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Showing posts with label census. Show all posts
Showing posts with label census. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

2020 Census and Privacy Considerations

The Committee on National Statistics just released a new report 2020 Census Data Products: Data Needs and Privacy Considerations, which summarizes the Workshop on 2020 Census Data Products: Data Needs and Privacy Considerations.

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Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Test run of Differential Privacy for the 2020 Census

The Census Bureau is investigating a technique, known as Differential Privacy, to avoid inadvertently disclosing individual information in the 2020 Census. (See the Census Bureau's overview for more on how differential privacy works.)


But some data users are concerned that the level of noise added to the data, or the process used to add that noise, may result in poor data quality.

To give data users a chance to assess how Differential Privacy (DP) would affect the quality of data, the Census Bureau released demonstration data based on the 2010 Census. The demonstration data can be compared with original 2010 Census tables to see how much "noise" DP would introduce. Files are available via FTP download and require SAS or other statistical programming to open the files and extract the data.

For users who do not have access to the statistical software or coding skills required to work with the raw demonstration data tables, IPUMS NHGIS produced user friendly data tables that can be accessed on their website.

The Committee on National Statistics has also issued a Call for Input for their December Workshop on 2020 Census Data Products: Data Needs and Privacy Considerations.
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Monday, April 22, 2019

2020 citizenship question

Useful background information for those trying to understand the implications of the April 23, 2019 Supreme Court hearing on the citizenship question and the 2020 Census

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Friday, April 19, 2019

FactFinder is dead! Long live data.census.gov!

Did you know... 
American FactFinder is going away and will be replaced by data.census.gov

If you've been working with Census Bureau data for many years (as some of us have), you'll recall how much fun (it was fun, right?) we had with the first iteration of FactFinder. But eventually CB worked out the kinks and we all grew to know and love (it's love, right?) the interface.

So this swap to a new system feels like a little bit of history repeating. We data users will probably pull out our hair for awhile, bemoan the loss of a familiar system, gripe about the new platform early and often... Then eventually we'll figure out the new tricks, and one day we'll realize this "new thing" has become the "old, familiar thing."

And that transition starts now.

2018 ACS data will NOT be loaded into AFF, so if you need new data, your choices will be data.census.gov or the API.

Here's a helpful video on how to us the new system:

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Thursday, January 18, 2018

Where do go for data if the federal government shuts down (2018 edition)

Because we're in the countdown to shutdown again, data users should know that most federal websites will shut down when the government does... 

Here are some other helpful data resources, ranging from national to state and local downloads, to get you through any dark days with no federal data access:
You may also want to try the "Wayback Machine," an online archive of webpages.

For state-specific data... here are links provided by readers and colleagues around the nation:

Check the Clearinghouse of SDCs for a comprehensive listing of Census State Data Centers, or refer to one of these state-based resources:

Please tweet me @DataGeekB if you have recommendations to add to the list!

 Special thanks to @mecline6, @censusSDC, @SR_Spatial, @MetroGram, @CarlSchmertmann and @NDCompass for recommending several links.
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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Where to go for data when the federal websites shut down

Because it looks like most federal websites will shut down when the government does... (update: Census website down as of 10:30am EST)

Here are some other helpful data resources, ranging from national to state and local downloads, to get you through any dark days with no federal data access:
You may also want to try the "Wayback Machine," an online archive of webpages. (It does work for the Census Bureau webpage as of September 2013.)

For state-specific data... here are links provided by readers and colleagues around the nation:

Check the Clearinghouse of SDCs for a comprehensive listing of Census State Data Centers, or refer to one of these state-based resources:
And here's a bit of 2012 American Community Survey data that may be helpful:
I also have data on U.S. fertility and birth rate by age back to the early 1900s... contact me if you'd like the file.

Please tweet me @DataGeekB or email me if you have recommendations to add to the list!

 Special thanks to @SR_Spatial, @MetroGram, @CarlSchmertmann and @NDCompass for recommending several links. @PolicyMap also contacted me to let me know that they provide a wealth of data, some for free, some for a subscription fee.
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Thursday, September 19, 2013

New data: 2012 American Community Survey

New data released today from the 2012 American Community Survey (and also from Tuesday's release of the Current Population Survey) show no change in median household income, poverty rate, and health insurance coverage in the United States (nor change across the majority of states in the U.S.).

While this may seem like a bad news story, 2012 is the first year since the the beginning of The Great Recession in which income did not fall and poverty did not rise. While the trends do not yet show growth, 2012 may be the inflection point the economy has been waiting for.

One key point of note, older Americans seem to be faring better - or at least recovering from the recession quicker - than younger Americans with substantially lower overall rates of poverty (despite a bit of an increase from last year for those age 65+) and improving homeownership rates.

For a concise summary of the new data:
William Frey, of Brookings, discusses findings from the 2012 ACS on Morning Edition. (Note: I love that reporter/interviewer Steve Inskeep refers to today's data release as "Christmas for demographers.")
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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Growth in largest U.S. cities

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Today the Census Bureau released the 2012 population estimates for cities.

Some highlights:

  • New York city added more population than any other city in the U.S.
  • Texas claims some of the fastest growing cities in the country.
  • The top 10 largest cities all grew, reversing population loss trends of prior years.
  • In the top 25 largest cities, only Detroit continues to lose population.
  • The fastest-growing cities were all smaller cities of less than 250,000 people.*

For more information, read the Census Bureau's press release on 2012 city estimates, or download the raw data and dig into the details.

*The small city, fast growth rate phenomenon makes sense from a mathematical perspective. Smaller population denominators tend to lead to larger percent change results.
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Monday, January 28, 2013

Centenarians

There are more than 50,000 centenarians in the United States, according to the 2010 Census and a report on the 100-and-older population released last month by the Census Bureau.

Other interesting facts from the report:
  • More than 80 percent of centenarians are women.
  • The majority live in households (about one third live in nursing homes or other group quarters).
  • California has the most population age 100 and older (5,921) followed by New York (4,605), and then Florida (4,090).
  • Despite Florida's reputation as a retirement destination, South Dakota and Iowa have substantially higher proportions of centenarians as a share state population (0.0295 and 0.0278, respectively compared with Florida's 0.0218).

Image from Time magazine special section on "How to live to 100 years"


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Friday, January 4, 2013

Data link roundup (week of January 4, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...

WHERE TO BE BORN

Back in 1988 The World in 1988 ranked nations according to the "best place to be born." The Economist Intelligence Unit crafted a more modern ranking scheme, based on a quality-of-life index, and published the results in The Economist.

The verdict: Switzerland is the place to be (born).
Source: The Economist
Best quote of the article:
Quibblers will, of course, find more holes in all this than there are in a chunk of Swiss cheese.
...but fascinating reading, nonetheless.


CORRELATION BETWEEN AGE, EDUCATION, AND BIRTH OUTCOME

Philip Cohen provides unique data to show that while pregnancy risks increase with mother's age, the relationship between educational attainment and birth outcome is much stronger.


BEST CHART OF THE WEEK

Brandon Martin-Anderson mapped every person (341,817,095) in the United States and Canada, according to the 2010 and 2011 Census counts, respectively.
Source: Brandon Martin-Anderson

The map is visually appealing, but, as an active user of small-area Census data, my favorite bit the author's response to FAQs:

Nobody lives in Central Park/Pier 12/County Lockup/Abandoned Themepark.
The census reported that someone lived there.
This says someone lives in the middle of a lake.
The census reported that someone lives in a block which includes a lake, and that's where their dot was randomly placed. Also, some people live in the middle of lakes.


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Sunday, November 11, 2012

Geography Awareness Week: Charting population density along America's highways

This week we'll be celebrating Geography Awareness Week by highlighting unique spatial visualizations of data.

The U.S. Census Bureau produced a series of graphics that show population density along some of the nation's most and least heavily populated transportation corridors.
Image source and source notes: Population density is based on average population density within 5 miles of the highway, in 2-mile increments, using 2010 block group centroids and 2010 Census population counts.
According to the Census Bureau:
Running from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, I-10 passes through 8 states and several major cities and traverses the 3rd largest population among the country's interstate highways. Population density within 5 miles of the interstate show several lengths with very low population density, including stretches between El Paso and San Antonio. Selected cities along the route are labeled, for reference, with cities of 250,000 or more shown in bold and with filled circles.
For comparative purposes, the Census Bureau provides a similar population density chart for the I-90 corridor, which runs along the northern part of the United States from Seattle to Boston. The highway, despite connecting Seattle, Chicago, and Boston, passes through some of the least densely populated areas in the nation.
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Friday, September 28, 2012

The Great Migration

The U.S. Census Bureau analyzed data on population change, by race, for two key periods that characterize The Great Migration (1910-1970) during which blacks residents moved out of the southeast.

The color of map bubbles represents the percentage point change in black population in a given city between 1910-1940 (left) and 1940-1970 (right). Darker orange shows that the black population increased as a share of the city's population. Darker blue shows that the share decreased.
Image source
What I find interesting about the 1940-1970 chart is that New Orleans and Atlanta (and, to a lesser extent, Augusta and Chattanooga) both buck the otherwise nearly universal southern trend. Each city saw an increasing proportion of black residents 1940-1970.

However, it is important to note two key caveats in the data:

  • Population shares may have changed due to migration or as a result of natural increase (births, life expectancy), though most of the change is attributable to migration.
  • Data are shown only for cities "that were either in the top 100 cities in the country or top 3 of a state and had a Black population of at least 100 people." This means that some change shown on the chart may have been a shift from suburbs-to-cities or vice-versa.
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Saturday, December 10, 2011

More Americans staying put

In addition to rising unemployment and declining retail sales, the recession also has more people staying put in their current residence. According to statistics from the 2010 American Community Survey, only 15 percent of Americans lived in a different home a year ago, down from more than 16 percent of the population moving in 2005. According to the Brookings Institution fewer U.S. residents moved in 2010 than in any year since 1948.*

The map shows the proportion of population that lived in a different house the prior year (data 2006-2010), with the darkest colors representing areas with the highest proportion of people who stayed in the same house, and lightest colors representing areas with the most movers. Not surprisingly, given the housing bubble, Arizona, Nevada had relatively high rates of movers, while rural areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama had few movers.
Percent of the population who reported living in the "same house" the prior year (2008-2010).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, author's calculations
This changing migration dynamic has important repercussions for states like California, which historically were high in-migration states. Despite California's reputation as being a state of newcomers, in 2010 a majority (54 percent) of residents were California-born. (U.S. Census Bureau, Lifetime Mobility in the United States). As a result of this change, Dowell Myers asks in his article "The New Homegrown Majority in California"
"How is the stance taken by voters with regard to taxation and services different if California is growing because of migration by outsiders rather than growing from California-born residents? What does the shift from a reliance on high migration to a homegrown majority mean for today's taxpayers?"
California is not yet approaching the level of "homegrown" population seen in states like Louisiana (79 percent) or Michigan (77 percent). But neither is it like Florida, Alaska, Arizona, or Washington DC, all of which have 60 percent or more of their population born out-of-state.

*Note: Brookings puts the number of movers at 35.1 million, but I pulled the figures from the American Community Suvey for 2010 and found more than 45 million, so take the "lowest since 1948" quote with the proverbial grain of salt.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (2010),
"Selected Social Characteristics in the United States" - downloaded 12/9/11

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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Demographic trends in San Diego County – new data from Census 2010

Population Growth 1910-2010
In the past 100 years, San Diego county has grown from a small city of 60,000 people to a thriving metropolitan area of more than 3 million. In San Diego’s early years Census figures show that the county’s population nearly doubled every ten years from 1910 to 1960. Between 1960 and 1990 growth slowed to an average increase of approximately 33 percent every decade. Growth slowed again in recent years, with less than a 15 percent increase 1990-2000 and only 10 percent growth from 2000-2010.

Migration Patterns
Migration was the primary driver of population growth at the beginning of the last century, but that trend has shifted considerably in recent decades. Until the late 1990s, most growth in Southern California was a result of in-migration from other parts of the United States and from other countries around the world.

However, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey and a study by the University of Southern California Population Dynamics Research Group, that trend has shifted statewide, with most of the population now being, in the words of the study authors, “homegrown” (i.e. born in California).

Aging Population
As San Diego grows, it is growing older. The very first trickle in the aging wave of the Baby Boomers just turned 65 this past January. Because the Baby Boom is just now reaching this milestone, the proportion of the population age 65 and older had remained constant at 11 percent over the past two decades. However, that will shift dramatically in the next two decades.

On the younger end of the spectrum, the share of San Diego's population under the age of 18 is shrinking, from 26 percent in 2000 to 23 percent in 2010. As a result of these shifts the median age (the point at which half of the population is younger and half older) increased from 31.0 years in 1990 to 34.6 today.

Race and Ethnicity
One of the biggest demographic shifts highlighted by the 2010 Census is confirmation that San Diego is now a “majority-minority” county. This means that no single race or ethnic group accounts for more than half of the region’s population.

The Asian population, which grew fastest, increased by 34 percent (to 328,000 residents) between 2000 and 2010. The Hispanic/Latino population increased by 32 percent over the decade, and now accounts for approximately one third of the county’s total population (991,000 residents).

Conversely, the non-Hispanic White, Black, and American Indian populations all declined slightly during the decade (by 3, 5, and 8 percent, respectively)

Housing - Occupancy and Household Size
While much talk about the Census revolves around the demographic characteristics of the population, the 2010 Census also provides valuable information about neighborhood housing characteristics including occupancy rates and average household size.

In 1950, the average household size in San Diego was more than 3.1 persons per household. This decreased steadily as birth rates and average family size fell during the 1960s and 1970s, so by 1980, the region hit a low of 2.6 persons per household. However, birth rates began to rise starting in the mid-1970s, and a similar upward trend can be seen in average household size.
San Diego's lowest residential vacancy rates, not surprisingly, were during the housing boom in the early 2000s, and have risen considerably – back to rates reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s – in the past three years. Data from the 2010 Census shows a residential vacancy rate of 6.7 percent for San Diego county.

2010 and Beyond
The demographic characteristics of the San Diego county will continue to evolve over time. San Diego is transitioning from a history of high-volume in-migration, to a more “homegrown” population, and from a relatively "young" area to a metropolitan area with an aging population.


Source data:
U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2010, Redistricting Files
California Department of Finance, Demographic Research Unit
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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Go West, Americans! (Or maybe South?)

Since the Census Bureau started keeping score in 1790, the nation's population has grown fastest in the western and southern regions, shifting the nation's "mean center of population" in a steady march across the continent.

According to the Census Bureau:




The center is determined as the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all residents were of identical weight.

Tracking the mean center of population tells a story of the nation's growth, conflicts, and social change. This interactive map from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the shifting mean center of population over time:


Today's mean center is in Texas County, Missouri - more than 1,000 miles from the first recorded center in Kent County, Maryland (1790). Some of the biggest shifts over time show the nation's development, and at times, growing pains.

Major shifts over time:
1790: First mean center is calculated as falling about 23 miles east of Baltimore, MD.

1810: The Louisiana Purchase (1803) doubled the land area of the nation, and the mean center shifted into Virginia.

1860: The center shifted by more than 80 miles (biggest shift on record) thanks to rapid growth in the nation's western states, driven in large part by the Gold Rush.

1870: Just ten years later the mean center of population experienced it's biggest shift to the north, as Northeastern and Midwestern cities experienced rapid post-Civil War growth as people fled the war-ravaged South. Also during this time Alaska became a U.S. territory (1867).

1920: The smallest shift on record was between 1910 and 1920. The nation's current territory had already been acquired, slowing the rate of westward expansion. The Northeast and Midwest saw large inflows of international migrants. And last, but certainly not least, there was substantial migration of black/African American population out of the South and into the Northeast and Midwest, precipitated by the intense racism that spawned the Jim Crow laws.

1950: After six decades in Indiana (the longest in any one state), the center finally crossed state lines into Illinois.

2010: The center has its biggest recorded shift to the south, as Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas record rapid population growth.
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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Census 2010 paints a different picture of San Diego

This afternoon the U.S. Census Bureau released neighborhood-level data for California, to be used in the redistricting process. San Diego county's population grew by 10 percent, with some distinct changes in demographic composition.



Within San Diego, the Hispanic and Asian populations each grew by more than 30 percent, while the non-Hispanic White, Black, and Native American populations actually were smaller in 2010 than in 2000. San Diego joins many California counties that are now "majority minority" (meaning the non-Hispanic White population accounts for less than half of the total).
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Census Data - as it is released

From the U.S. Census Bureau...
Click on a state to see county-level data detail.
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