Polidata Inc.

What Polidata Inc. does

Polidata Inc. is a U.S.-based, privately-held data publishing and political-demographic consultancy founded in 1974 by Clark H. Bensen and operating as a sole proprietorship out of Lake Ridge, Virginia. The company aggregates official U.S. Census Bureau data and state/local election results into reconciled products that resolve split jurisdictions and absentee-vote allocations at precinct, county, congressional-district, and apportionment levels — work that official sources do not perform natively. Its product portfolio is split across (i) one-time-purchase physical publications and downloadable datasets (state demographic guides, presidential election results by county and by congressional district, available in .sdf/.csv/.dbf), (ii) recurring two-year online-edition subscriptions tiered by number of states accessed, (iii) printed map products (election maps, party-control maps, apportionment maps, races-up maps) priced by size, and (iv) expert-witness testimony and consulting in redistricting, voter-ID, and campaign-finance litigation. The company sells primarily via direct e-commerce on polidata.org using PayPal, with supplemental fulfillment through Lulu.com and CafePress.com, and accepts enterprise sales via direct email for custom and government orders.

Revenue is generated through five streams: one-time licenses for physical and digital data products, recurring two-year subscriptions for online access, unit-priced map sales, and bespoke professional services for litigation support. Pricing is uniformly low (datasets at $95, complete presidential election sets at $225, state-guide subscriptions from $150 to $750 across the two-year term, maps at $5-$20), with PayPal processing fees, USPS shipping, and Virginia sales tax layered on. Distribution is intentionally low-touch: a static content-marketing website, earned media from citations in outlets such as the Washington Post and LA Times, occasional Congressional and Census Bureau testimony, and email-driven inbound for custom work.

Customers are concentrated in five verticals — federal/state government agencies, political campaigns and parties, media organizations (Cook Political Report, Congressional Quarterly, National Journal), academic/research institutions, and legal professionals — with the highest-value engagements being expert witness and consulting work in U.S. Supreme Court cases (Crawford v. Marion County Election Board; Randall v. Sorrell) and Congressional testimony on apportionment. The company carries a registered POLIDATA trademark and operates under no external investors, holding-company structure, or public listing.

Name

Polidata Inc.

Legal name

Polidata Inc.

Website

https://polidata.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Polidata Inc., founded 1974, aggregates U.S. Census and election data into books, datasets, maps, and online subscriptions, and provides expert witness and consulting services in redistricting, voter ID, and campaign finance litigation. It serves government agencies, political campaigns, media (Cook Political Report, Congressional Quarterly, National Journal), academics, and legal professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Political and Demographic Data Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Government & Public Policy Publishing (Regulations, Gazettes, Legislative Tracking) (MPAJACAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Government, Public Policy & Regulatory Reference (Public Administration, Regulatory Guidance) (EDAGAGAK)

Keywords

• Political data services
• Demographic publications
• Election result datasets
• Redistricting consulting
• Census data analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Lake Ridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Physical Publications and Books: Sale of printed demographic guides, election history volumes, and census reference books in library binding. Includes state-specific guides and national compendiums sold as one-time purchases.
2. Digital Datasets: Sale of downloadable datasets in multiple formats (SDF, CSV, DBF) for presidential results by congressional district and county-level election data. Also includes census demographic datasets for congressional districts.
3. Online Edition Subscriptions: Two-year subscription access to online editions of demographic and election publications, with tiered pricing based on number of states accessed.
4. Maps and Visual Products: Sale of color maps including election maps, apportionment maps, party control maps, and races-up maps in various sizes (letter, tabloid, poster, wall-size).
5. Professional Services: Expert witness testimony and consulting in redistricting litigation, campaign finance cases, and voter identification cases before courts and Congressional committees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Polidata compiles, publishes, and sells official U.S. census and election data as printed guides, digital datasets, online subscriptions, and maps. It also provides redistricting database development, expert witness testimony, and litigation support for voting rights and campaign finance cases. Its offerings target government agencies, political campaigns, media organizations, academic researchers, and legal professionals.

Product overview

Polidata Inc. is a data publishing company specializing in demographic and political information, founded in 1974. The company operates as a publisher of printed and digital reports rather than a unified software platform. Its product portfolio consists of demographic guides and atlases (state-level and national demographic guides based on Census data), election history reports (statewide and presidential election results), datasets (presidential results by county and congressional district in multiple formats including .sdf, .csv, and .dbf), map products (election maps, party control maps, apportionment maps, and races up maps), and professional services (redistricting support and litigation support). Products are sold through the company's website with online editions available via subscription. The company also provides free reports and resources through its online library.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Demographic Guides (State) State-level demographic guides providing rankings and maps based on Census data, including area profiles for states, counties, county subdivisions, and places. Sold as one-time purchases to government, campaign, and research buyers.
• Demographic Guide to the United States National demographic guide covering counties and selected places from Census data, providing a comprehensive reference volume for the United States.
• Election History Reports (State) State election history reports covering statewide offices and presidential races from the 1980s through 2006, with race summaries and area profiles for media markets and geographic regions.
• Presidential Election Reports National reports covering presidential elections including results by county, congressional district, and media market, sold as compendium volumes.
• Presidential Results by Congressional Districts (PRCD) Compiled presidential election results disaggregated to the congressional district level, including data from 1992-present, used by campaigns, media, and researchers for district-level analysis.
• President by County Dataset County-level presidential election results dataset available in .sdf, .csv, and .dbf formats for all counties and county equivalents, sold as a one-time perpetual license.
• Demographic Datasets for Congressional Districts Demographic datasets for congressional districts based on the 2000 Census, delivered in multiple formats for integration into analytical and GIS systems.
• Party Control Maps Maps showing party control of governorships and state legislatures, with options for federal elections (President and Congress) and state elections, sold in letter, tabloid, poster, and wall-size formats.
• Election Maps Election result maps including presidential results by state and county (1952-2000), U.S. House results by congressional district, and presidential results by congressional district, sold in multiple sizes.
• Races Up Maps Maps showing races up in selected election cycles for various offices at federal and state levels, sold as poster sets and wall-size tiled sheets.
• Apportionment Maps Congressional apportionment maps showing projected seat shifts based on Census estimates and official apportionment numbers from 1960-2020.
• Redistricting Services Professional services for redistricting support including database development and litigation support for redistricting cases, delivered to government agencies and law firms.
• Litigation Support Expert witness and litigation support services for voting rights, redistricting, and campaign finance cases, including preparation of expert reports and testimony in courts and Congressional hearings.
• Online Lookup Tools Online search tools for looking up presidential results by county with red/blue color scheme options, providing subscribers with direct web access to election data.
• Population Projections Population projections for apportionment analysis including shifts in U.S. House seats based on Census Bureau estimates, accounting for growth rate trends, overseas population, and hurricane displacement.
• Online Edition Subscriptions Two-year subscription access to online editions of demographic and election publications, with tiered pricing based on number of states accessed (1 state: $150; up to 5 states: $250; up to 10 states: $400; all states: $750).

Quantifiable outcome

• PRCD project compiled from over 400 county-level sources in 500+ hours of data collection
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• OpenElections: Open-source project collecting and standardizing precinct- and county-level U.S. election results. Competes with Polidata's county-level datasets on a free, community-driven basis.
• Ballotpedia: Provides comprehensive U.S. election, candidate, and ballot information. Comparable as a free/online election-information resource that competes for the same researcher, journalist, and academic audience Polidata serves.
• Dave Leip's Atlas: Aggregates U.S. presidential and state election results at county and district levels. Comparable to Polidata's presidential-results datasets and election-history publications, particularly for individual/research buyers.

Broad incumbents

• FiveThirtyEight: Data-driven political journalism and forecasting site. Comparable as a consumer-facing political-data and election-analysis brand serving overlapping media and researcher audiences.
• CQ Roll Call: Major Congressional and political news/publishing organization that has collaborated with Polidata on presidential-by-district data. Comparable as a broader political publisher serving overlapping media and research customers.

Direct peers

• Catalist: Provides integrated voter data and analytics for progressive campaigns and organizations. Comparable as a political data vendor serving similar campaign, party, and research buyer segments.
• L2 (L2 Topographical): Specializes in redistricting data, precinct maps, and political geography. Closely comparable niche competitor to Polidata in redistricting and district-level election data.
• TargetSmart: Provides voter file, political, and demographic data to campaigns and organizations. Comparable to Polidata in delivering district- and precinct-level political data, but operates a much larger, continuously updated SaaS platform.
• Aristotle International: Provides voter registration, political, and demographic data to campaigns, parties, and organizations. Comparable as a long-standing political data vendor targeting similar buyers.

Regional players

• Cook Political Report: Provides political race analysis and has historically partnered with Polidata for district-level presidential data. Adjacent political-data publisher, partly customer, partly collaborator on Polidata's PRCD dataset.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Polidata Inc.