Research Guides: Media, Marketing and Communication (04:192:410): Market Research

How to Use Mintel in Your Research

The U.S. Census

The mother of all sources on U.S. population and demographic data is the U.S. Census Bureau. For the latest available information, start with data.census.gov. You have two options to start your search on the landing page: a free-form single search bar or an advanced search filtering experience. Includes breakdowns for the following categories:

Maps and Visualizations:
Data Profiles for:
These feature links to topics including People and Population, Race and Ethnicity, Families and Living Arrangements, Health, Education, Business and Economy, Employment, Housing and Income and Poverty.
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts provides community profiles for cities and towns with more than 5,000 people.
For projections of population data, see State-Produced Population Projections.

Economic Census Data

Done every five years by the Census Bureau, the Economic Census provides comprehensive and detailed statistics on employer businesses and serves as the benchmark for nearly every business survey conducted by the Census Bureau. It was last done in 2017 and statistics will continue to roll out throughout 2020.

Webinar on tips and tricks on how best to access data by state and sector.
Economic Census Data Tables - To learn how to review 2017 business data, click here, and for glossary information, go here.
Interactive graphic of what has been released by state.
Fun Facts about the Economic Census
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) - the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.

Market Research

The following resources are helpful for broad research across an industry or market.

IBISWorld
Contains market share data, industry growth rates, outlook projections and business environment profiles for major industry sectors.
MarketLine
Contains industry market analysis and country reports and data based on published research and primary and secondary data sources.
Mergent Online
Contains mostly company data, but also allows searching by industry via the Industry Analysis tab to get industry comparison details, scatter charts and historical data.
Mintel Reports
Product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Use the search box at the top to search for consumer market information. Reports are geared toward specific market niches.
Statista
Statista integrates statistical data on a wide variety of topics and industries from over 18,000 sources, including market reports, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.

Demographic Databases

The following Rutgers databases are also useful in data-driven marketing. They provide information about consumer demographics and habits and data and statistics for particular regions, industries and businesses.

Data Citation Index - data studies and sets from over 200 data repositories worldwide. The data sets are connected to scientific literature published in journals, books and conference proceedings.
Data-Planet Statistical Datasets - Data-Planet provides access to over 70 organizational sources, including US Federal, US State, International and Non-profit organizational sources. Examples are Census Data, Worldwide Stock Market Prices, China Data Center, and Zillow.
OECD iLibrary - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) online library of statistical databases, books, periodicals, and other publications.
PolicyMap - Displays many popular categories of demographic information as maps, including population, income, home ownership, and education. The underlying data is derived from both government and commercial sources. For a list of datasets currently available in PolicyMap, check out this web page: Data Indicators
Social Explorer - access to several major sources of demographic data.
Statistical Abstracts - comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the U.S.
UNdata - official statistics produced by countries and compiled by the United Nations data system. Also includes estimates and projections.
World Development Indicators - annual statistics on countries, regions, and economic groupings of the world collected and presented by the World Bank, including economic, demographic, social, environmental, educational, and cultural indicators.