RAND Corporation
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 Headquarters in Santa Monica, California | |
| Predecessor | Spin-off of Project RAND, a former partnership between Douglas Aircraft Company and the United States Air Force until incorporation as a nonprofit, and gaining independence from both. |
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| Formation | May 14, 1948 |
| Founders | |
| Type | Global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm |
| Tax ID no. | 95-1958142 |
| Legal status | Nonprofit corporation |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 34°00′35″N 118°29′26″W / 34.009599°N 118.490670°W |
Region served | Worldwide |
President and CEO | Jason Gaverick Matheny |
RAND Leadership |
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President, RAND Europe | Hans Pung |
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| Subsidiaries | RAND Europe Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School |
| Affiliations | Independent |
| Revenue |  $556 million (2025) |
| Disbursements | Numerous |
| Expenses | $544 million (2025) |
| Endowment | $355 million (2025) |
| Staff | 2,000 (2024) |
| Website | www |
map2_alt. It should be removed.map2_caption. It should be removed.map2_size. It should be removed.purpose. It should be removed.map2. It should be removed.The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the 1950s, RAND research has helped United States policy decisions on a wide variety of issues, including the Cold War space race, the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, the U.S.–Soviet nuclear arms confrontation, the creation of the Great Society social welfare programs, and national health care.
RAND originated as "Project RAND" (from the phrase "research and development") in the post-war period immediately after World War II. The U.S. Army Air Forces established Project RAND with the objective of investigating long-range planning of future weapons. The Douglas Aircraft Company was granted a contract to research intercontinental warfare. Project RAND later evolved into RAND, and expanded its research into civilian fields such as education and international affairs. It was the first think tank to be regularly referred to as a "think tank".
RAND receives both public and private funding. Its funding sources include the U.S. government, private endowments, corporations, universities, charitable foundations, U.S. state and local governments, international organizations, and to a small extent, foreign governments. In the 2024 fiscal year, the think tank's revenues and other support were $514 million, of which $328 million was provided by the U.S. federal government.