Hi, I’m Eric Coyle.
I often get questions about how to access workforce and jobs data.
One of my favorite data tools to use is OnTheMap available at census.gov.
It allows you to visualize
where workers live and where they work for many areas in the country.
Let me introduce you to OnTheMap.
There are two ways to get to the OnTheMap tool from the census.gov homepage.
You can either select through the explore data tab
by then
clicking on data tools and apps.
From there
you can go to the next page
which will take you to the next list of data tools and there you'll find the link to OnTheMap.
The other way is to select through the browse by topic tab and you would choose employment
and there you simply scroll down under the data heading, and you will find OnTheMap.
Once in the OnTheMap tool you'll be able to quickly begin your area profile analysis
by simply typing in the geography of choice within the search bar.
You can also narrow that search by simply selecting any of these geographies within this drop-down menu.
Additionally, you have a base map
that allows for
adding various labels, points, outlines, and fills within the selected layers.
The selections tab will allow you to visualize the boundaries of the area you selected
there are also drawing tools and other layers that can be added
along with a buffer
that you can add to your selection to create your own unique geographies.
And lastly
there is the ability to import your own geography.
So here in the start tab I’ll go ahead and type in Dallas.
And if I leave the default to search all names and click search.
I’m going to see a very long list of geographies related to the word Dallas.
However,
if I want to
narrow that search I simply select the term like places, for cities and towns.
Click search again
and now my list is much smaller.
From here I can go ahead and select Dallas city, Texas.
Which will now be
zoomed into on the map,
to see what that selection looks like outlined I simply click on the selection tab.
Which will now give me an outline of my geographic area.
To perform an analysis
all I have to do is click on this red kite symbol and there I can go ahead
and perform my analysis.
The default of this analysis will allow you to analyze where workers work
or where workers live.
The default analysis type is the area profile for all workers.
But you can also look at other variables within age groups, income groups, as well as two specific
industries.
If you'd like to look at multiple years and see the change over time
you would go ahead and select multiple years.
Keep in mind new data is added every year.
You can also go beyond the default of private primary jobs and select
all jobs
to get definitions of all these different types of selections
you simply need to hover over the question mark of each one.
And then click go.
And there you have it.
We now have a results tab
giving us a work area profile analysis.
A title that we can edit if we'd like to along with a subtitle
the display settings will give us the total characteristic filter for the year.
We can also change the color.
We can
remove the thermal overlay
and of course, bring it back.
And the same goes for the point overlay.
You can identify these point overlays.
You can zoom to the selection.
You can clear the overlays and you can animate them as well.
You also have the ability to download and print a detailed report,
export geography, and print a chart and map.
The legend will show you what each shade
of the thermal overlay represents from the lightest to the darkest.
As well as giving you the number of jobs
for the smallest point to the largest.
The analysis settings
will tell you exactly what you've selected in your area profile analysis.
To the right you'll notice we have a chart
that we can switch from bar to pi by using the drop-down menu.
You also have the total jobs provided
for that particular year selected
as well as the share.
You can look at
worker age,
earnings,
NAICS industry sector,
worker race,
ethnicity,
worker educational attainment and worker sex.
To visualize any of these variables OnTheMap
simply click on them.
For example, I’ll select age 29 or younger
and now the map will show me only those jobs
that fall into the variable of age 29 or younger.
If I want to reset that to show all jobs
representing every single criteria,
I simply click on reset table.
At the top of your map,
you'll notice that you have a save feature to allow you to return to this particular search.
You can also load a previously saved search criteria.
You can use the zoom features to allow you to zoom all the way down to the street level
or zoom all the way back out. To see the full picture
of the U.S.
and that's how easy it is to create an area profile analysis.
I hope you find OnTheMap useful.
To learn how to create an area comparison analysis of your labor market
check-out our next OnTheMap data gem at census.gov/academy and don't forget to subscribe.