Small Business

How to Score Free Market-Research Data

By Rick Broida

Updated on: November 6, 2007 / 3:00 PM EST / MoneyWatch

When it comes to opening a new business, launching a new product, or evaluating just about any kind of business idea, nothing beats market research. Normally you have to shell out big bucks for it, but a site called ZipSkinny provides an abundance of it free of charge. Just enter any U.S. ZIP code to get the following stats:

Education levels
Income
Occupation
Marital Status
Age/Gender/Race Demographics
Stability/Newcomer Appeal

The data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 surveys, so it's a little behind the times -- but you gotta love the scope and depth of the information. This is absolute gold for anyone seeking demographic/geographic market research. [via Life of an Internet Entrepreneur]