Q. How do I find data sources for business?

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

DemographicsNow – Detailed United States demographic information including data on income, age, education level, consumer spending, and housing, combined with a powerful mapping tool and reporting capabilities you can use to assess business viability, analyze trends in a given population, and compare demographic characteristics among multiple geographies.

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.

Cluster Mapping Project – A national economic initiative that provides over 50 million open data records on industry clusters and regional business environments in the United States to promote economic growth and national competitiveness.

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 Facts and Figures – The planning commission's annually published brochure is a descriptive text and statistical summary 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 – Published since 1988 by the Economic Policy Institute; includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, jobs, unemployment, wealth, and poverty. The entire book, including all of the charts, is available online and fully downloadable, along with summary fact sheets that include the book’s key findings. Additionally, the “Open Data” feature enables data downloads on selected income, jobs, and wages charts.