United States Census Bureau

How many businesses exist in your state? How many people do they employ? What industries dominate? This dataset answers those questions with real numbers. It breaks down U.S. businesses by state, industry type, and company size, so you can see whether an economy is built on small startups, giant corporations, or a mix of both. The data goes back to 2018, so you can spot trends in job growth or business formation.

In 2023, about 2.7 million new business applications were filed with the IRS. This dataset tracks how many businesses apply for tax identification numbers each quarter, broken down by state and region. It shows whether business formation is picking up or slowing down across the country. If you're curious about entrepreneurship trends, economic health, or whether startups are booming in a particular state, this data gives you a real-time snapshot.

In a typical year, about 5% of Americans move. This dataset tracks where they came from and where they landed, down to the county level. If you're studying population shifts, trying to understand why certain areas are growing or shrinking, or analyzing trends in where Americans are choosing to live, you'll find state-of-origin breakdowns for every US county. It's based on Census Bureau surveys, so the numbers are estimates with margins of error.

Want to know how many kids are living in poverty in your county right now? Or compare your county's median income to neighboring ones? This is where that data comes from. The Census Bureau updates these estimates every year for every county in America, including breakdowns by age group (all kids, younger kids, school-age kids). You get both the actual numbers and the range where the true number probably falls. This is the official poverty data most government programs use to decide where to send funding.

Census tracts are small neighborhoods (a few thousand people each). PUMAs are bigger regions (100,000+ people). This file tells you which tract belongs to which PUMA. It's useful if you have neighborhood-level data but want to see patterns at the city or region level. Every tract fits neatly into exactly one PUMA, so there's no confusion about boundaries or overlaps.

Every week, thousands of people start new businesses and apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. The Census Bureau counts these applications by state and classifies them into different types. Some applications come from startups that look likely to hire employees. Others come from corporations or businesses planning to pay wages. By tracking these numbers week to week since 2006, you can see when entrepreneurship is booming or slowing down in your state, and whether people are starting side hustles or actual companies.