Methods for identifying high quality free information. Lists a number of high quality freely available resources. Issues and problems associated with "free" information.
"Census Reporter is an independent project to make data from the American Community Survey easier to use. We are unaffiliated with the U.S. Census Bureau." Use the Profile option to find basic demographic and economic data for a given geographic location. Use the Explore option to identify possible data of interest - then type in a geographic location. Use the Topics options to locate Census Tables - choose a table - then type in a geographic location.
Choose Tables - then choose FILTER - then choose Topics and choose one of ten topics and one or more choices under that topic - then choose Done - the choose CUSTOMIZE TABLE - then choose GEOS - then choose Geography level - then choose the area or areas of interest.- then click on Excel. WARNING: not all data is available at the Block Group, Tract, County or even State level.
Locate demographic data on states, counties, cites/towns, and even neighborhoods. Options include USA States in Profile, USA Counties in Profile, USA Towns in Profile, and the Big Radius Tool (to find information on regions).
"The State Data Center of Iowa is your source for population, housing, business and government statistics about Iowa, including data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Iowa state agencies, and other state and federal sources. We're here to help--if you don't find what you need, contact us!" --- SDC