Geography & Environmental Studies Research Guide

This portal is dedicated to promoting access to government data and encouraging the development of creative tools to engage and serve Chicago's diverse community. The site hosts over 200 datasets presented in easy-to-use formats about City departments, services, facilities and performance.

The Chicago-area's seven county metropolitan planning agency hosts some of the city's most current Land Use and Transportation Data.

Access Illinois GIS data sets and documentation (metadata) for ArcIMS Interactive Map Services, USGS digital topographic maps, aerial photography, orthoimagery, orthophotography, geology, land use, natural resources, and infrastructure. Illinois data sets and map data layers are available for download free of charge.

Authoritative US Census Bureau shapefiles document US geographic boundaries from Block Groups and Census Tracts to Counties and the Continental level and everything in between. A heavily used resource for GIS practitioners.

A natural resources and environmental data portal based on geospatial attributes, published by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, US Division of Agriculture. Data can be downloaded as ESRI shapefiles for use in ArcGIS.

NHGIS provides free aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2011.

Stanford Geospatial Center has gathered a series of websites that offer GIS Data to download for free. Data is classified by geographic extent and grouped it by theme for each extent. It is intended to be more of a starting point for GIS users looking for data for their research.

A large collection of GIS data and layers managed by USAID using national and international US Census Bureau data.

Copernicus is the European Space Agency's (ESA) Open Access data service for Sentinel-1, 2, and 5p satellites. Sentinel remote sensing is similar in quality to Landsat-8. Downloading data requires creating a free log-in account.

This resource holds vector, raster, and other cartographic resources created by arcGIS users all over the world.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Earth Observation Group (EOG) creates composite images of nighttime light radiance on a monthly and annual basis. Be prepared to wait: files found at this site tend to be very large.

American FactFinder is the United States Census Bureau's public, guided search interface for demographic data collected by US demographers.

Official statistics collected and published by more than 100 Federal agencies on the full range of official statistical information available to the public from the Federal Government.

Interactive website that includes data on topics such as education, global development, health, jobs & skills, and public safety.

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions. Includes Hispanic-specific data.

The GSS contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest. Many of the core questions have remained unchanged since 1972 to facilitate time-trend studies as well as replication of earlier findings. The GSS takes the pulse of America, and is a unique and valuable resource. It has tracked the opinions of Americans over the last four decades.

Census Reporter is a Knight News Challenge-funded project to make it easier for journalists to write stories using information from the U.S. Census bureau. Place profiles and comparison pages provide a friendly interface for navigating data, including visualizations for a more useful first look.