About the Texas State Data Center

The Texas State Data Center was initiated in 1980 to establish a state level liaison to the U.S. Bureau of the Census for better dissemination of Texas census data. In the mid-1980's this program was expanded to meet a demand for more timely population estimates and projections for inter-censal years.

The Texas State Data Center is part of the State Data Center System, a national network of 52 centers (all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), started in 1978. The goal of the State Data Center System is to increase the availability and accessibility of demographic census data to data users. It involves a signed agreement between the Director of the Bureau of the Census and each state and/or trust/territory.

The State Data Center (SDC) Program is one of the Census Bureau's longest and most successful partnerships. It is a cooperative program between the states and the Census Bureau that was created in 1978 to make data available locally to the public through a network of state agencies, universities, libraries, and regional and local governments. The Business and Industry Data Center Program (BIDC) was added in 1988 to meet the needs of local business communities for economic data. SDC lead organizations are appointed by the Governor of that state.

The SDC program's mission is to provide easy and efficient access to U.S. Census Bureau data and information through a wide network of lead, coordinating and affiliate agencies in each state. To accomplish this mission, the SDCs work in partnership with the Census Bureau through the Customer Liaison Office (CLO) and the Regional Offices of the Census Bureau. A Memorandum of Understanding between each state, the District of Columbia, and the outlying areas of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands supports this partnership.

The SDCs are official sources of demographic, economic, and social statistics produced by the Census Bureau. These data are made available by the Census Bureau to the SDCs at no charge (fees may be charged for customized products). The SDCs make these data accessible to state, regional, local and tribal governments, and non-governmental data users at no charge or on a cost-recovery or reimbursable basis as appropriate.

The SDCs also provide training and technical assistance in accessing and using Census Bureau data for research, administration, planning and decision making by local governments, the business community, and other interested data users.

Both the data provided by the Census Bureau for Texas and the estimates and projections generated by the Texas State Data Center are available through a network of 37 organizations across the state affiliated with the Texas State Data Center program. These include four core agencies, eight state affiliates and twenty-five local affiliates.

Core Agencies:
• Texas State Library (printed materials)
• Texas Natural Resources Information System (TNRIS, state agencies)
• Texas State Data Center, The University of Texas at San Antonio (program coordination, data, technical assistance and demographic analysis)

State Affiliates (eight universities with regional responsibilities):
• The University of Texas at El Paso
• The University of Texas at Dallas
• The University of Texas at Austin
• The University of Texas at San Antonio
• Rice University
• Texas Tech University
• The Univeristy of Texas-Pan American
• Stephen F. Austin University

Local Affiliates:
• Council of Governments (each representing one of twenty-four regions)
• City of El Paso

In general, local affiliates are the frontline service providers for printed data; state affiliates provide computer information; and core agencies have specific technical functions and provide backup to other parts of the system.

• Affiliate Contact List
• All products and services are on a cost recovery and first-come first-serve basis.