Asked by an anonymous Tumblr user.

There are a number of places where you can find government data and statistics:

• USA.gov - Our page points you to commonly requested data sets and statistics.
• Data.gov - This comprehensive data site compiles data sets, charts, maps, and more. You can download raw data or play with interactive data sets.
• American FactFinder - This tool combines a variety of population, housing, economic, and geographic information that you can search many different ways.

In reference to the specific question, you can find the number of people who receive welfare, called cash public assistance, using the American FactFinder. From there you can narrow it to specific urban areas or by other geographies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports unemployment statistics, including for large metropolitan areas.

If you’re having a hard time locating the correct statistics, you can always ask a government information librarian for help. Government information librarians are experts at finding information from government agencies of all levels (local, state, regional, national international) on almost any subject.

You can use these charts from the Centers for Disease Control to better understand risks to your health.

• This grid shows the top ten causes of death for Americans in ten different age groups in 2009. For example, the number one leading cause of death of Americans aged 1 to 44 is unintentional injury.
• This similar ten by ten grid shows the leading causes of death by unintentional injury. The overall most common cause of unintentional injury death is motor vehicle traffic accidents.

The FBI’s 2010 Hate Crime Statistics report recorded 6,628 hate crimes, staying consistent with the numbers from the 2009 report. Traditional crimes become hate crimes when they are committed because of a person’s race, gender, religion or other targeted reason.

The 2010 report highlights the types of biases that motivate hate crimes, the nature of the offenses, information about the victims and offenders, as well as a break down of hate crimes by jurisdiction.

Some statistics from the report include:

• Of the 6,628 hate crime incidents reported for 2010, nearly all (6,624) involved a single bias—47.3 percent of the single-bias incidents were motivated by race.
• A reported 4,824 offenses were crimes against persons; intimidation accounted for 46.2 percent of these offenses; simple assault for 34.8 percent; and aggravated assault for 18.4 percent.
• 31.4 percent of reported hate crime incidents took place in or near homes.

The FBI considers the investigation of hate crimes their number one priority as part of their civil rights program. The report was compiled with the support of national and state criminal justice organizations and thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide who report hate crimes.

View the full report details.

Learn about these things and more:

• The U.S. population increased by nearly 10% since the 2000 census.
• In 2009, 16.7 percent of people in the United States were not covered by health insurance.
• Of the 77.3 million people ages 3 and up enrolled in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools in 2009, 86.5% were enrolled in public schools in 2009.