United States Statistical Agencies

Unlike many countries, the United States has a decentralized statistics system, with no central statistical agency. Rather, there are numerous individual federal agencies that share the responsibility of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating statistics, as well as numerous state and local government agencies that provide statistics to the federal government.

A statistical agency or unit, as defined in the Federal Register June 27, 1997 (62 FR 35043–35050), is an agency or organizational unit of the Executive Branch whose activities are predominantly the collection, compilation, processing or analysis of information for statistical purposes.

The Statistical and Science Policy Branch within the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs promotes the quality, integrity, and efficiency of federal government statistical programs and evaluates the scientific and technical underpinnings of information collection requests, regulatory impact analyses, risk assessments, and health and safety guidance standards through six core activities: long-range planning, policy and standard setting, statistical program evaluation and review, interagency and international coordination, scientific review, and information quality oversight.

The Chief Statistician at the OMB oversees and coordinates U.S. federal statistical policies, standards, and programs; develops and advances long-term improvements in federal statistical activities; and represents the U.S. government in international statistical organizations, including the UN and the OECD.

• Major Federal Statistical Agencies
• Comprehensive Guides, Directories, and Handbooks

Major Federal Statistical Agencies

These principal statistical agencies (ERS, NASS, BEA, Census, NCES, EIA, NCHS, BJS, BLS, and BTS), plus the statistical units in the IRS, NSF, and SSA, belong to the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy.

In addition to these major agencies there are dozens of other agencies and units that collect statistics as a part of their responsibilities. For a comprehensive list, see Federal Agencies with Statistical Programs at the FedStats Web site.

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Economic Research Service

The Economic Research Service (ERS) provides key indicators, outlook analysis, and a wealth of data on the U.S. food and agricultural system. Along with information on farming practices, structure, and performance, ERS produces data on such diverse topics as farm and rural households, commodity markets, food marketing, agricultural trade, diet and health, food safety, food and nutrition assistance programs, natural resources and the environment, and the rural economy.

National Agricultural Statistics Service

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) collects, summarizes, analyzes, and publishes agricultural production and marketing data on a wide range of items, including number of farms and land in farms, acreage, yield, production, stocks of grains, and numerous commodities. The Census of Agriculture is conducted every five years to collect information on the number of farms, land use, production expenses, value of land, buildings, and farm products, farm size, characteristics of farm operators, market value of agricultural production sold, acreage of major crops, inventory of livestock and poultry, and farm irrigation practices.

Department of Commerce

U.S. Bureau of the Census

The U.S. Census Bureau is the leading source of data about the population and economy of the United States. The Census Bureau is responsible for the decennial censuses of population and housing; the quinquennial censuses of State and local governments, manufacturers, mineral industries, distributive trades, construction industries, and transportation; current surveys that provide information on many of the subjects covered in the censuses at monthly, quarterly, annual, or other intervals; compilation of current statistics on U.S. foreign trade, including data on imports, exports, and shipping; special censuses at the request and expense of State and local government units; publication of estimates and projections of the population; publication of current data on population and housing characteristics; and current reports on manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, services, construction, imports and exports, state and local government finances and employment, and other subjects.The major functions of the Census Bureau are authorized by the Constitution, which provides that a census of population shall be taken every 10 years, and by laws codified as title 13 of the United States Code. The law also provides that the information collected by the Census Bureau from individual persons, households, or establishments be kept strictly confidential and be used only for statistical purposes.

Bureau of Economic Analysis

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) produces economic accounts statistics that enable government and business decision-makers, researchers, and the American public to follow and understand the performance of the nation's economy. BEA's national economic statistics provide a comprehensive look at U.S. production, consumption, investment, exports and imports, and income and saving. The international transactions accounts provide information on trade in goods and services (including the balance of payments and trade), investment income, and government and private finances. In addition, the accounts measure the value of U.S. international assets and liabilities and direct investment by multinational companies.

Department of Education

National Center for Education Statistics

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education. NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences. NCES issues numerous publications and datasets each year. These include early releases, issue briefs, statistical reports, directories, and handbooks of standard terminology. Many publications report the findings of specific surveys, but at least three—Digest of Education Statistics, Projections of Education Statistics, and The Condition of Education—cover the field of education statistics from a broad perspective.

Department of Energy (DOE)

Energy Information Administration

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is responsible for collecting, processing, publishing, and distributing data in the areas of energy resource reserves, energy production, demand, consumption, distribution, and technology. It performs analyses of energy data to assist government and nongovernment users in understanding energy trends.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

National Center for Health Statistics

As the nation's principal health care agency, the National Cdener for Health Statistics (NCHS) compiles statistical information to guide actions and policies to improve the health of of the American people. These health statistics help to document the health status of the population and of important subgroups; identify disparities in health status and use of health care by race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, region, and other population characteristics; describe experiences with the health care system; monitor trends in health status and health care delivery; identify health problems; support biomedical and health services research; provide information for making changes in public policies and programs; and evaluate the impact of health policies and programs. NCHS is a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the Department of Health and Human Services.

Department of Justice (DOJ)

Bureau of Justice Statistics

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data on crime, criminal offenders, crime victims, and the operations of justice systems at all levels of government. These data are critical to federal, state, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded. The BJS is part of the Office of Justice Programs within the Department of Justice.

Department of Labor (DOL)

Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the principal fact-finding agency of the federal government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The Bureau is an independent national statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, Congress, other federal agencies, state and local governments, businesses, and labor. BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the Department of Labor. Data are available relating to employment, unemployment, and other characteristics of the labor force; consumer and producer prices, consumer expenditures, and import and export prices; wages and employee benefits; productivity and technological change; employment projections; occupational illness and injuries; and international comparisons of labor statistics. Most of the data are collected in surveys conducted by the Bureau, the Bureau of the Census (on a contract basis), or on a cooperative basis with state agencies.

National Science Foundation (NSF)

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), formerly the Division of Science Resources Statistics, serves as a central federal clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, analysis, and dissemination of objective data on science, engineering, technology, and research and development in the United States. The agency collects statistical data on research and development trends, the science and engineering workforce, United States competitiveness in science, engineering, technology, and research and development, and the condition and progress of United States STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education; supports research using the data it collects; and supports the education and training of researchers in the use of large-scale, nationally representative data sets. The agency issues regular and special statistical reports on topics related to the national and international science and engineering enterprise, including the biennial report on Science and Engineering Indicators.

Social Security Administration (SSA)

Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics

The Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (ORES) is responsible for conducting policy research and evaluation and sponsoring the Retirement Research Consortium; providing statistical data on OASDI and SSI program benefits, payments, covered workers, and other indicators; sponsoring special-purpose survey data collections and studies to improve data for research and statistics related to social security issues; developing links between administrative record data and survey data for use in Social Security research and policy analysis; developing and operating microsimulation models that estimate the distributional effects of proposed changes in Social Security programs; disseminating research and statistical material through print and web publications; and ensuring the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of statistical data and participating in several interagency statistical programs and projects.

Department of Transportation (DOT)

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes a comprehensive set of transportation statistics on the performance and impacts of the national transportation system, including statistics on productivity in various parts of the transportation sector; traffic flows for all modes of transportation; other elements of TranStats (the intermodal transportation database); travel times and measures of congestion; vehicle weights and other vehicle characteristics; demographic, economic, and other variables influencing traveling behavior, including choice of transportation mode and goods movement; transportation costs for passenger travel and goods movement; availability and use of mass transit (including the number of passengers served by each mass transit authority) and other forms of for-hire passenger travel; frequency of vehicle and transportation facility repairs and other interruptions of transportation service; safety and security for travelers, vehicles, and transportation systems; consequences of transportation for the human and natural environment; the extent, connectivity, and condition of the transportation system, building on the national transportation atlas database; and transportation-related variables that influence the domestic economy and global competitiveness. BTS data support transportation decisionmaking by the federal government, state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, transportation-related associations, the private sector (including the freight community), and the public.

Department of the Treasury (Treasury)

Statistics of Income Division (SOI)

The IRS Statistics of Income Division (SOI) collects and processes data related to the operations of the internal revenue laws. They scrutinize data from individual, corporate, estate, and nonprofit returns, among others, to study and report on such things as individual tax studies (including sources of income, exemptions, deductions, taxable income, income tax, tax credits, and tax payments); sole proprietorships by industry, business receipts, deductions, and net income; individuals’ sales of capital assets, use of paid preparers, use of particular forms, and use of medical savings accounts; cohort panels of taxpayers used for economic modeling; average and marginal tax rates and alternative income concepts; tax analysis of high-income tax returns; migration and geographic data, along with Americans living abroad; corporate (including S-corporations) taxation classified by industries, accounting periods, and sizes of assets, receipts, and income taxes after credits; partnership and limited liability company information; the assets, liabilities, income, deductions, earnings and profits, foreign taxes, and transactions of foreign corporations controlled by U.S. parent corporations; foreign tax credits, foreign sales, foreign trusts, and export-related data; international boycotts; aspects of investment and activity in the United States by foreign persons; and tax-exempt bond issues.

Comprehensive Guides, Directories, and Handbooks

The following sources provide comprehensive lists of the federal agencies and units that collect statistics, provide information about the agencies, and/or provide guidelines for the agencies.

Federal Agencies with Statistical Programs

Comprehensive list of federal agencies that provide statistical data.

Most Requested Government Statistics by Agency

This guide from Cornell is designed to aid the novice as well as the advanced researcher in locating the most often requested statistical information produced by U.S. governmental agencies.

Statistical Programs and Standards

Compilation by the White House Office of Management and Budget of guidelines and standards for the collection of statistical information by federal agencies.

Statistical Programs of the United States Government

This outline of the funding proposed for federal statistical activities in the President's budget includes an overview of the budgets of the federal statistical programs and describes a number of ongoing and new agency and interagency initiatives to improve Federal statistical programs, including the development and periodic revision of statistical standards and guidelines, various collaborations among the statistical agencies, and selected plans to improve the quality and usefulness of the nation’s statistical products. In addition to budgetary resources data, the appendices include information on staffing levels for the principal statistical agencies. At the end of the document is a list of selected federal statistical Web sites.

Federal Statistical Organizations' Guidelines

This Federal Register announcement contains comments from the major federal statistical agencies and organizational units on the OMB's proposed guidelines for ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of disseminated information.