Skip to Main Content

Finding Census Data - Sociology: American FactFinder

American FactFinder provides access to Census data, including surveys like the American Community Survey and the decennial Census. The FactFinder website allows for more capability to specify more variables for your datasets and the data provided is more detailed.

Using American FactFinder

The easiest way to use American FactFinder to find what you need for your class is to use the Guided Search. The Guided Search takes you through selecting variables for your data, step-by-step, making it easier to find the data you need. Here's how to use the Guided Search in the American FactFinder:

  1. From the American FactFinder home page, click "Guided Search" and then "Get Me Started."
    Select Guided Search
  2. You will then need to choose what type of information you're after. For your class, you will most likely need to select either "people" or "housing." Click the "Next" button once you've made a selection.
    Step 1: Choose the type of information you are looking for
  3. Select the topics you are interested in. Click the plus sign next to a category to see more options. Click on the topic to add it to your "selections" or the variables you want to look at in your table. You can select multiple topics. Click "Next" when you're done.
    Step 2: Select your topics
  4. Select the geographic location you want to study. You will be studying the entire United States, so you will select that option in the drop-down. You'll also notice that you have the option to search by county, city, state, zip code, region, congressional district, and more. Click on your selection, then "Add to your Selections" that comes up, and then "Next."
    Step 3: Select your geographic location of study
  5. You will then need to specify if you're looking for data on a race or ethic group. In our example, so far, we've specified we're looking for data on poverty in the United States. You would choose a race or ethic group to look at poverty in those groups in the United States. If you are not looking for data based on race or ethnicity, you can click "Skip this Step."
    Step 4, part 1: Specify a race/ethnic group or skip the step
    Otherwise, we recommend you "Select from Basic Groups". Below are your options when you click on this button. Select a group or groups and click "Next."
    Step 4 pt. 2: Select a group and click "Next"
  6. You will then get a list of tables that match your criteria. Look over the tables to see which table sounds most relevant to what you want to know about, paying attention to the date in the "Dataset" column and click on the table that interests you.
    Step 5: Select the table that interests you
  7. From your selected table, you can make modifications (removing columns or rows) using the "Modify Table" button at the top. You can also add more geographical locations to make comparisons, save your table, print, or download the table. 
    Step 6: Your table. Make modifications, print, download, and more.
     

Comparing Data

The following video from the University of Michigan provides an example of something you might want to try yourself - comparing data by geographic location. This video also takes you through the Guided Search, so you can reference this video in addition to the step-by-step instructions to the left.