable data but can be tricky to use; see Getting Started with Your Search on data.census.gov.
New York Neighborhood Data Profiles
Up-to-date neighborhood (Community District) demographic, housing market, and other data produced by the Furman Center, a real estate center based at NYU. Best for background information on individual Community Districts. Tip: Click the + signs to expand the tables.
NYC Planning ACS Data
Easy to use, downloadable Excel files of American Community Survey 1-year and 5-year data created by NYC Planning for city, county (borough), community district, council district, and other local geographies.
NYC Population FactFinder
Interactive tool from NYC Planning using decennial census and American Community Survey (ACS) data to provide statistics on population, demographics, economic factors, and more by local geographies such as neighborhood and community district. Data can be aggregated by Borough, Community District, City Council District, and other geographies. Tip: Use the "Data Source" and "Select Topics" menus to find additional data.

Social explorer
Census data from 1790 to the present in user-friendly formats, including interactive maps and custom data reports. Best for pre-2000 Census data. See the Help Center for getting started with maps and reports.