Terms

Effective 2026-05-12.

The short version

Commerce Institute content (text, charts, data tables) is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) unless otherwise noted. You may copy, redistribute, and build on our work — including for commercial purposes — provided you cite Commerce Institute and link back.

Federal data sources

The underlying data we ingest comes from federal and public-domain sources (Census, BEA, BLS, NOAA, etc.). Most are public domain; some have specific attribution requirements that we surface on the relevant methodology page.

API

The free API tier is rate-limited; abuse may result in revocation. Paid tiers carry separate terms negotiated at signup. Commercial use of the free tier is permitted within the rate limits.

Photo submissions

When you submit a photo to a place page, you grant Commerce Institute a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to display the photo with attribution on the relevant place page. You retain copyright. You may request takedown at any time via photos@commerceinstitute.org.

Accuracy disclaimer

We publish data drawn from federal sources to the best of our ability. We document methodology and source vintage on every metric. We do not warrant fitness for any specific purpose; reliance on our data for material decisions (real-estate purchases, business location decisions, etc.) is at your own risk. For high-stakes use, verify against the cited primary source.

Disputes

If you believe a published number is incorrect, contact methodology@commerceinstitute.org. We will investigate and either correct, explain, or publish the dispute alongside the original.

Operator

Commerce Institute is operated by TOTIB Technologies LLC, a New York limited liability company. Disputes are governed by New York law.