New data available in American FactFinder

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Steve Batt

The Census Bureau reports that the following data is now available via American FactFinder:

1. 2010 Census Congressional District Summary File (113th Congress) – Detailed Tables Only

2. 2010 CQR Cycles 4 & 5

3. 2008 – 2010 DOL Disability Employment

4. 2012 Census of Governments – Detailed Tables Only

5. 2012 State Tax Collection – Detailed Tables Only

6. “What we provide” update for Census of Governments and Annual Survey of Governments

If you’re unfamiliar with how to use American FactFinder, check out the following videos that are also available on the CT State Data Center website, or take the American FactFinder Virtual Tour: http://factfinder2.census.gov/legacy/tour.html

Finding data for CT towns:

Selecting specific geographies:

Statistics to measure the employment of the American worker

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Steve Batt

The following data comes from the US Census Bureau and describes both recent and current employment trends and related statistics. Many demographic factors influence and are influenced by our professional careers. The data presented below express different aspects of the life of the American worker: how education and employment history influences income and earnings; how much those earnings are based on demographic characteristics; how employees and employers are currently dealing with employment-based healthcare; the influence of work on child-care; and when the employee finally ends their career, how much money is allotted for pensions by state or federal governments.

LED Extraction tool (beta)

The Bureau has released a new extraction tool for Local Employment Dynamics Data. It gives users the ability to access all 30 Local Employment Dynamics Quarterly Workforce indicators. This includes measures of employment, turnover, hiring, job creation, job destruction and average monthly earnings. Data is available in comma separated value (.csv) format for states, counties, and metro/micropolitan areas. You can access the tool here (or by clicking on the above image): http://ledextract.ces.census.gov/static/data.html

trends in the current business environment

Based on the 2007 North American Industry Classification System, estimates for business spending in 2011 have been calculated by the Census Bureau. The estimates cover spending for new and used structures and equipment at the sector level, and information about the private sector and business community. Tables and figures are available here: http://www.census.gov/econ/aces/xls/2011/full_report.html

Employment History, education and earnings: 2004 and 2008

The Survey of Income and Program Participation has put together detailed tables and charts, documented in this report, that examine the relationship between years of work experience, job tenure (years at a particular job), work status (full or part-time), presence of gaps in employment of six months or more, age, sex, educational attainment and earnings.

As an example, the findings show that individuals who had a college degree when entering the job market received greater earnings than those who did not graduate college.

Economic characteristics of households in US, Third Quarter 2011

These tables, released by the Census Bureau (Survey of Income and Program Participatin), “examine the role of government-sponsored benefit programs and the labor market among the nation’s people and households within the economic climate of the third quarter of 2011.” This includes statistics on average monthly income, participation in government-sponsored social welfare or social insurance programs, and labor force activity. The tables can be accessed here: http://www.census.gov/sipp/tables/quarterly-est/household-char/hsehld-char-11.html

income and earnings estimates by selected demographic characteristics, 2011 fourth quarter

The Census Bureau has recently released income and earnings estimates for the fourth quarter (October through December) of 2011. The data was collected by the Survey of Income and Program Participation and is organized by gender, race/ethnicity, age, martial status, and highest level of educational attainment. A quick glance at Table 1B, Mean Monthly Income, shows that individuals with post-graduate degrees by far had the highest mean income per month at $5,415.

The tables are available here:

Income: http://www.census.gov/sipp/tables/quarterly-est/income/income-11.html
Earnings: http://www.census.gov/sipp/tables/quarterly-est/earnings/earnings-11.html

Decline in employment-based health insurance

Income, earnings, and education are just a few ways to keep the pulse of the American economy and the American worker. Other statistics calculated by the Census Bureau, detailed in this report, show that the rate of employment-based health insurance coverage declined from 64.4 percent in 1997 to 56.5 percent in 2010. In 2011, the number fell still to 55.1 percent.

Highlights:

In 2010, 71.1 percent of employed individuals age 15 and older worked for an employer that offered health insurance benefits to any of its employees.
42.9 percent of individuals who did not complete high school worked for an employer that offered health insurance to any of its employees, compared with 78.9 percent for individuals with a college degree.
75.7 percent of workers age 45 to 64 worked for an employer that offered health insurance benefits, compared with 60.0 percent for workers 19 to 25.
Among married couples with only one member employed in a firm that offered health insurance benefits, 68.7 percent of married couples provided coverage for the spouse.
While 37.6 percent of firms with 0 to 24 employees offered more than one health insurance plan, 65.6 percent of firms with 1,000 or more employees offered more than one plan.
About 1.1 percent of nonparticipating workers whose employer offered health insurance benefits were not insured by their employer because they were denied coverage.
Among nonparticipating workers whose employer offered health insurance benefits, approximately half (50.4 percent) declined coverage by choice.
The two most common reasons among workers who chose not to obtain health insurance coverage through their employer were health insurance obtained through another source (66.4 percent) and cost (27.4 percent).

Child Care costs on the upswing

The Census Bureau also reports that child care costs are on the rise. In fact, they have nearly doubled in the last 25 years – though the percentage of families who pay for child care has actually declined. The Bureau’s report, Who’s Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2011, was recently released and details both demographic and financial aspects of understanding this phenomenon.

retirement: quarterly survey of public pensions: 4th quarter 2012

This survey provides national summary statistics on the revenues, expenditures and composition of assets of the 100 largest state and local public employee retirement systems in the US. For more information, see: http://www.census.gov/govs/qpr/

2012 Connecticut statewide 4-band aerial imagery

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Steve Batt

The 2012 statewide aerial imagery is now available!

http://www.cteco.uconn.edu/help/info_orthos2012.htm

Some of the basic facts:

4 bands (R,G,B,NIR)
1 foot pixel resolution
Flown in March 2012 (leaf-off)
Each tile covers 2.3 square kilometers (0.897 sq mi) and is 97.696 MB

It was paid for through a partnership between Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT), and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) along with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) providing support through project management, contracting and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC).

The download interface allows you to download a mosaic for a whole town in JP2 format, or as individual GeoTiffs or MrSIDs. Users can also access the layer remotely through CTECO’s Map Services.

Examples:

Forested area in Ashford, Bands 1, 2, 3

Forested area in Ashford – Bands 4, 2, 1

Downtown Hartford, Bands 1, 2, 3

Downtown Hartford, Bands 4, 2, 3

Metro/Micropolitan Populations

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Steve Batt

Oil and Gas Boom Driving Population Growth in the Great Plains, Census Bureau Estimates Show

According to recent Census Bureau estimates, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and counties located in or near the Great Plains and West Texas were among the fastest growing areas last year. Midland, Texas, was the fastest-growing metro area over the July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2012 period with a population increase of 4.6 percent.

**The 10 Fastest Growing Metro Areas from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2012**
		Percent Increase
1.	Midland, Texas	4.6
2.	Clarksville, Tenn.-Ky.	3.7
3.	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla.	3.6
4.	The Villages, Fla.	3.4
5.	Odessa, Texas	3.4
6.	Jacksonville, N.C.	3.3
7.	Austin-Round Rock, Texas	3.0
8.	Casper, Wyo.	3.0
9.	Columbus, Ga.-Ala.	2.9
10.	Manhattan, Kan.	2.8

Click on image to interact with map/data

**The 10 Fastest Growing Micro Areas from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2012**
		Percent Increase
1.	Williston, N.D.	9.3
2.	Junction City, Kan.	7.4
3.	Dickinson, N.D.	6.5
4.	Andrews, Texas	4.7
5.	Vernal, Utah	4.1
6.	Heber, Utah	3.8
7.	Elk City, Okla.	3.5
8.	Elko, Nev.	3.5
9.	Pullman, Wash.	3.4
10.	Fort Polk South, La.	3.2

Digital Public Library of America [DPLA]

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Steve Batt

On Thursday, the Digital Public Library of America website was launched. The website brings together digitized cultural heritage from libraries, archives, and museums which it makes freely available to users. Currently the DPLA provides access to over 2 million items. The website also serves as a platform by providing its own API which developers can use to create apps. Users can search by keyword, but also use features such as Timeline, or Map to find digital objects.

The website is accessible at http://dp.la and their blog can be accessed here: http://dp.la/info/news/blog/

Census Population Clock

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Steve Batt

The Census Bureau’s Population clock can now be shared, downloaded and embedded into websites!

The clock, as well as regularly-updated population pyramids and other estimates that can also be embedded, can be accessed here: http://www.census.gov/popclock/

According to the Census Bureau,

“The population clock displays continuously updated projections of the total U.S. population, including the rate of births, deaths and net migration for the United States. For the first time, the clock also provides an age and sex population pyramid and a graph showing the population of U.S. regions. Both new features allow users to see how these measures have changed over time. Additionally, users can interact with tables displaying the most populous states, cities and counties in the United States. The clock provides not only a continuously updated world population total but also a list of the 10 most populous countries, with easy access to more world population statistics.

An important enhancement allows users to embed the population clock on their own website for quick reference. Using the “Download and Share” buttons, users can download the clock or copy code to embed the clock directly on their own website. Visitors can also share the clock via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

The clock is based on a series of short-term projections for the resident population of the United States. This includes people whose usual residence is in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These projections do not include members of the armed forces stationed overseas, their dependents, or other U.S. citizens residing outside the United States.

The projections are based on a monthly time series of population estimates starting with the April 1, 2010, resident population count derived from the 2010 Census.

The “Country Ranking” tool provides a quick and easy method to view the most populous countries in the world for any given year. The data for this tool are drawn from the Census Bureau’s International Data Base, which offers a variety of demographic indicators for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more.”

May 2013 is “Older Americans Month”

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Steve Batt

Older Americans Month: May 2013

A meeting with the National Council of Senior Citizens resulted in President John F. Kennedy designating May 1963 as Senior Citizens Month, encouraging the nation to pay tribute to older people across the country. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter’s proclamation changed the name to Older Americans Month, a time to celebrate those 65 and older through ceremonies, events and public recognition.

(Click on visualization to interact with data)

Connecticut has 499,474 individuals who are 65 and older, comprising 14% of the state’s total population.

41.4 million

The number of people who were 65 and older in the United States on July 1, 2011, up from 40.3 million on April 1, 2010 (Census Day). In 2011, this group accounted for 13.3 percent of the total population.
Source: Population estimates <http://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html>

92.0 million

Projected population of people 65 and older in 2060. People in this age group would comprise just over one in five U.S. residents at that time. Of this number, 18.2 million would be 85 or older.
Source: Population projections <http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2012.html>

2.4 million

Projected number of baby boomers in 2060. At that time, the youngest baby boomers would be 96 years old.
Source: Population projections <http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2012.html>

2056

The year in which, for the first time, the population 65 and older would outnumber people younger than 18 in the U.S.
Source: Population projections <http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2012.html>

Nearly 17%

Projected percentage of the global population that would be 65 and older in 2050, up from 8 percent today. In 2005, Europe became the first major world region where the population 65 and older outnumbered those younger than 15. By 2050, it would be joined by Northern America (which includes Canada and the United States), Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Oceania (which includes Australia and New Zealand).
Source: International Data Base <http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/informationGateway.php>

Income and Wealth

$33,118

The 2011 median income of households with householders 65 and older, not significantly different from the previous year.
Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011
<http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf>

8.7%

The percent of people 65 and older who were in poverty in 2011, statistically unchanged from 2010. There were 3.6 million seniors in poverty in 2011.
Source: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011
<http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf>

$170,128

Median net worth for householders 65 and older in 2010, down from $195,890 in 2005.
Source: Net Worth and Asset Ownership <http://www.census.gov/people/wealth/>

Serving Our Nation

9.2 million

Estimated number of people 65 and older who were veterans of the armed forces in 2011.
Source: 2011 American Community Survey <http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/11_1YR/B21001>

Jobs

16.1%

The percentage of people 65 and older who were in the labor force in 2010, up from 12.1 percent in 1990. These older workers numbered 6.5 million in 2010, up from 3.8 million in 1990. By 2011, this rate had increased to 16.2 percent.
Source: Labor Force Participation and Work Status of People 65 and Older <http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-09.pdf>

22.3%

The percentage of people 65 and older in Alaska in the labor force in 2011. Labor force participation rates for people 65 years and over ranged from 22.3 percent in Alaska to 12.5 percent in West Virginia.
Source: Labor Force Participation and Work Status of People 65 and Older <http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-09.pdf>

44.3%

Among those 65 and older who worked in 2011, the percentage who worked full-time, year-round. Among states and equivalents, the District of Columbia had the highest rate, at 62.2 percent.
Source: Labor Force Participation and Work Status of People 65 and Older <http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-09.pdf>

Education

81.1%

Proportion of people 65 and older in 2012 who had completed high school or higher education.
Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2012
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2012/tables.html>

24.3%

Percentage of the population 65 and older in 2012 who had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2012
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2012/tables.html>

Marital Status and Living Arrangements

58%

Percentage of people 65 and older who were married in 2012.
Source: Families and Living Arrangements <http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/cps2012.html>

26%

Percentage of people 65 and older in 2012 who were widowed.
Source: Families and Living Arrangements <http://www.census.gov/hhes/families/data/cps2012.html>

Voting

70.3%

Percentage of citizens 65 and older reporting casting a ballot in the 2008 presidential election. Not statistically different from those 45 to 64 (69.2 percent), people 65 and older had the highest turnout rate of any age group.
Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2008 (Table 2) <http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-562.pdf>

Homeownership

80.7%

Percentage of householders 65 and older who owned their homes as of fourth quarter 2012.
Source: Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey <http://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/>

Centenarians

53,364

The number of people 100 years old and older counted by the 2010 Census.
Source: Centenarians: 2010 <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/reports/c2010sr-03.pdf>

20.7

For every 100 centenarian women, the number of centenarian men in 2010.
Source: Centenarians: 2010 <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/reports/c2010sr-03.pdf>

43.5%

In 2010, percentage of centenarian men who lived with others in a household, the most common living arrangement for this group. For their female counterparts, the most common living arrangement was residing in a nursing home (35.2 percent).
Source: Centenarians: 2010 <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/reports/c2010sr-03.pdf>

3.29

Number of centenarians per 10,000 people in North Dakota in 2010. North Dakota was the only state with more than three centenarians per 10,000 people.
Source: Centenarians: 2010 <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/reports/c2010sr-03.pdf>

States and Counties

17.6%

Percentage of Florida’s population 65 and older in 2011 — which led all states.
Source: Population estimates <http://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html>

45.5%

Percentage of the population of Sumter County, Fla., that was 65 or older in 2011, which led all of the nation’s counties.
Source: Population estimates <http://www.census.gov/popest/data/national/asrh/2011/index.html>

CT Geofocus Newsletter

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Steve Batt

The newest issue of the CT Geofocus newsletter is available now!

Brought to you by the CT GIS User to User Network and the CT GIS Council’s Education and Outreach Working group.

See past newsletters and how to submit your work here: http://ctgis.uconn.edu/resources/newsletter.htm.

Also check out the new and improved CT GIS User to User Network website at: http://ctgis.uconn.edu

If you’d like to submit something for the next issue, the deadline is Friday May 31st.

Web and mobile application development at the Census Bureau

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Steve Batt

The Census Bureau is keeping up to speed with not only different types of statistics and data, but how users and developers can access and visualize that data in more meaningful and streamlined ways.

The Census Bureau was recently named a 2013 Honors Laureate by Computerworld for development of its open data API, an application programming interface implemented in July 2012 that allows developers to take data sets and reuse them to create online and mobile apps – for more information see: http://www.census.gov/developers/

The Bureau was recognized by the magazine “for its visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change.” The story will be featured in the June 3 edition of Computerworld.

Recently, the Bureau developed a new mobile app that allows users to “take the pulse of the U.S. Economy” straight from their phone! According to the Bureau:

The America’s Economy app provides real-time updates for 16 key economic indicators released from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. Key economic measures on employment, manufacturing, international trade, retail sales, and residential construction and sales allow those who follow the U.S. economy to be the first to see whether the indicator has gone up or down since the previous report, and trends over time.

Learn more about this app by using the link above, or click one of the following to download:

Apple
Download iPhone Ver sion
Download iPad Vers ion

Android
Download Phone Version
Download Tablet Version

Key Features

Quick overview of indicators measuring the U.S. economy
Detailed page for each indicator with trend data
Share indicators on Facebook, Twitter and via email
View release schedules for indicators
Set up notifications and custom views

Indicators

Advance Monthly Retail Sales
Advance Report Durable Goods
Business Inventories
Construction Spending
Homeownership Rate
International Trade
Manufacturers’ Goods
Monthly Wholesale
New Residential Construction
New Residential Sales
Personal Income
QFR–Manufacturing
QFR–Retail Trade
Quarterly Services Survey
Real Gross Domestic Product
Unemployment Rate

Additionally, the Census Bureau’s website is home to many different web-based mapping applications that provide excellent visualizations of data. One example is the US County Migration Patterns map, available here: http://flowsmapper.geo.census.gov/flowsmapper/map.html

or the 2010 Census Interactive Population map, available here: http://www.census.gov/2010census/popmap/

The foreign born population in the US and Connecticut

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Steve Batt

According to the Census Bureau, America’s foreign born population has undergone dramatic changes in size, origins and geographic distribution within the past 50 years. This infographic created by the Census Bureau depicts some of the major trends and statistics. As just one example: in 1960, 75% of foreign born individuals in the US were from Europe; but in 2010 only 12% were from Europe, while 53% were from Latin America and 28% were from Asia.

Here’s a snippet:

So, who is emigrating from Asia to the United States? In 1960 only 0.5 million people immigrated to the US from Asia, but by 2000 it had risen to 8.2 million, and in 2011 that number had reached 11.6 million, according to the ACS report linked to above.

Here in Connecticut, the 2007-2011 ACS data from American FactFinder shows that the total population was 3,558,172 with foreign-born individuals (both citizens and non-citizens) numbering 474,139 (+/- 5,979); thus comprising between 13.2% and 13.5% of the total population. By comparison, in 1960 the US Census reported that the total population of Connecticut was 2,535,234 and that 38.7% of that total (982,143) was foreign born with a majority (237,146) of individuals from Italy. The following visualization shows countries where foreign-born individuals emigrated from in 1960 that had numbers of emigrants higher than 20,000 individuals. Click the visualization to interact more with the data.

The other countries or areas that the Census recorded individuals emigrating from include: Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Finland, Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Asia and Mexico. There were also categories for Other and Unknown. Both Asia and Mexico now comprise higher emigration rates; but in 1960, only 645 people from Mexico came to Connecticut, and 11,786 came from Asia. The ACS 2007-2011 estimates for foreign born place of birth show that by 2011 there were 105,365 emigrants from Asia and 25,743 from Mexico. The emigration pattern has certainly changed in Connecticut since the 1960s, see below visualization for the countries in 2011 from which more than 20,000 people emigrated (including those with a MOE that causes the estimate to exceed 20,000); and unlike the 1960s, there are very few countries from which 20,000 or more people emigrated.The one country with the single highest number of foreign-born individuals in CT was Jamaica, with 34,742 individuals. In terms of regions broken down by continent, the highest number of individuals collectively came from Latin America which includes the Caribbean, Central and South America (197,224).