Research Guides: GIS: Geographic Information Systems: Find GIS Data

Various Data Sources

GeoBlacklight Portals
A multi-institutional open-source collaboration building a better way to find and share geospatial data
OpenStreetMap
View, edit and use geographical data.
ArcGIS Open Data
Open data can be found on ArcGIS Hub, an easy-to-configure cloud platform that organizes people, data, and tools
ArcGIS Living Atlas
Maps, apps, and data layers provided by the ArcGIS community to support your work.

Social Explorer Professional This link opens in a new window
Create and save demographic maps and reports down to the U.S. neighborhood and street level using U.S. census data, the American Community Survey, and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study. Visually analyze and understand demography and social change throughout U.S. history. Also useful in developing an understanding of the census data is an e-book on the history of the census, Measuring America : the decennial censuses from 1790 to 2000.Tip: Start with the maps and tables.

ArcGIS Data & Maps
The ArcGIS Data and Maps group provides online access to the data layers that accompany the ArcGIS software as ArcGIS Data and Maps. The data layers require the latest version of ArcGIS Pro, or ArcGIS Desktop 10.5 or later.

United States

Geospatial Data Gateway
One stop source for environmental and natural resource data.
TNM (the National Map) Download
USGS's interface for downloading data from the National Map
data.census.gov
A source for population, economic, housing, and geographic information and data about the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island areas. Includes information about income, education, insurance, employment, housing, poverty, veterans, and much more. Replaces American FactFinder
Census Boundaries
The core geographic mapping boundaries for census data (TIGER).
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These files do not include demographic data, but they do contain geographic entity codes (GEOIDs) that can be linked to the Census Bureau’s demographic data, available on data.census.gov.
Historic Census Data
The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) provides easy access to summary tables and time series of population, housing, agriculture, and economic data, along with GIS-compatible boundary files, for years from 1790 through the present and for all levels of U.S. census geography, including states, counties, tracts, and blocks. A free account is required for using this database.
National Weather Service GIS Data Portal
Weather data
US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Local Level Data
Downloadable housing data at the county, place, census tract and block group level.
Data.gov
Data.gov increases the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government.

Colorado

Denver Open Data
Open data about all aspects of Denver including transportation, population, buildings, public works, etc.
Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) Data Catalog
Spatial and tabular data that is crucial to planning and policy decisions for the Denver metro area.
Colorado GeoLibrary
The geospatial data portal for University of Colorado libraries.
Colorado Information Marketplace (CIM)
Stats and facts issued by the State of Colorado. Includes data catalog.
Colorado Department of Transportation: Online Transportation Information System
Highway, traffic, and other data.

Global

Natural Earth
Natural Earth is a public domain map dataset available at 1:10m, 1:50m, and 1:110 million scales. Featuring tightly integrated vector and raster data, with Natural Earth you can make a variety of visually pleasing, well-crafted maps with cartography or GIS software.
World Resources Institute: Resources
Maps, charts, data sets, infographics, and other visual resources about the climate, energy, food, forests, water, and cities.
EarthExplorer
Query and order satellite images, aerial photographs, and cartographic products through the U.S. Geological Survey.
DIVA-GIS
Download free GIS data for almost any country.