awesome-public-datasets
A curated list of links to high-quality open datasets, organized by topic.
- Stars
- 79.9k
- Forks
- 11.9k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- —
- Last update
- 8 days ago
- Type
- Curated list
What it is
This is a list of links to public datasets, grouped by subject such as government, science, and finance. It does not host the data itself; each entry points to where the dataset is published. People use it as a starting point when they need data for analysis, learning, or prototyping.
- Find a government or public-sector dataset on a subject you are studying
- Pick a sample dataset to practice data cleaning or visualization
- Locate a benchmark dataset for machine learning experiments
- Compare what public sources exist before collecting data yourself
Great for
- Data analysts looking for a starting point on a new topic
- Students who need sample datasets for projects
- Developers who want test data for prototypes
- Researchers scanning which public sources exist in a field
Not ideal for
- Anyone who needs a single dataset already downloaded and cleaned, since the list only links to sources
- Users who need guaranteed up-to-date data, because linked sources may change or disappear
- Teams needing a searchable API or database of datasets, since this is a static markdown list
How to get it
- 1
Read it online
Clone the repository locally (optional)
git clone https://github.com/awesomedata/awesome-public-datasets - 2
Run it
- Open the repository page on GitHub.
- Browse the README by topic or use your browser's search for a keyword.
- Open the linked dataset page and check its license and terms of use.
- Download the dataset from the source you choose.
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use browser search on the README to jump to a specific subject area.
- Check each dataset's license before using it in commercial work.
- Watch the repository for new releases and updates to the list.
Downloads
Strengths
- Large collection covering many subject areas
- Maintained as an open list that accepts community contributions
- Free to use under the MIT license
Trade-offs
- Only links to external sources, so link rot and changes are outside the maintainers' control
- Quality and licensing terms vary by linked dataset and must be checked individually
- Latest release listed is v20230903 with no binaries, and the README was not fully available to confirm current contents
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| awesome-public-datasets (this) | 79.9k | Curated list | beginner | 8 days ago | Data analysts looking for a starting point on a new topic |
| akshare | 23.2k | Library | beginner | 4 days ago | Python users doing academic or personal research on Chinese financial markets |
| doccano | 10.8k | App | beginner | 7 months ago | Machine learning teams building labeled text datasets |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.