Publicly Available Sources of Data for Health & Social Determinants of Health

Many of the public use data sets often include documentation, coding information (labels, for example), etc. Don't ignore those files!

Additionally, you may need to complete special permission forms to access some data sets and/or pay a fee. 

It is your responsibility to determine the requirements for the use of any of the data sets listed on this page. 

Health Research Reporting Guidelines: EQUATOR Network

Be sure to cite all datasets used in any manuscript you create. Additionally, consider using these reporting guidelines to ensure your manuscript is complete and transparent.

Observational study reporting guidelines

• STROBE: STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology
  • Reporting template with STROBE headings (Word)
• RECORD: REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely-collected health Data
  • Reporting template with STROBE & RECORD headings (Word)
• STROBE-RDS: STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology for Respondent-Driven Sampling studies
  • Data collection methodology used to estimate characteristics of hard-to-reach groups, such as the HIV prevalence in drug users

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Datasets

Produced by: US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
Dates of coverage: varies by dataset
Geographic coverage: varies by dataset

CDC Dataset Catalog: Data by Topic

This site provides links to almost 700 datasets from the CDC as well as from other Federal agencies. Many, but not all, of these datasets are accessible to the public. 

• Case Surveillance
  • COVID-19
• Disability & Health
• Environmental Health & Toxicology
• Foodborne, Waterborne, and Related Diseases
• Global Health
• Health Statistics
• Injury & Violence
• Laboratory Surveillance
• Motor Vehicle
• National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
• National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)
• Policy Surveillance
• Public Health Surveillance
• STDs
• Smoking & Tobacco Use
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Vaccinations
  • Child Vaccinations
  • COVID-19 Vaccinations
  • Flu Vaccinations
  • Pregnancy & Vaccination
  • Teen Vaccinations

National Center for Health Statistics Public Use Data Files and Documentation

• Data User Agreement
• NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  • Data Sets and Related Documentation
• National Health Care Surveys
  • National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS)
  • National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS)
  • National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS)
  • National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS)
  • National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS)
  • National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS)
  • National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS)
• National Vital Statistics System (NVSS)
  • Vital Statistics Online – PRIMARY Access to downloadable datasets
  • Birth Data: Datasets and Related Documentation
  • Mortality Data: Datasets and Related Documentation
  • Linked Birth/Infant Death
  • Fetal Death
  • National Mortality Followback Survey (NMFS)
  • Matched Multiple Birth Data Set
  • Mortality Component – Instruction Manuals
  • MICAR Data Dictionary
• National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)
  • Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation
• National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
  • Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation
• National Immunization Survey (NIS)
  • Public-Use Data Files
• Longitudinal Studies of Aging (LSOA)
  • Data Files
• State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS)
  • National Survey of Children’s Health
  • National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs
  • Other Survey Modules
  • Imputed Data Files
• NCHS Data Linkage
  • Mortality
  • CMS Medicare Enrollment and Claims Files
  • CMS Medicaid Enrollment and Claims Files
  • United States Renal Data System (USRDS)
  • Social Security Administration (SSA)
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Compressed Mortality File
• SPACE (Stochastic Population Analysis for Complex Events) Program
• National Electronic Health Records Survey (NEHRS) Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation
• National Vital Statistics System
  • Downloadable Final Data
  • Restricted-use Data for Research

CDC datasets by program

• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
  • BRFSS Survey Data and Documentation: Annual survey data: 1987 to most current available
  • SMART: BRFSS City and County Data and Documentation: 2002 to most current available
  • BRFSS Asthma Call-back Survey: 2006-2017
  • GIS Data and Documentation: 2002-2010
• Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBSS)
  • YRBSS Datasets and Documentation
• Healthcare Associated Infections Data
• National Immunization Surveys
  • National Immunization Survey-Child Data and Documentation 
  • National Immunization Survey-Teen Data and Documentation

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Social Vulnerability Index Data & Documentation

Produced by: US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
Dates of coverage: varies by data set
Geographic coverage: Census Tracts and County level
Years: 2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018

Choose by Year, Geography, and Geography Type to download data.

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Medicare & Medicaid Data

Produced by: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Dates of coverage: varies
Geographic coverage: County, State, and National level
Individual files:

• Medicare Provider Cost Report Public Use Files
• Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)
• CMS Facts & Figures

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Catalog of Surveillance Systems (Childhood obesity research)

Produced by: National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research
Dates of coverage: varies
Geographic coverage: County, State, and National level

"The Catalogue of Surveillance Systems provides one-stop access to over 100 publicly available datasets relevant to childhood obesity research.

Datasets profiled in the Catalogue include information on obesity-related:

• Health behaviors, outcomes, and determinants
• Policies and environmental factors

Surveillance systems included in the Catalogue were identified by reviewing existing reports and soliciting expert input. The systems were chosen because they provide access to publicly available raw data gathered in the United States and were released in the past 10 years."

Citing the Catalog

• Catalogue of Surveillance Systems. National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research. https://www.nccor.org/nccor-tools/catalogue/ [Accessed on: Month Day, Year].
• McKinnon, RA, Reedy, J, Berrigan, D, et al. The National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research Catalogue of Surveillance Systems and Measures Registry: New tools to spur innovation and increase productivity in childhood obesity research. Am J Prev Med. 2012 Apr;42(4):433-5. Available at https://10.1016/j.amepre.2012.01.004

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US Census Bureau Datasets 

Produced by: US Census Bureau
Dates of coverage: varies
Geographic coverage: varies by dataset
Individual resources:

• Public use microdata (US Census Bureau) 
  • How-to Materials for Using the Microdata Access (US Census Bureau) 
  • Provides a collection of documents, videos, and webinars as well as a link to a list of microdata datasets.
• What data are available in Microdata Access? 
  • The Microdata Access site has current datasets, mostly from 2000 forward.

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IPUMS USA 

Produced by: IPUMS USA (uses US Census Bureau Data)
Dates of coverage: 1790 to most current available
Geographic coverage: varies by dataset
About: About IPUMS USA: Includes over sixty integrated, high-precision samples of the American population drawn from sixteen federal censuses, from the American Community Surveys of 2000-present, and from the Puerto Rican Community Surveys of 2005-present. The online resources for analyzing data are complex; be sure to take advantage of the user guides and tutorials. 

• Data
  • Browse and Select Data
  • Analyze Data Online: IPUMS Abacus
    • About IPUMS Abacus
  • Download or Revise My Data
• Supplemental Data
  • Geography & GIS
  • Linked Census data
  • 1850-1860 Slave Samples
  • 1790-1840 Full Count Data
  • FEDERAL STATISTICAL RDC
• DOCUMENTATION
  • User Guide
  • Sample Descriptions
  • Questionnaires
  • Published Census Volumes
  • Complete Count Data
  • Revision History
• SUPPORT
  • FAQ
  • VIDEO TUTORIALS
  • USER FORUM

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Sets

Produced by: US Department of Health & Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration
Geographic coverage: State level, National level
Dates of coverage: varies by data set

• Download Public-Use Files
  • DAWN: Drug Abuse Warning Network: 1994-2011
  • NSDUH: National Survey on Drug Use and Health: 1979-2019
  • Mental Health Client Level Data: 2013-2018
  • N-MHSS: National Mental Health Services Survey: 2010-2019
  • TEDS-D: Treatment Episode Data Set- Discharges:2006-2018
  • N-SSATS: National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services: 1997-2019

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COVID Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Data Hub

Produced by: US National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Geographic coverage:  
Dates of coverage: 2020 to present
About:  "The NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Data Hub (RADx® Data Hub) supports researchers in accessing curated and de-identified COVID-19 data, allowing them to find, aggregate, and perform data analyses in a cloud-enabled platform....The RADx Data Hub supports efforts to understand COVID-19 and factors associated with disparities in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in underserved and vulnerable populations."

• Login to the RADx Data Hub
• Read the User Guide
• View tutorials & webinars

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Distributed Active Archive Center

Produced by: US NASA Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Geographic coverage:  varies by dataset
Dates of coverage: varies by dataset

Get Data

• By Science Themes
  • Arctic Ecosystems
  • Biomass
  • Carbon Cycle
  • Climate
  • Fire
  • Hydrology and Cryosphere
  • Land Use and Human Dimensions
  • Soils
  • Vegetation and Forests
• NASA Projects
  • Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)
  • Accelerated Canopy Chemistry Program (ACCP)
  • Atmospheric Carbon and Transport - America (ACT-America)
  • Atmospheric Tracer Transport Model Intercomparison Project (TransCom)
  • AfriSAR
  • Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS)
  • Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom)
  • BigFoot
  • Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)
  • Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE)
  • Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs)
  • Model Archive
  • North American Carbon Program (NACP)
  • MODIS Land Products Subsets
  • Net Primary Productivity (NPP) (biomass measurements)
  • Oregon Transect Ecosystem Research Project (OTTER)
  • Prototype Validation Exercise (PROVE)
  • Southern African Regional Science Initiative Project (SAFARI 2000)
  • Superior National Forest
  • Soil Collection
  • Vegetation Collection
  • Vegetation-Ecosystem Modeling and Analysis Project (VEMAP)
• DARTE Annual On-road CO2 Emissions on a 1-km Grid, Conterminous USA, V2, 1980-2017

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Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Data (HCUP; Purchase data)

Produced by: US Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality
Geographic coverage: State level, National level
Dates of coverage: 1993 to 1-2 years ago
About HCUP Dataset: "Go to the online HCUP Central Distributor to submit applications for Nationwide and State Databases, request complimentary supplemental files that augment information contained in the HCUP databases, submit data re-use and data sharing requests, and download your purchased Nationwide data.

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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Produced by: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Dates of coverage: 1987 to most current available
Geographic coverage: Facility, Local, State, and National level

• TRI data and tools for advanced/customized analysis
  • Basic Data Files
    • Data for a reporting year for the entire U.S. Each .zip file is made up of 10 .txt files that collectively contain all data elements from the TRI reporting form (except Form R Schedule 1, which is available separately)
    • Recommended for users familiar with TRI data.
  • Data Plus Data Files: 
    • Data for a reporting year for the entire U.S. Each .zip file is made up of 10 .txt files that collectively contain all data elements from the TRI reporting form (except Form R Schedule 1, which is available separately)
    • Recommended for users familiar with TRI data.
  • TRI-CHIP (toxicity of TRI chemicals)
    • Access and analyze toxicity information for TRI-covered chemicals through this downloadable Microsoft Access database

  • Dioxin/TEQ Data Files (dioxin data and toxic equivalency values): Dioxin mass quantity data from the TRI reporting Form R Schedule 1, along with EPA-calculated Toxic Equivalency values. These files compliment the Basic and Basic Plus Data files. Note that dioxin data are already included in most other TRI tools. Recommended for users familiar with TRI data.

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Download National Toxicology Program Data

Produced by: US National Toxicology Program (NIH)

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Data.gov

Produced by: US General Services Administration (GSA)
Dates of coverage: varies by dataset
Geographic coverage:  varies by dataset

Labeled as "The home of the U.S. Government’s open data", this site appears to be a single search engine for data from all federal agencies. It does not have a filter for raw datasets unfortunately.

OpenData PA: Pennsylvania Data Assets 

Produced by: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Dates of coverage: varies by data set
Geographic coverage: County and State level

The datasets available through this site are produced by different Pennsylvania state agencies and cover everything from education to opioids to elections to vulnerable Pennsylvanians and much more.

ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)

Housed at: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research
About: "ICPSR is an international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations. ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community....ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 21 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields."

• Find data
  • Census enumerations
  • Community and urban studies
  • Conflict, aggression, violence, wars
  • Economic behavior and attitudes
  • Education
  • Elites and Leadership
  • Geography and Environment
  • Government Structures, Policies, and Capabilities
  • Health Care and Facilities
  • Instructional Packages
  • International Systems: Linkages, Relationships, and Events
  • Legal Systems
  • Legislative and Deliberative Bodies
  • Mass Political Behavior and Attitudes
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Social Indicators
  • Social Institutions and Behavior
  • Self-published Data, including Replication Datasets
  • External Data Resources
• Search/Compare Variables
• Data-related publications
• Thematic data collections
• Help and user guide

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The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

Produced by: Dartmouth (US) Medical School
Geographic coverage: Hospital level
Dates of coverage: Varies, but generally 2015 to more current
About: The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care uses Medicare and Medicaid data to provide information and analysis about national, regional, and local markets, as well as hospitals and their affiliated physicians.

• Download publicly available data

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Neighborhood Atlas

Produced by: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Geographic coverage: City, state, region, and nation using Census Bureau block groups
Dates of coverage: 5-year averages based on the American Community Survey

• Download data 

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HSLS Data Services LibGuide

This resource points to various sites that link to open access data.

• Data Management: Locating Data 

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Project Tycho Pre-compiled US data sets

Produced by: University of Pittsburgh
Dates of coverage: 1800's to most current

The 360 available datasets cover a wide variety of infectious diseases for the US as well as globally.