Q. How do I find data sources for business?

These are some resources that we find helpful.

In the Library

Tennessee State Profile – State Profiles contain historical data from 1970 (some variables begin in 1990) and annual projections to 2050. State Profiles have population by age and race, employment by industry, earnings of employees by industry, GDP, personal income by source, households by income bracket and retail sales by kind of business.

From our online collections

Mergent Archives – Primarily known for the company annual reports, this resource also offers semi-annually released Industry Reports that provide detailed analysis and forecasts on two dozen major global industry sectors from Textiles to Aviation for the North American, European, Asia Pacific, and Latin American regions.

Mergent Intellect – Company directory information such as corporate tree, competitors, sales, and employment trends, and Nielsen Demographic Reports.

Gale eBooks – Consumer trends and other business data.

Gale Business: Insights – Comparative data on companies, industries, countries; in-depth analyst reports.

Websites

Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research – Research on national and state economic trends. Part of the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Census Business Builder – Analyze the market potential for a kind of business in a given location using key economic data and interactive mapping. Explore and compare opportunities in neighboring areas, and generate trend charts for your business plan.

Census Reporter – Census Reporter makes it easier to use statistics from the United States Census Bureau. Place profiles and comparison pages provide a friendly interface for data, and export tools make it easy to get data for analysis in other applications.

Consumer Expenditure Surveys – Find data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States.

Data.gov – Find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.

Explore Census Data – The new Census Bureau data tool; some legacy Census Bureau data tools will remain operational.

Knoxville area planning and development data – The planning commission's reports of local physical, social, cultural, government, and economic conditions in the Knoxville area.

Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates – Estimates are calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in Knoxville.

StatsAmerica – Apps and tools for use in economic and community development. It is used to make rich data—such as the American Community Survey 5-year annual estimates—more usable and mobile-friendly.

Tennessee Labor Market Reports – This monthly newsletter contains a lead article on economic issues, analysis of current employment statistics for the state and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), estimated non-agricultural employment by industry, hours and earnings of manufacturing production workers, and the consumer price index.

TNMap – TNMap serves as the portal for accessing a wide variety of downloadable Geographic Information Systems datasets, web applications, and web services related to Tennessee.

UNCTADstat (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) – Data tables covering a wide range of topics, long periods of time, and harmonized for comparisons; more than 150 indicators and statistics for the analysis of international trade, economic trends, foreign direct investment, external financial resources, population and labor force, commodities, information economy, creative economy and maritime transport. Tools allow for easy selection and reorganization of data, construction of custom graphics, and extraction options.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics – Internationally-comparable data on education, science, culture and communication.

United Nations Comtrade Database – Official trade statistics and relevant analytical tables starting from 1962.

USAFacts – A not-for-profit, non-partisan resource of numbers and trends in government spending and impact.

World Bank Open Data – Data about development in countries around the globe.

The State of Working America data library – Published by the Economic Policy Institute; includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, jobs, unemployment, wealth, and poverty. Data on wages, employment, and benefits.