New York City Vital Statistics Data

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Individual-level data from birth and death certificates in New York City.

Links:
New York City Department of Health Data Request Application Data Project Details Form Data Use Application Form SECTION F: Vital Data Matching or Linkage
Unit of Observation:
Individual death or birth
Personally Identifiable Information Available for Linking:
Yes
Geography:
New York City, New York, United States of America
Years Available:
1996 – Present. Some variables available 1978 – Present.
Cost:
Paid
Frequency of Updates:
Annual with an approximately one year lag
Universe:

All birth and death records in New York City since 1996

Access

Data are available to any class of researcher. For non-aggregated data, researchers must submit a request to the New York City Office of Vital Statistics (OVS). As part of the application process, researchers must have IRB approval and complete a Data Use and Non-Disclosure Agreement, and a Data Project Details Form. If requesting linkages or matching, researchers must submit an additional form with information about the data sets to be matched, variables for identification, as well as detailed information on the expected methods to link the data sets. Identifiers, or a de-identified case ID may be included in the returned dataset, but researchers must specifically request those variables on the Vital Data Matching or Linkage form. Otherwise, the OVS will perform the match, then return the dataset with all identifiers stripped, including those provided to conduct the match.

Timeline for Access

The OVS strives to provide customized data and vital record copies to approved researchers within four-to-eight weeks of application submission. However, the timeline is subject to analyst workload, priority internal requests, and the resolution of any questions or concerns about the Data Use Agreement.

 

Lag Time

Files are updated annually and are available on approximately a one year lag following the release of the annual Summary of NYC Vital Statistics.

Cost

Fees are required for some records requests, including searches for death certificates, matching/linkage, and other electronic requests requiring significant staff time and effort to fulfill. Applicable fees vary by request.

Linking

The Office of Vital Statistics (OVS) provides data matching services for approved research. To request a linkage, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) requires researchers to submit an additional application form. In the application, researchers must specify the vital data type and year which they are requesting (e.g., “All birth records from 2001.”). Additionally, researchers must provide a list of databases with which the OVS data will be linked, the anticipated protocol for matching the data to those data sets, and a list of variables on which those matches will be made. Researchers then submit their data to the OVS in SAS, CSV, or another format which provides data element formats and nomenclature. All identifiable data must be submitted by a secure method approved by the DOHMH. DOHMH will process the match and return the dataset to the researcher.


Unless specifically listed and justified in the original data request, OVS will strip all identifiers before returning the data set, including those provided to conduct the match.

Identifiers Available for Linking

  • Full name and full date of birth (DOB) are the minimum required data elements for a match. Other available variables for Birth Records or Death records include:
  • Case ID
  • Infant’s full namelast name, first name, middle name, gender, and DOB
  • Mother’s full namelast name, first name, middle name, maiden name, DOB, Social Security number (SSN) (last 4 digits may be used for matching purposes), and address
  • Father’s full name, DOB, and SSN
  • Medical record number on birth certificate
  • Address
  • Date of birth
  • First and last name
  • Social Security number
  • Death RecordsNew York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner case ID
  • Decedent’s full name, alias, gender DOB, SSN, address
  • National Death Index certificate numbers and year of certificate

Linking to Outside Data Sources

If a link/match is to be made to New York State Department of Health (SDOH) administrative databases (e.g., the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS)), matching and linkage may be performed by SDOH Office of Quality and Patient Safety (OQPS) with DOHMH permission.

Data Contents

Partial List of Variables

For birth records: prenatal care, parents’ age at birth, maternal morbidity, parents’ demographics, type of place of birth, insurance coverage, characteristics of labor and delivery, congenital anomalies

For death records: cause of death, age at death, deceased’s demographics, hospice care, and place of death

J-PAL Randomized Evaluations Using this Data Set

Gelber, Alexander, Adam Issen and Judd B. Kessler. 2016. “The Effects of Youth Employment: Evidence from New York City Lotteries.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 131 (1): 423-460.

Other Research Using this Data Set

Selected publications featuring NYC vital statistics data (NYC DOHMH)

Last reviewed