Why does USAFacts use US government data?

When Steve Ballmer founded this site and initiative back in 2017, he was trying to solve a problem: Why was it so hard for Americans to get better visibility into how their own government works?

A quick look around the internet revealed an even bigger problem. Not only was it difficult to find government data online, but it was also hard to make sense of what sources and data were credible or trustworthy enough to present that information accurately and objectively.

As USAFacts, we want to make it easier for all Americans to get the facts on how our government works, how it collects revenue, how it spends it, and what that might mean for all of us. You can read more about our mission here.

As part of our mission, these facts — and all of the articles and reporting on USAFacts — are built on data that is reported by the US government itself.

Why do we use government data?

In a democracy like the United States, USAFacts believes decisions have to be grounded in a shared truth, and the US government itself is the single best, universally accepted source of data on how it operates.

As with all data, we encourage you to look closely at its source, how it's collected, and what it does and doesn't reveal. And we also believe strongly that citizens should push for continued transparency and accountability.

We want people to come to USAFacts.org and know definitively that all our analysis comes from government reports and data.

News organizations, nonprofit advocacy groups, and think tanks all play their own role in analyzing and reporting on how government works, but we believe it's critical to give Americans a source like USAFacts, where the data is 100% sourced from the government itself.

Learn more about our mission at USAFacts, and get the data directly in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.