Data & Graphs To Explore Our Shared Realities

More hubs of open source intelligence should help inform better decisions — both individual and collective. If we think harder together, our world's path can still get lucky.

Until recently, nuances in world data were only accessible to the dominant Grunch of Giants, and data-minded visionaries like Buckminster Fuller. Today, tons of data are a couple of clicks away, with sources referenced at the bottom of every page.

Hopefully, you find some useful insights from these graphs... like radar displays for fellow co-pilots of spaceship earth...

Historical Stats on Life & Death

Statistics like these contain both tragedy and hope. For decades before 2020, most places in the United States experienced slowly expanding life expectancy.

So far, this site has all-cause mortality going back to 1902 for Maryland and the United States as a whole. (10,000 deaths per million equals 1%.)

List of All Data Lines

From any one of these links, you can add and remove multiple states and data lines. Hopefully, these tools empower you to explore our shared realities with better clarity.

Most pages on this website have a button to "Customize Graphs" and this is where most of the power hides. So choose your own data adventure:


Curated Trend Reports

All of this site's core datasets can be explored with the links above. But there are a few more custom-created reports with specific analysis.


The CDC provides age group breakdowns for mortality going back to 1968, providing more actionable comparisons over time. Here is the national average alongside the eight largest states:

Deaths per Million of U.S. 2019 Standardized Population, 1968-2020


% Increase Over Previous 5-Year Average of Deaths per Million of U.S. 2019 Standardized Population, 1968-2020


So far, only a few other data lines have been added like the U.S. estimates of unemployment, the national debt, and a some consumer price indices.

U.S. Unemployment & National Debt Per Capita, 1902-2020

Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, since 1913) and Retroactive Series (R-CPI-U-RS, since 1978)

COVID-Related Government Responses

The Blavatnik School of Government created the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) with daily indices.

Variation in US states' responses to COVID-19

"For US states, the indicators described above are aggregated into four policy indices, each of which measures a different set of government responses (the indicators that make up each index are listed in Table 2):

  1. A containment and health index, showing how many and how forceful the measures to contain the virus and protect citizen health are (this combines 'lockdown' restrictions and closures with health measures such as testing policy and contact tracing) *
  2. An economic support index, showing how much economic support has been made available (such as income support and debt relief)
  3. A stringency index, which records the strictness of 'lockdown style' closure and containment policies that primarily restrict people’s behavior
  4. An overall government response index which records how the response of states has varied over all indicators, capturing the full range of government responses

* Because the term "lockdown" is used in many different ways, we do not define this term here but instead refer to the number and restrictiveness of closure and containment policies."


United States All-Cause Mortality & COVID-19 Response


Maryland All-Cause Mortality & COVID-19 Response


Florida All-Cause Mortality & COVID-19 Response

2020 Overall COVID Response Data Tables Weekly COVID Response Graphs for All States

Data Sources


Population Statistics

2017-2019 — Population by United States Jurisdictions

United States Census Bureau. American Community Survey. ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates.
Available from: data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=United%20States&g=0100000US&tid=ACSDP1Y2019.DP05


1968-2016 — Population by United States Jurisdictions

National Center for Health Statistics. Mortality Data on CDC WONDER.
Available from: wonder.cdc.gov/mortSQL.html
1999-2016: wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html
1979-1998: wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd9.html
1968-1978: wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd8.html


1900-1967 — Population for the United States as a Whole

Population Division, United States Census Bureau. Population Estimates Program. National Intercensal Tables: 1900-1990.
Available from: census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/pre-1980-national.html

"National population data for the years 1900 to 1949 exclude the population residing in Alaska and Hawaii. National population data for the years 1940 to 1979 cover the resident population plus Armed Forces overseas. National population data for all other years cover only the resident population. Estimates of the population including Armed Forces overseas are as follows:

1919 105,063,000
1918 104,550,000
1917 103,414,000

National population data for the years 1900 to 1929 are only available rounded to the nearest thousand.

Data for this table comes from Current Population Reports, Series P-25, Nos. 311, 917, 1095, and our National Population Estimates web page."


1902-1967 — Population for Maryland

Maryland Department of Health. Historical Trend Data, Maryland, 1790 - 2018
Available from: health.maryland.gov/vsa/Documents/HistoricalTrend_2018.pdf



Vital Statistics

2015-2020 — All-Cause Mortality for United States Jurisdictions

Used for 2015-2020 weekly data, but only for 2017-2020 annual data.
National Center for Health Statistics. Weekly counts of deaths by jurisdiction and age group.
Available from: data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Weekly-counts-of-deaths-by-jurisdiction-and-age-gr/y5bj-9g5w/
Weighted (predicted) provisional counts are used in these graphs. Data imported 3/1/21.

"Both unweighted and weighted (predicted) provisional counts are provided. Weighting of provisional counts is done to account for potential underreporting in the most recent weeks. However, data for the most recent week(s) are still likely to be incomplete. Only about 60% of deaths are reported within 10 days of the date of death, and there is considerable variation by jurisdiction and age. The completeness of provisional data varies by cause of death and by age group. However, the weights applied do not account for this variability. Therefore, the predicted numbers of deaths may be too low for some age groups and causes of death. For example, provisional data on deaths among younger age groups is typically less complete than among older age groups. Predicted counts may therefore be too low among the younger age groups. More detail about the methods, weighting, data, and limitations can be found in the Technical Notes."


1968-2016 — All-Cause Mortality for United States Jurisdictions

National Center for Health Statistics. Compressed Mortality Data on CDC WONDER.
Available from: wonder.cdc.gov/mortSQL.html
1999-2016: wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html
1979-1998: wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd9.html
1968-1978: wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd8.html


1900-1967 — All-Cause Mortality for the United States as a Whole

National Center for Health Statistics. Leading Causes of Death, 1900-1998.
Available from: cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/lead1900_98.pdf

The estimated mortality rate per hundred thousand was used here to calculate the death counts in these years. The rates appeared to make more sense and were closer to the same ballpark as the older numbers I found for Maryland.

"Many of the crude rates have been revised from the original publication to reflect the modification of population data after a later census was conducted."


1900-1967 — All-Cause Mortality for Maryland

Maryland Department of Health. Historical Trend Data, Maryland, 1790 - 2018
Available from: health.maryland.gov/vsa/Documents/HistoricalTrend_2018.pdf


1900-2018 — Life Expectancy for the United States as a Whole

National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2019: Table 4. Hyattsville, MD. 2021.
Life expectancy at birth (1900-2018), age 65 (1950-2018), and age 75 (1980-2018), selected years 1900–2018.
Available from: cdc.gov/nchs/hus/contents2019.htm

Bucky Stats values for the years between 1900, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1975, and 1980 are linear estimates between those reported data points.

Data points for 1900 and 1950 came with disclaimers \4 and \5. Data point 1960 has disclaimer \4 At birth, and has \5 At 65. Data points 2017 and 2018 have disclaimer \6.

"Disclaimer \4: The death registration area increased from 10 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) in 1900 to all 48 states and D.C. in 1933. Alaska and Hawaii were included in 1959 and 1960, respectively. See Appendix II, Registration area.
Disclaimer \5: Includes deaths of persons who were not residents of the registration areas.
Disclaimer \6: Estimates for 2017 were revised using updated Medicare data; therefore, these values may differ from previous editions of Health, United States. Estimates for 2018 are based on final Medicare data."



Government Policy Trackers

2020 — Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) United States Data

Oxford University. Blavatnik School of Government. Latest Data.
Available from: github.com/OxCGRT/covid-policy-tracker
Data imported 3/1/21.

Variation in US states' responses to COVID-19

"For US states, the indicators described above are aggregated into four policy indices, each of which measures a different set of government responses (the indicators that make up each index are listed in Table 2):

  1. A containment and health index, showing how many and how forceful the measures to contain the virus and protect citizen health are (this combines 'lockdown' restrictions and closures with health measures such as testing policy and contact tracing) *
  2. An economic support index, showing how much economic support has been made available (such as income support and debt relief)
  3. A stringency index, which records the strictness of 'lockdown style' closure and containment policies that primarily restrict people’s behavior
  4. An overall government response index which records how the response of states has varied over all indicators, capturing the full range of government responses

* Because the term "lockdown" is used in many different ways, we do not define this term here but instead refer to the number and restrictiveness of closure and containment policies."



Economic Statistics

1948-2020 — Unemployment Rate for the United States

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.
Series Id: LNS14000000, Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate (16 years and over), 1948 - 2021.
Available from: data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000


1913-2020 — Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Historical CPI-U, 1913 - 2021
U.S. city average, All items, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Index of "100" is defined by 1982-84
Available from: bls.gov/cpi/tables/supplemental-files/historical-cpi-u-202102.pdf
Data updated February 2021.

Consumer Price Indexes Overview
"Data available
  • Price indexes are available for the U.S., the four Census regions, nine Census divisions, two size of city classes, eight cross-classifications of regions and size-classes, and for 23 local areas. Indexes are available for major groups of consumer expenditures (food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education and communications, and other goods and services), for items within each group, and for special categories, such as services.
  • Monthly indexes are available for the U.S., the four Census regions, and some local areas. More detailed item indexes are available for the U.S. than for regions and local areas.
  • Indexes are available for two population groups: a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total population and a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 percent of the population.
  • Some series, such as the U.S. City Average All items index, begin as early as 1913.
Coverage
  • The CPI represents changes in prices of all goods and services purchased for consumption by urban households. User fees (such as water and sewer service) and sales and excise taxes paid by the consumer are also included. Income taxes and investment items (like stocks, bonds, and life insurance) are not included.
  • The CPI-U includes expenditures by urban wage earners and clerical workers, professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, retirees and others not in the labor force. The CPI-W includes only expenditures by those in hourly wage earning or clerical jobs.
Sources of data
  • Prices for the goods and services used to calculate the CPI are collected in 75 urban areas throughout the country and from about 23,000 retail and service establishments. Data on rents are collected from about 50,000 landlords or tenants.
  • The weight for an item is derived from reported expenditures on that item as estimated by the Consumer Expenditure Survey.
...
Uses
  • As an economic indicator. As the most widely used measure of inflation, the CPI is an indicator of the effectiveness of government policy. In addition, business executives, labor leaders and other private citizens use the index as a guide in making economic decisions.
  • As a deflator of other economic series. The CPI and its components are used to adjust other economic series for price change and to translate these series into inflation-free dollars.
  • As a means for adjusting income payments. Over 2 million workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements which tie wages to the CPI. The index affects the income of almost 80 million people as a result of statutory action: 47.8 million Social Security beneficiaries, about 4.1 million military and Federal Civil Service retirees and survivors, and about 22.4 million food stamp recipients. Changes in the CPI also affect the cost of lunches for the 26.7 million children who eat lunch at school. Some private firms and individuals use the CPI to keep rents, royalties, alimony payments and child support payments in line with changing prices. Since 1985, the CPI has been used to adjust the Federal income tax structure to prevent inflation-induced increases in taxes."


1977-2020 — Consumer Price Index Retroactive Series (R-CPI-U-RS)

Bureau of Labor Statistics. R-CPI-U-RS 1978 - 2021
U.S. city average, All items, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Index of "100" is defined as December 1977
Available from: bls.gov/cpi/research-series/r-cpi-u-rs-allitems.xlsx
Data updated February 2021.

R-CPI-U-RS Homepage

"Background
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has made numerous improvements to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the past several decades. While these improvements make the present and future CPI more accurate, historical price index series are not adjusted to reflect the improvements. Many researchers, however, expressed an interest in having a historical research series that was measured consistently over the entire period. Accordingly, the Consumer Price Index retroactive series using current methods (R-CPI-U-RS) presents an estimate of the CPI for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) from 1978 to the present that incorporates, when possible, most of the improvements made over that time span into the entire series.

The primary users of the R-CPI-U-RS data are researchers that use it as a valuable proxy of a historical estimate of inflation using current methods. In addition, the Census Bureau currently makes use of the index to adjust some of its income measures for changes in the cost of living. The direct adjustment of individual CPI index series makes this the most detailed and systematic estimate available of a consistent CPI series. This measure attempts to answer the question, “What would have been the measured rate of inflation from 1978 forward had the methods currently used in calculating the CPI-U been in use since 1978?”

It is important to recognize that the R-CPI-U-RS provides an annual inflation series that adjusts for specific changes in BLS methodology. The R-CPI-U-RS is of use to forecasters and other researchers in analyzing the trends and other movements in consumer inflation over the last few decades. The measure should help answer the question of the degree to which the measured rate of inflation has been affected by some of the improvements BLS has made.

Limitations
The R-CPI-U-RS has some limitations. First, most estimates are based on BLS research covering a short period of time and extrapolated to a longer period. Therefore, there is uncertainty surrounding the magnitude of the adjustments. Second, there have been several improvements in the CPI not incorporated into the R-CPI-U-RS, either because they do not represent changes in methodology, because they had negligible impacts on the CPI’s growth rate, or because it was impossible to systematically estimate the impacts of the new methods in past years. Examples include changes in imputation methods, improvements in methods for pricing hospital services, and some changes in quality adjustment procedures, such as for wireless telephone services. A list of the changes incorporated in the R-CPI-U-RS is available in an online table.

Available data
The R-CPI-U-RS presents an estimate of the CPI for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) from 1978 to the present that incorporates most of the improvements made over that time span into the entire series. Note that many of the improvements occurred prior to 2000 and the monthly percent change in the R-CPI-U-RS is very similar to the published CPI-U for years after 2001; many of the differences prior to 1999, however, are substantial, reflecting major methodological changes such as the switch to a rental equivalence approach for shelter in 1983 and the adoption of a geometric means formula in 1999. Monthly data are published once a year in March."


1900-2020 — Government Debt Outstanding for the United States

U.S. Department of the Treasury. Historical Debt Outstanding, 1789 - 2020
Available from: fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/historical-debt-outstanding/historical-debt-outstanding

"Historical Debt Outstanding is a dataset that provides a summary of the U.S. government's total outstanding debt at the end of each fiscal year from 1789 to the current year. Between 1789 and 1842, the fiscal year began in January. From January 1842 until 1977, the fiscal year began in July. From July 1977 onwards, the fiscal year has started in October. Between 1789 and 1919, debt outstanding was presented as of the first day of the next fiscal year. From 1920 onwards, debt outstanding has been presented as of the final day of the fiscal year. This is a high-level summary of historical public debt and does not contain a breakdown of the debt components."