Centers for Diseases Control (CDC)
The CDC is a part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and is the primary federal agency for public health.
This is the starting point for health statistics from the CDC. Browse by topic, view publications, and links to interactive tools, surveys and more.
Customizable tables for national health statistics covering topics in health status, health care, conditions, insurance, mortality, life expectancy, birth, pregnancy, risk factors and disease prevention.
A portal to several CDC databases concerning health-related topics for public health information and numerical data sets such as AIDS/STDs, risk behaviors (the Behavioral Risk Surveillance System), mortality and natality statistics.
This site offers topical access to health and human services related data from NHHS, other federal agencies, states and local governments.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
A division of the CDC, the NCHS is the nation's principal health statistics agency. The NCHS homepage is also a central point for health statistics browseable by topic, links to surveys, publications, and other online tools.
Census Bureau data provides accurate, detailed, and up-to-date statistics about a variety of topics, including Americans and their health.
U.S Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)
DHHS is the umbrella agency under which most national health data and statistics programs operate. These include the CDC, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), among others.
World Health Organization (WHO)
The World Health Organization is an agency of the United Nations and is an international coordinating agency for public health. Useful WHO databases for data and statistics include the Global Health Observatory (providing national statistics for health indicators), WHO Global Infobase Online (chronic diseases and risk factors), and the Global Health Atlas. Data is also accessible by topical categories.
"Data" and "statistics" are two words often used interchangeably, but they refer to two very different things. Data is the raw information from which statistics are created. Statistics provide a summary of data. For more information about data vs. statistics, see this guide.