The following websites provide links to downloadable geographic and tabular data files suitable for use with GIS software.
- Austin Area GIS Data
- Central Texas Cities GIS Data
- San Antonio Area GIS Data
- Houston Area GIS Data
- Dallas/Fort Worth GIS Data
- Texas GIS Data
- National GIS Data
- National Demographic/Economic Data
- International GIS Data
- Other GIS Data Portals
Austin Area GIS Data
- Austin Open Data Portal: This portal provides easy access to open data and information about your city government. We encourage the use of public data that the City of Austin has published to spark innovation, promote public collaboration, increase government transparency, and inform decision making.
- City of Austin GIS Data Sets: An organized guide to over 50 different data layers for the Austin area, including roads, land use, zoning, and facilities.
- Growth Watch: Growth Watch monitors and tracks development and provides GIS datasets, spreadsheets, and maps on development activity. See Growth Watch Data by Year for georeferenced building permits.
- Capitol Area Council of Governments Information Clearinghouse: GIS data layers for the 10 county region around Austin in shapefile, geodatabase, and Google KMZ format.
- Austin Historical Survey Web Tool Maps & GIS Data: Data related to historic preservation available from this site. Includes the City of Austin Comprehensive Survey of Cultural Resources Map (1984), georeferenced as part of the Austin Historical Survey Web Tool effort.
Central Texas Cities GIS Data
- City of Round Rock GIS Data Sets: Provides downloadable shapefiles for the Round Rock area.
- City of Pflugerville GIS Data Sets: Provides downloadable shapefiles for the Pflugerville area.
San Antonio Area GIS Data
- City of San Antonio GIS: Provides links to GIS data in the San Antonio area.
Houston Area GIS Data
- City of Houston Public Works GIS Data Sets: Houston area GIS data downloadable through a GIS viewer.
- City of Houston Planning and Development GIS Data Sets: Administrative, location, routes and other City of Houston data sets.
- Houston-Galveston Area Council Regional Data & GIS Services Data Sets: Contains regional and state boundaries, cultural, transportation, water, land features, and elevation data.
- Rice University Fondren Library GIS Data Center: Provides links to Houston area GIS data.
- Harris County GIS data: Reference, boundaries, transportation, parcels, flood control, parks, city services, wetlands and soil types shapefile data.
Dallas/Fort Worth GIS Data
- North Central Texas GIS Data: General GIS data for the Dallas/Fort Worth area in a range of file formats.
Texas GIS Data
- GIS Data from the Texas General Land Office: A variety of data on Texas including political boundaries, hydrography, transportation, topography, ecology, parks, energy, and coastlines.
- Texas Natural Resources Information System: Environmental, geological and administrative datasets of Texas.
- Texas Association of Counties: Tabular data related to agriculture, economy, financial, health, natural resources, redistricting, and transportation in Texas.
- UT Center for Space Research: Satellite and aerial imagery mainly of Texas (Astor, Modis, Landsat).
- Texas State Data Center and Office of the State Demographer: Distributes census information and population estimates and projections for Texas, as well as other information from the federal government, state government, and other sources.
- Texas Water Development Board: TWDB datasets include aquifers, river basins, precipitation and reservoirs, as well as DEMs and hillshade raster files of Texas terrains.
National Environmental, Transportation and Social GIS Data
- OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.
- InsideAirbnb: Provide downloadable Airbnb data for the public.
- Geospatial Information Facility at Berkeley/Penn: General raster and shapefile data in a variety of categories for the United States.
- National Atlas Raw Data Download: Current and historical social and environmental data for the United States.
- USGS National Map Seamless Server: US and international environmental data available in a number of formats downloadable through a map viewer.
- NOAA Shoreline Website: Federal shoreline data.
- USGS Earth Resources and Science: Landsat satellite imagery and aerial photos available for free download.
National Demographic/Economic GIS Data
- ESRI Free GIS Data: Census TIGER line shapefiles and other free data.
- Geoplatform.gov: The US government clearinghouse of geographic data held by government agencies.
- US Census American Factfinder: US Census website with links to Decennial and American Community Survey data.
- Social Explorer: Current and historical US Census data available for download through a map viewer.
- Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics: Detailed employment and demographic data through online analysis tool.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Regional, national, international economic data.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Regional, national, and international labor and business data.
- National Historic GIS: Historical agricultural and census data beginning in 1790.
- HUD USER: provides access to data sets developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, including data from research on housing discrimination, the HUD-insured multifamily housing stock, and the public housing population.
- US Army Corps of Engineers: provides free access to GIS data related to Corps projects nation-wide.
International GIS Data
- United Nations Environmental Data Portal: GIS data organized by continent and country.
- GIS Data Depot: A data repository for both the US and other countries; much of the data is free for download, some available only for purchase.
- The Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN): Columbia University links to national and international data sources.
- The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS): GEOSS is a voluntary partnership of governments and international organizations and provides access to a variety of international GIS data.
- European Commission Inspire Geoportal: This site provides access to spatial datasets from EU countries.
- DIVA-GIS: A site developed in part by Biodiversity International that provides access to country-specific data.
- GEOCENSOS: This site includes blogs and information about geospatial data for Latin America, as well links to census data for most countries in Latin America.
- GEOSUR: (La Red Geoespacial de América del Sur) makes GIS data available to the public with the support of various development agencies, including the Andean Development Corporation.
- NASA Topographical Data: This page provides links to NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data and other global elevation data at up to 30m (1 arc-second) resolution.
Other GIS Data Portals
- Northwestern University GIS Data Sources: Northwestern University links to national and international data sources.
- Stanford University GIS Data Sources: Stanford University links to national and international data sources
- Federal Geographic Data Committee: Links to over 250 GIS data servers.
- University of Arkansas GIS Data Sources: The University of Arkansas links to national and international data sources.
- Tufts University GIS Data Sources: This site provides links to a variety of both national and international GIS data sources.
- University of Oregon GIS Data Sources: The University of Oregon links to national and international data sources.
- Texas A&M University Library: This site hosted by Texas A&M provides links to national and regional GIS data sources.