CBER Data Center Web Tools

Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research is a federally designated state data center.  The Center provides gateway data services to citizens of Indiana and surrounding states. In addition to tailored data products and consulting services, we also produce: 

Economic Indicators
Regularly updated data on housing, wages, employment, consumption, exchange rates, and dozens of other economic indicators that provide evidence of the direction of change in the local, state, and federal economy.  Update notifications are available through the Indiana Business Bulletin and Twitter.

Weekly Commentary
CBER Director Michael J. Hicks, PhD, addresses current issues in business, industry trends, and public policy.  His weekly commentary is distributed through the Indianapolis Business Journal, the Star Press (Muncie, Ind.), the Associated Press newswire, and the Indiana Business Bulletin.

Indiana County Profiles
Citizens and community leaders are often called upon to better understand the demographics and population, economic activity, size and scope, infrastructure, and the state of social and human capital in their region. Our county profiles provide detailed, up-to-date data and graphics in an easy-to-use format for Indiana’s 92 counties. The site also includes the Economic Impact Calculator, a tool that estimates the direct and indirect effects of the introduction of a new business to a county.

Community Asset Inventory and Rankings
The Indiana Community Asset Inventory and Rankings (CAIR) provide policy makers and residents within Indiana's counties with an objective, data-focused assessment of the factors that influence the quality of life and the economic conditions within each county.

Brownfield Grant Writers' Tool
The Brownfield Grant Writers' Tool assists grant authors with accurate and relevant data about the demographic, economic, and health factors pertaining to each county in Indiana.  The site also includes the Impact Calculator, a tool that estimates the direct and indirect effects of the introduction of a new business to a county.

Cost of Living Index
Joining a nationwide network of researchers sponsored by the Council for Community and Economic Research, CBER gathers data on more than 100 different consumption items each quarter—the cost of common items such as a gallon of milk or a carton of eggs. The resulting data provide a nationwide cost of living index, which is used to compare Muncie, Ind., with more than 250 communities across the country.

Labor Market Forecasts
Projections of economic activity in Indiana are difficult to obtain and often focus on a few top level variables. Our labor market forecasts are designed to project employment, wages, job turnovers, and other labor market factors for Indiana’s labor markets.