Related Guides
Data, Statistical Sources & Mapping
For additional sources of crime data and statistics, see the Criminal Justice Data & Statistics research guide.
- Bureau of Justice Statistics BJS mission: To collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. These data are critical to federal, state, and local policymakers in combating crime and ensuring that justice is both efficient and evenhanded.
- Federal Bureau of Prisons Maintains statistics on inmates, population, and staff.
- Crime in the United States An annual publication for more than eight decades, this report contains a compilation of the volume and rate of violent and property crime offenses for the nation and by state. Individual law enforcement agency data are also provided for those contributors supplying 12 months complete offense data. In addition, this report also includes arrest, clearance, trends, and law enforcement employee data. Also available to use with Crime in the United States is the online UCR Data Tool to research crime statistics for the nation, by state, and by individual law enforcement agency.
- National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) archives and disseminates data on crime and justice for secondary analysis. The archive contains data from over 2,600 curated studies or statistical data series. NACJD is home to several large-scale and well known datasets, including the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and the Project on Human Development in Chicago
- Sunlight Foundation Hall of Justice Hall of Justice is a Sunlight Foundation Project working with criminal justice data. The project is no longer maintained, but you can find the archived underlying data set here.
- World Prison Brief Provides information about prison systems throughout the world. It enables more evidence-based discussion of ways to improve prison systems in accordance with international human rights standards. In each country page information is provided on prison populations and prison population rates per 100,000 of the national population, on the use of imprisonment for women and juveniles, on the extent of pre-trial imprisonment and on prison overcrowding, as well as a record of the national ministries
- COVID: How Europe’s prisons have fared in the pandemic (Github) Prisons make fertile breeding grounds for viruses, yet administrations have revealed little about COVID-19 cases, deaths and vaccinations in Europe’s prisons. Data from 29 countries show the pandemic’s impact on prisons.
- Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (University of Albany) The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics brings together data about all aspects of criminal justice in the United States presented in over 600 tables from more than 100 sources. Selected data to 2013.
Mapping/Visualization
- Policy Map This link opens in a new window Easy-to-use online mapping and visualization tool. Downloadable U.S. demographic, economic and social data by city, state, zip code, county or census tract. Types of data include crime, housing, health, education and occupations, derived from both public and proprietary sources.
Public Opinion
- Roper Center Public Opinion Archives This link opens in a new window The Roper Center is a public opinion archive that preserves the data from polls conducted by many leading survey organizations. Most of the data are from the United States, but over 50 nations are represented. The iPOLL databank offers access to nearly half a million survey questions and answers asked in the U.S. by more than 150 survey organizations. Direct links are given to study documentation and datasets. Date coverage: 1930s – present.
- Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions.
