Content from Working with the U.S. Census Bureau Data

Last updated on 2024-10-28 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • What are the kinds of datasets available from the U.S. Census Bureau?
  • How can you visualize and analyze these datasets for your region of interest?
  • Where can you find additional information about a particular dataset?
  • How do you combine spatial and tabular data from the Census Bureau?

Objectives

  • Provide an overview of the data available from the U.S. Census Bureau
  • Explain how to download and visualize spatial data from the Census Bureau
  • Demonstrate how to query and analyze the spatial data
  • Demonstrate how to perform complex spatial joins

Introduction

There are three broad categories of datasets available from the U.S. Census Bureau:

  1. Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles
  2. Decennial Census of Population and Housing
  3. American Community Survey (ACS)

Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles

TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) system. It is the primary geospatial data provided by Census Bureau. TIGER/Line shapefiles are available from 2007 to present. Data before 2007 are available in ASCII format. It includes all legal boundaries and names of different geographic units in United States, including states, counties, places, zip codes, urban areas, census blocks, census block groups, and census tracts. These shapefiles include a standard geographic identifier (GEOID) for each record which links to the GEOID in the census data. TIGER/Line Shapefiles use the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) codes to identify geographic entities. The ANSI include both the Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) codes and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) codes. The fields in the shapefiles include these information. For example, “STATEFP” filed means state FIPS code, and “STATENS” field means state GNIS code. County level FIPS codes usually have five digits. The first two are the FIPS code of the state to which the county belongs and the rest three are county codes.

Decennial Census of Population and Housing

It is conducted every ten years which counts every person living in the U.S. It provides general population characteristics such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, and household composition. It is a point-in-time data which sample every person with smallest margin of error.

Variables:

  • Population data by sex, age, race, Hispanic origin and more.
  • Housing data by occupancy, vacancy status, and tenure at the highest geographic resolution (all levels).

American Community Survey (ACS)

ACS is conducted every year by collecting information from a sample population. It includes topics not included in the decennial census such as education, employment, internet access, and transportation. ACS 1-year estimate is based on 12-month continuous survey and ACS 5-year estimate is based on a 60-month continuous survey. Compared to decennial census data, ACS survey information has relatively high margin of error (i.e. less reliable estimates).

Variables: In addition to demographic and housing data, ACS also include:

  1. Social characteristics
  • school enrollment
  • educational attainment
  • marital status
  • fertility
  • grandparents caring for children
  • veteran status
  • disability status
  • language spoken at home
  1. Income and benefits
  • food Stamps/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • health insurance coverage
  • income
  1. Employment
  • employment location
  • mode of travel to work
  1. Many other variables
  • ancestry
  • citizenship status
  • place of birth
  • year of entry

Key Points

  • Census data can be used for planning services for certain population groups
  • It can be used for site selection for new businesses or service facilities
  • Public policy analysis
  • Spatial analysis of hazard impact, epidemiological models, etc.

Module Overview

Lesson Overview
Beginner Learn how to visualize and analyze shapefiles and tabular data downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Content from Geocoding

Last updated on 2025-04-21 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • What are the various geocoding services that can be used?
  • What are some limitations of the geocoding API?
  • What are some categories of places that can be geocoded using the Open Street Map (OSM) API?

Objectives

  • Learn how to use the Census geocoding API
  • Learn how to use the Nominatim and Overpass APIs to access Open Street Map (OSM) data

Introduction

The geocoding API is a service that converts street addresses into geographic coordinates. This can be done either way, which is converting geographic coordinates back to street addresses. Features of geocoding APIs include:

  1. Geocoding – addresses to geographic coordinates.
  2. Reverse geocoding - geographic coordinates to address.
  3. Region Biasing – constrain results to specific region, county, or postal code.
  4. Place IDs – place ID to address and vice versa.

There are several practical applications of geocoding such as:

  1. Location Based Services: Delivery Companies like uber, doordash convert user addresses into GPS coordinates for efficient dispatching.
  2. Mapping and GIS: Real estate platforms use geocode to display properties of interest on maps.
  3. Emergency Services: Police, fire, and medical services use geocoding for precise identification and to reduce response times by finding the fastest route.

Geocoding APIs also have certain limitations that need to be taken into account when using them. They are designed to convert predefined, static addresses and can result in an error if the address is incorrect. Several APIs may also impose daily usage limits for free access. Finally, geographic data involving geocoding needs to be constantly updated to avoid inaccuracies over time.

Open Street Map

Key Points

  • Geocoding APIs can be used to identify locations of specific categories such as grocery stores or restaurants

Module Overview

Lesson Overview
Beginner Learn how to query and visualize locations of points of interest (e.g., museums) or specific grocery stores.

Content from Food Deserts

Last updated on 2025-04-21 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • What is a food desert?
  • Where can we find data on food deserts in the U.S.?
  • How can you visualize the food desert data for your region of interest?

Objectives

  • Provide an overview of the Food Access Research Atlas data from the USDA
  • Explain how to download and visualize data from the USDA

Key Points

  • The Food Access Research Atlas data can be used to study food access in terms of socioeconomic factors
  • It can be used for site selection for new grocery stores
  • Public policy analysis
  • Spatial analysis of public transportation networks

Module Overview

Lesson Overview
Beginner Learn how to visualize and analyze tabular data downloaded from the USDA Food Access Research Atlas.

Content from Collecting and Using Imagery Datasets

Last updated on 2024-10-28 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • What are the kinds of datasets available from the U.S. Census Bureau?
  • How can you visualize and analyze these datasets for your region of interest?
  • Where can you find additional information about a particular dataset?
  • How do you combine spatial and tabular data from the Census Bureau?

Objectives

  • Provide an overview of the data available from the U.S. Census Bureau
  • Explain how to download and visualize spatial data from the Census Bureau
  • Demonstrate how to query and analyze the spatial data
  • Demonstrate how to perform complex spatial joins

Key Points

  • Census data can be used for planning services for certain population groups
  • It can be used for site selection for new businesses or service facilities
  • Public policy analysis
  • Spatial analysis of hazard impact, epidemiological models, etc.

Module Overview

Lesson Overview
Beginner Learn how to visualize and analyze shapefiles and tabular data downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Content from Field Data Collection

Last updated on 2024-10-28 | Edit this page

Overview

Questions

  • What are the kinds of datasets available from the U.S. Census Bureau?
  • How can you visualize and analyze these datasets for your region of interest?
  • Where can you find additional information about a particular dataset?
  • How do you combine spatial and tabular data from the Census Bureau?

Objectives

  • Provide an overview of the data available from the U.S. Census Bureau
  • Explain how to download and visualize spatial data from the Census Bureau
  • Demonstrate how to query and analyze the spatial data
  • Demonstrate how to perform complex spatial joins

Key Points

  • Census data can be used for planning services for certain population groups
  • It can be used for site selection for new businesses or service facilities
  • Public policy analysis
  • Spatial analysis of hazard impact, epidemiological models, etc.

Module Overview

Lesson Overview
Beginner Learn how to visualize and analyze shapefiles and tabular data downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau.