This page provides lists of open access websites that are often useful for business majors and business owners. Many of these sites are produced by government agencies. They contain data collected by the agencies, providing useful statistics on population, demographics, labor, business and industry and other topics. Other websites contain useful links and tools for people hoping to start their own businesses.
NOTE: So much data depends on the U.S. census that is conducted every 10 years. The last census was conducted in 2020. The results from that census is scheduled to be made available in December of 2021 and the various sites listed here should have access to the most recent data.
Kentucky County Data Profiles. University of Kentucky. College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
Categories include Agriculture, County Budgets, Digital Divide, Economics, Healthcare, Housing, Retail, Small Business, Workforce. If you click on County Budgets you scroll down until you see Select County. Choose Hardin (or another county.) to pull up information on the county budget, sources of funds, percentages of revenues and more
Kentucky One Stop Business Portal. Commonwealth of Kentucky
Highly recommended for those looking to start a business. The home page provides a link that allows you to register your business. The top of the screen includes the links Plan, Start, Operate, Expand, Move. Click on Plan to learn the steps before attempting to form a business. One step is writing a business plan. There is a link to a downloadable business plan. The link Start outlines the steps with links to more resources; steps include business registration, tax numbers, insurance requirements, licenses and permits. The user interface is easy to use, easy to navigate.
Small Business Administration. U.S. Small Business Administration.
Easy to use interface. Lots of guidance and resources for those seeking to start or expand small businesses.
Small Business Edition. Kentucky Data Center. University of Louisville.
The Census Business Builder: Small Business Edition is an interactive tool designed to provide selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau in a simple to access and use format. Users can view data in a map, report, or table; view trends to identify changes over time; compare data to neighboring counties, and state and national averages; and download and print business reports.
Team Kentucky. Cabinet for Economic Development
Lots of links with answers to questions and resources for those seeking to start businesses in Kentucky
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
Type Kentucky into the search field and get Economy at a Glance: Kentucky. Numbers for Civilian Labor Force; unemployment, employment, unemployment rates; number of jobs in nonfarm categories, broken down by industries. Scroll to the bottom and select Elizabethtown from the list (the BLS supplies Economy at a Glance for a few select cities and Elizabethtown is one of them.) You will see the same categories of information for Elizabethtown and Fort Knox
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics: Industries at a Glance
Lists industries alphabetically. Clicking on Data Processing pulls up average hourly earnings; average hourly earnings by employment category; number of establishments in categories (private, public, state, etc.) number of employees in the industry and more
The U.S. Census Bureau’s new platform to access detailed tables and maps for population, housing, economic, and geographic data from the Census of Population and Housing, Economic Census, American Community Survey, and more. Users can generate simple visualizations, extract reports, and explore census data by theme or topic. data.census.gov is the primary way to access Census Bureau data.
Type in Hardin County. You will see Total Population at the top; links to tables on a variety of topics; You can click on one of the suggested topics - Hardin County Kentucky Business and Economy comes up first.
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey
Data profiles from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for states, counties, and cities, providing more in-depth data than Quick Facts. Topics include social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics, covering the most basic data on all subjects.
Instructions
Scroll down until you see Select a Geography Type. Choose County. You will prompted first for a state and then for a county. Choose Hardin County (or another county.) You will see four categories: social characteristics, economic characteristics, housing characteristics, demographic characteristics. Click on Social characteristics - you will get some very detailed information about Kentucky and Hardin County. - detailed categories of households - married, unmarried partners, householders living alone, households with children under 5, grandparents living with grandchildren, grandparents responsible for grandchildren, male and female single household heads with children, school enrollment broken down by several categories, educational attainment broken into detailed categories, veterans, disabilities, citizenship status, number of individuals born out of state, county or country, languages spoken, computer and internet use. Be sure and scroll to the right - the information on the left of the table pertains to the state; the information on the right pertains to the county.
If you choose Economic Characteristics you will get detailed information about employment; unemployment; characteristics of individuals and households, different modes of transportation and percentages; numbers of people working in different categories; numbers of people working in different industries; incomes; incomes with earnings; incomes with Social Security; incomes with retirement income, Supplemental Security, public assistance, SNAP benefits; detailed categories for health insurance.
United States Census Quick Facts
You will see first data for the United States. The search box at the top prompts you for state, county, city or zip code. There is another box labeled TOPICS. Choose from the list - population, age, sex, race, housing, family characteristics, households with computers and broadband service, education levels, disabilities, health insurance, economy, transportation, income. If you choose Income you will see median incomes for Hardin County and the U.S. - you will still get information about population, demographics, income, poverty, housing, etc in the table. If you scroll down you will see information about businesses in Hardin County - total number, numbers of businesses owned by men or by women; numbers of minority-owned businesses; number of businesses owned by veterans; total employment; total annual payroll.
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