Stata .dta to CSV/JSON Converter

What is Stata .dta?

Stata .dta is the binary data format used by Stata, a statistical software package widely used in economics, political science, sociology, epidemiology, and biostatistics. A .dta file stores not just the data but also variable labels, value labels, and dataset notes that plain CSV cannot capture.

Why Convert?

• Open Stata data without a Stata license ($195+/year for students, $1395+/year for commercial)
• Import into Excel, Google Sheets, R, Python, or SPSS
• Share data with collaborators who don't use Stata
• Archive research data in a universal, long-term readable format
• Old Stata versions can't always open newer .dta files — CSV is forever

What Gets Extracted?

• All data rows and columns
• Variable labels — human-readable descriptions (the label variable attribute)
• Value labels — coded values mapped to labels (e.g. 1→"Male", 2→"Female")
• Data types — byte, int, long, float, double, str
• Missing value counts
• File encoding — important for non-ASCII data (Chinese, accented characters, etc.)

CSV vs JSON Output

• CSV — Best for Excel/Sheets/R. Flat table, opens anywhere.
• JSON — Includes full metadata (variable labels, value labels, file info). Best for programmatic use and preserving all Stata metadata.

Value Labels Option

"Apply labels" replaces coded numbers with their labels (e.g. 1→"Strongly Agree"). This is what you see when running list in Stata with label display on. "Keep raw codes" preserves the original numeric values — needed if you want to run statistical analysis in R or Python.

Supported Stata Versions

Stata 8 through Stata 18 (.dta format versions 113–119). Older pre-Stata-8 files are rare but may also work.