A Comprehensive Guide to Public Data Sources in the United States

The U.S. has one of the most extensive systems of publicly available government data anywhere in the world. I'm not exaggerating — the sheer volume of information that federal, state, and local agencies create, maintain, and publish is staggering. From federal campaign finance records to county property tax rolls, it's all out there if you know where to look.

The problem? It's scattered across thousands of agencies, each with its own website, search tools, and quirks. This guide breaks down the major categories of public data, what each source actually contains, and how you can access it yourself. Many of these sources are also aggregated by services like OpenDataUSA to make cross-database searching faster and more practical.

Federal Data Sources

The federal government is, hands down, the single largest producer of public data in the country. Several agencies maintain databases that anyone can access for free.

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

The FEC tracks detailed records of every contribution to federal political campaigns, PACs, and party committees. Any individual contribution of $200 or more to a federal candidate gets reported — including the donor's name, address, employer, occupation, and the amount and date of the contribution. You can search all of this at fec.gov or through their public API.

I've spent hours browsing FEC data out of pure curiosity, and it's genuinely fascinating. You can see who's funding campaigns in your district, track donation patterns over election cycles, and occasionally spot surprising names. Journalists and academic researchers rely on this data heavily, and for good reason.

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

The USPTO publishes the full text and images of every patent granted in the U.S., along with trademark registrations. Patent records include the inventor's name, the assignee (typically a company), filing and grant dates, and a detailed technical description of the invention. It's all searchable for free through the USPTO website and Google Patents.

Patent data is incredibly useful for competitive intelligence, prior art searches, and spotting innovation trends. If you want to search for patents tied to a specific person, we've put together a complete guide to patent searching.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Publicly traded companies file extensive financial disclosures with the SEC. Through the EDGAR database at sec.gov, you can pull up annual reports (10-K), quarterly reports (10-Q), proxy statements, insider trading disclosures, and registration statements. Corporate officers' and directors' names show up in these filings, along with their compensation and stock ownership details. A goldmine if you're doing due diligence on a public company.

Federal Court Records (PACER)

PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records — gives you access to case and docket information for all federal courts: district courts, bankruptcy courts, and appellate courts. There's a small per-page fee for most documents, but case index information like party names, filing dates, and docket entries is freely available through some interfaces. You'll find civil lawsuits, criminal cases, bankruptcy filings, and appeals here.

Census Bureau

The Census Bureau publishes an extraordinary amount of demographic, economic, and geographic data. Individual census responses stay confidential for 72 years, but the Bureau puts out aggregate data covering population counts, income statistics, housing characteristics, educational attainment, commuting patterns — hundreds of variables in total. You can get this data at geographic levels ranging from the entire nation down to individual census blocks.

If you're doing market research, site selection for a business, or academic work, Census data is foundational. The American Community Survey provides annual estimates for many of the same variables the decennial census captures, which means you don't have to wait ten years for updates.

Small Business Administration (SBA) and PPP Loan Data

During the pandemic, the SBA administered the Paycheck Protection Program, distributing over $800 billion in forgivable loans to businesses. The recipient data — business names, addresses, loan amounts, forgiveness status — has been made publicly available. It's one of the largest releases of government spending data in history. We dig into this topic in our article on PPP loan data and government transparency.

State-Level Data Sources

Every state (plus DC) maintains its own set of public records. The specific records available and the access methods vary, sometimes wildly, but certain categories show up just about everywhere.

State Court Records

State courts handle the vast majority of legal cases in the U.S. — criminal cases, civil lawsuits, family law, probate, small claims. Most states now offer some level of online access, though the depth varies a lot. Some states have statewide search portals; others make you search county by county.

Court records typically include party names, case type, filing and hearing dates, judgments, and sentencing info for criminal cases. In my experience covering public records, state court data is some of the most frequently searched and most useful for due diligence.

Voter Registration Records

Voter registration is public record in most states. The available info usually includes your name, address, date of birth, party affiliation, and voting history (which elections you voted in, not how you voted). Access rules vary by state — some states are pretty open about it, others restrict who can request the data and what they can do with it.

Property Records

Property ownership gets recorded at the county level through the assessor's office and recorder of deeds. You can find the owner's name, property address, assessed value, most recent sale price and date, legal description, and tax payment history. Most counties have put this online by now.

Property data is one of the most commonly searched categories of public records, and for good reason. Real estate research, investment analysis, verifying ownership claims — it comes up constantly.

Professional License Records

States regulate a huge range of professions through licensing boards. Doctors, nurses, lawyers, real estate agents, contractors, accountants, engineers — the list goes on. License records typically show the licensee's name, license number, type, issue and expiration dates, and any disciplinary actions. Most state boards provide free online verification. For a deeper dive, check out our article on professional license verification.

Business Entity Filings

Every business that incorporates or registers as an LLC, partnership, or other formal entity has to file with the state (usually the secretary of state's office). These filings show the business name, registered agent, principal address, formation date, and the names of officers or members. All fifty states offer online business entity searches. It's a basic but essential tool for checking whether a company is legitimate.

Vital Records

Birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses — these are maintained by state vital records offices. Access depends on the state and the age of the record. Recent vital records are generally restricted to the named individuals or close family. Older records (often 50 to 100 years old) become publicly available and are a staple of genealogical research.

Motor Vehicle Records

Here's one that catches people off guard. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act (a federal law) restricts access to DMV records. While these records exist and contain info about licensed drivers and registered vehicles, you can't just look them up. Access is limited to specific uses like law enforcement, insurance claims, and vehicle recalls. General public access isn't available in most states.

Local and County-Level Data Sources

Local governments produce their own substantial body of public records. These often give you the most granular, neighborhood-level view of what's happening in a community.

Building Permits

When someone does construction or renovation, they typically need a building permit from local government. Permit records include the property address, project scope, estimated cost, contractor name, and inspection status. Say your neighbor is doing a major addition — you can usually look up the permit to see what was approved. It's also helpful for verifying that past work on a property you're buying was done with proper authorization.

Business Licenses

Many cities and counties require a local license or permit to operate a business in their jurisdiction. These records include the business name, owner, address, business type, and license status. Useful for checking whether that new "licensed and insured" contractor is actually, well, licensed.

Code Violations and Inspections

Health department inspections, fire code violations, building code violations, zoning complaints — all typically public record at the local level. Restaurant inspection scores, for example, are published by most county or city health departments. Next time you're trying a new restaurant, look up their inspection history. It can be... illuminating.

Tax Liens and Assessments

When property owners don't pay their property taxes, local governments record tax liens against the property. These are public records accessible through the county recorder or tax collector. If you're a real estate investor or doing due diligence on a property purchase, tax lien data is essential.

How to Actually Access All of This

Accessing public data directly from government sources is free or cheap in most cases. But I won't sugarcoat it — it's time-consuming. The data sits across thousands of agencies, each with its own website, search interface, and procedures.

For records that aren't online, you may need to file a formal records request under the federal Freedom of Information Act (for federal agencies) or your state's open records law. These requests are usually free or involve a small copying fee, though response times range from days to months depending on the agency and how complicated your request is.

Aggregation services like OpenDataUSA pull public records from many of these sources into a single searchable interface. When you need to search across multiple data types or jurisdictions, it can save you a significant amount of time. For specifics on what we aggregate, visit our data sources page.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

Public data is, by definition, available to the public — but that doesn't mean you should use it carelessly. Records can contain errors or outdated information. Common names create confusion between different people all the time. A court filing doesn't mean someone was found guilty or liable. And just because a record exists publicly doesn't mean it's appropriate to use it without considering context.

If you find inaccurate information about yourself on a public records aggregation service, most offer a way to correct or remove your listing. OpenDataUSA has an opt-out process for anyone who wants their information removed from our results. For more guides on understanding public records, browse the OpenDataUSA blog.