Government Finance Database, United States, 1967-2023 (ICPSR 37641)
Version Date: Jun 25, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Kawika Pierson, Willamette University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37641.v2
Version V2 (see more versions)
Summary View help for Summary
Quantitative public financial management research is limited by the lack of a common database for empirical analysis. The U.S. Census Bureau distributes government finance data that some scholars have utilized, but the difficult process of collecting, interpreting, and organizing the data has led its adoption to be prohibitive and inconsistent. This study offers a single, coherent resource that contains all of the census data from 1967 through the most recent update, uses easy to understand natural-language variable names, and it will be extended when new data is available.
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Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
County
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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For more information on Census classifications, please see the Classification Manual.
- For additional information about this study, please visit The Government Finance Database website.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study was to consolidate the Census Bureau's government financial data into a single, coherent, and comprehensive database with the goal of moving quantitative research in public finance progressively forward.
The data has been processed to be user-friendly and convenient for replication. It remains as close to the raw data as possible in order to limit statistician induced measurement error. This presents researchers with a database that is free from abnormalities and can be easily used in the widest range of circumstances. Given the push towards both methodological and theoretical innovation in public administration research, and given the existing diversity the field displays in those areas, this breadth of financial information provided from a single, standardized source has the potential to facilitate a diverse body of inquiry.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
State and local government finance data from 1967-2023.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
U.S. Census Bureau
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
At a high level, the data for each government are grouped into four large categories: revenue flows, expenditure flows, cash and investment positions, and debt positions. Descriptions of these categories can be found in the data-related publication, The Government Finance Database: A Common Resource for Quantitative Research in Public Financial Analysis.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2020-05-11
Version History View help for Version History
2026-06-25 Files were updated to include data through 2023.
Notes
These data are freely available to data users at ICPSR member institutions. The curation and dissemination of this study are provided by the institutional members of ICPSR. How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?