North Carolina Office of State Budget and ManagementSkip to Main Content

Data for Agencies and the Public

Serving both to inform the budgeting process and to meet the data needs of the public, OSBM develops, collects, and organizes a variety of state and federal agency statistics. Many data series are available in online systems for ease in extraction and manipulation. Frequently used data descriptions inform users, especially concerning population and social data, of the difference between a family and a household, changes in the way surveys are administered, reasons for blips in data, etc.

About Facts and Figures

OSBM serves thousands of data items to state agencies and the public for use in budgeting, planning, research, and general information about the state. These data come from a variety of sources, including

  • State agency socioeconomic annual statistics,
  • Decennial census information collected by the US Bureau of the Census and repackaged as value-added products for North Carolina and distributed by the NC State Data Center,
  • Official population estimates and projections for the state’s counties and municipalities (with age, race, and gender for counties),
  • State agency performance measures and other results-based data, and
  • Other socioeconomic data on NC geographic areas from the federal surveys.

Official population and economic estimates for budgeting and planning

Historically, State Budget has worked under a mandate for statistical coordination of all state government data, with special emphasis on a consistent set of population and economic projections for use by all agencies and the public to ensure a common base for determining future needs.

Ready access to detailed state census data

As the state’s lead agency in the federal-state State Data Center program for disseminating decennial, economic, agricultural, and government census and survey data to citizens, OSBM develops a wealth of products for accessing the census and other data on North Carolina’s counties, municipalities, and other areas, including down to the city block in some cases.

Budget and performance data

OSBM helps with the development of agency performance measures and other results-based budgeting information and makes this information publicly available. Users interested in data on budgeting, management, and accountabilitymay view the annual certified budget , access societal indicators or agency performance measures, or examine agency fees.

Affiliated state and local agencies

Providing training and one-on-one assistance with locating particular types of data, data definitions, explanations of the hierarchical geographic areas for which census information is released, and explanation of statistical concepts is important to OSBM. To handle the many requests for assistance of this type, the State Data Center has a 40-member team of other state and local agencies to serve as first contacts for data users. The State Library of North Carolina provides daily assistance in handling user requests, as do other state agencies and 40 affiliated local agencies (public libraries, lead regional organizations, educational institutions, and others).

(more)