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Hi, I am Alexandra Barker.
Did you know that you can use the mapping feature on data.census.gov
to access and visualize a variety of data products?
I invited my colleague Jessica Barnett to show us this really cool resource.
Let's check it out.
Hi, I’m Jessica.
After you’ve found the data you need in one of the tables in data.census.gov,
you may want to produce a visualization of that data.
In this data gem, I’ll walk you through creating a map using a table that you’ve
found in data.census.gov.
I want to look at the median home value by county in Minnesota, so I’m going to first
go to data.census.gov and select the filters that I need in the Advanced Search:
all the counties in Minnesota and housing.
Using Google Chrome, I’ve gone to data.census.gov and selected the Advanced Search button.
Now I need to add the filters, so let’s select Geography >
County >
Minnesota >
and check the box for all counties in Minnesota.
Then let’s select Topics >
Housing >
and check the box next to Housing.
Let’s confirm that both of these filters are in the Selected Filters pane at the bottom of the screen.
Once that’s done, let's hit the Search button to see what’s returned.
The first table that comes up, DP04, Selected Housing Characteristics,
is the table that I need,
so I’m going to click on the table title to view the full table.
This table uses the 2019 1-Year ACS estimates.
Looking through the table, I can locate the line of data that I need—Median value—
and the median home value is $262,200 for Anoka County, Minnesota.
I can also see that, if I scroll over, I can view this line for all of the other counties.
These are the estimates that I want to map.
To do this, I’m going to hit the Customize Table button.
This will open the table to the view that includes the customization ribbon.
Once I’ve gotten all the estimates I need from the table, I can select the Map button
at the end of the customization ribbon to create a map of the data.
The map automatically centers over Minnesota.
Note that the Data Variable,
Survey/Program,
Product,
and Geography
are all noted right above the map.
Right now, the data variable used in the map is the total number of housing units.
I really need to know median home value, so I’m going to select the Data Variable dropdown,
enter ‘median’ into the search bar at the top,
and select Value—
Owner-occupied units—
Median (dollars)--Estimate.
When I click this, the map updates with the median home value in dollars.
You can see that the legend is updated as well.
But, as we can see,
there are only a few counties in Minnesota that have estimates provided.
This is because we are using the 1-year ACS estimates,
and those estimates are only available for geographies with a population of 65,000 or more.
In order to view the data for all the counties, we’ll have to use the 5-year estimates.
To do this, click on the Product menu at the top of the screen
and click on the 2019 ACS 5-Year Estimates option.
The map updates and now we have data for all the counties.
Let’s go over the ribbon located directly above the map for a moment.
I can use this to select another geography by clicking on the Select button,
clicking on the geography I want,
and dragging the cursor over the geographies that I want in order to create this rectangle.
Any geographies that touch the rectangle will be selected.
I can click on the Select button again to stop selecting additional geographies.
You can also select the Clear Geos button to clear all the selected geographies
or choose the Table button to view the full source table.
If I choose to select the Table button,
I’ll go to the full source table,
but I can easily select the Map button again to go back to the map.
Selecting the Data Notes button will provide all the data notes for the table and map.
Click the Data Notes button again to hide it.
You also have the option to make customizations to the map by clicking on the cog icon located
beneath the legend.
You can change the color palette by selecting the dropdown arrow.
I like this green and purple combination, so I’m going to select that.
I can also change the number of data classes and the classification types.
I’m going to change the data classes from 5 to 6—
notice that the legend automatically updates this.
I’m going to leave the classification type as a natural break.
Once I’m finished, if I want to rehide this panel, I can just hit the cog icon again.
Another option that you’ll see is the VIEW TABLE button.
Clicking on this will give you a list of the estimates for the geographies you’ve selected
for quick viewing.
This is very similar to the geographic comparison tables that the ACS used to have.
Click on the Done button to hide this panel.
If I click on VIEW TABLE button again, I can also select the Go to Full Table button to view the full source table.
I hope you found this helpful!
Thank you.
Thank you, Jessica this is a great resource.
For more videos like this visit
census.gov academy and subscribe.
Thank you!
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