What is the State Data Center?
The State Data Center (SDC) is a consortium of agencies that provides data about the state and its geographic areas. It works in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau and supports access to an immense amount of data.
The lead agency for the State Data Center is OSBM. However, there are organizations across the state helping people find and use data. Here’s a listing of all 46 supporting organizations.
Who Can Use the State Data Center?
Requests to State Data Center, 2022
Anyone can reach out to one of the State Data Center coordinating agencies or affiliates to ask for data or data support. Of the more than 77,000 requests to the SDC last year, over 80% came from businesses or members of the public.
What Kind of Data Can the SDC Provide?
Types of Data Requested, 2022
The SDC affiliates can provide many different kinds of data. The Census Bureau is one of the most robust data sources, but the SDC also provides data products from various federal, state, and private agencies.
How Much Does It Cost?
Requests for data and assistance from members of the SDC are usually free of charge. Typically, any charges would be for the cost of reproducing data or computer programming services. In 2022, 99.4% of requests to the SDC were fulfilled free of charge.
What Kind of Outreach Does the SDC Do?
The SDC and its affiliates serve as a resource to all North Carolinians. This might mean presenting at events, training data users, responding to individual requests, and generally increasing awareness of available data.
Where to Learn More
- The OSBM website
- The U.S. Census Bureau website
- See Log Into North Carolina to access many of the data products the SDC has available
- Contact one of the SDC’s coordinating organizations or affiliates