Researchers often collect data for their research, then make it available online for others to use. You can find these data by searching journals that reliably provide it, or by searching the literature and seeing where the authors mention availability. Depending on your level of commitment to a topic/data set, you can also contact the authors directly.
A U.S. government website that aims to improve public access to high value, datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. The site is a repository for federal, state, local, and tribal government data, made available to the public.
Pew Research Center's datasets cover topics like politics, social media, journalism, the economy, online privacy, religion, and demographic trends. The data is free to use; however, you must register on the site.
Statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the U.S. Demographics on birth rates, death rates, marriages, divorces, and education are available.
Statista is a statistics portal that integrates data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets on over 60,000 topics from 18,000 sources.
Web-based mapping application enabling creation of professional-quality thematic maps and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data. Users are encouraged to create a personal account within Simply Map. Without an account, click the "Login as Guest" option.
This database "provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use." ICPSR also hosts several special topic archives, sponsored by agencies external to ICPSR, which focus on the archiving of data in specific subject areas.
