Demographics of Oglala Lakota County

The Keystone Pipeline is an oil pipeline running from the Canadian Tar Sands in Alberta to the Gulf Coast in Texas. The plan for the fourth phase of this project proposes to run a new section of this pipeline under the Missouri River, just upstream of the Oglala Lakota sacred land. The Lakota people rely on this river for their livelihood. In the wake of the Flint, Michigan crisis, the main concern of locals is possible contamination of the water. The implications would be catastrophic leading to the inability to use the river to fish, irrigate crop land or even have clean water to drink.

This map visualizes 2 sets of data obtained from the US Census Bureau on family income and minority populations. The 2 maps show striking similarities. Upon some calculations and research into the maps it was quite apparent that the Oglala Lakota County had the highest percent minority population of any county in the entire United States. Oglala Lakota County also has the 3rd lowest mean family income in the country. It is one of three counties in the United States completely encompassed by a Native American reservation. The Lakota tribe considers the Missouri River sacred since it has been the tribes main source of life since they inhabited the land nearly 1200 years ago.

-Cody J. Crane

UConn MAGIC 2017

Census Tracts Data Browser updated with latest American Community Survey Data

The map below of Connecticut Census Tracts data provides links into the Census Bureau’s American FactFinder data engine to gain easy access to tables of economic, housing, demographics and other data from the 2010-14 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Hover over any Census Tract on the map to see links to eight data tables for the tract. You can use the map tools to pan or zoom into a particular area of the state, and by holding down Control (Command on a Mac), you can select multiple tracts and follow the links to see data for all selected areas. See the Instructions tab for more information.

Linked data tables include:

  • DP05 ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: age, race/ethnicity, and housing unit counts
  • S1501 Educational Attainment: educational attainment and median earnings by level of education for the population age 25 and over
  • S2701 Health Insurance Coverage Status: insurance coverage rates by age, race, and income
  • S1101 Households and Families: characteristics of household structures
  • S1702 Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months of Families: poverty status by age, race, educational attainment, and presence of children in the household
  • DP03 Selected Economic Characteristics: unemployment, occupation,  employment by industry, and income and benefits data
  • DP04 Selected Housing Characteristics:  size, value, age, and other characteristics of housing units in the tract
  • DP02 Selected Social Characteristics: includes marital status, fertility, place of birth, language spoken at home, ancestry, and disability status characteristics of the tract’s residents

Data from the 2013 Annual Survey of Public Pensions

This visualization uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 Annual Survey of Public Pensions State-Administered Defined Benefit Pensions Systems downloaded from American FactFinder. The thematic map indicates the ratio of pension obligations to each state’s total cash and investment holdings in its state-run public pension system at the close of fiscal year 2013. Bar graphs indicate FY13 pension fund net investment earnings, and overall pension fund investments by category (i.e. stocks, Treasury bonds, etc). Locally administered (e.g. municipal) public pension data is excluded from the graphs.

American Community Survey Median Household Income Distressed Tracts 2010 to 2013

This visualization uses data from the American Community Survey to display distressed census tracts, which is a tract at 60% or less of the state median household income level. This study ranges from the year 2010 to 2013.

by: Zachary Guarino

 

Highlighting CT Open Data: Hartford Fire Incidents

The Connecticut State Data Center has recently been working on visualizations that highlight some of the data available on the Connecticut Open Data Portal.

This fifth visualization takes a look at incidents reported to the Hartford Fire Department between January 1st and November 19th. There are four views; three are maps, and the other is an area chart that shows incidents over time broken down by zip code. Note that not all of these incidents necessarily involve a fire. When clicking on a point in the map, there is a link to a PDF with explanation of all the incident codes.  You can see all of the original data here.

Just like other visualizations, this story also includes a GoogleMaps interface so you can look at incident locations using a satellite basemap or Google Street View.

Highlighting CT Open Data: Certified Organic Growers

The Connecticut State Data Center has recently been working on visualizations that highlight some of the data available on the Connecticut Open Data Portal.

This fourth visualization is a simple look at USDA-certified organic growers across the State of Connecticut. The map allows you to filter based on the county where the growers are located or by the body that provided their certification. Further, there’s a wildcard match bar that allows you to search for specific kinds of produce and goods and see which growers are specializing in those products. You can see the original data here.

Highlighting CT Open Data: Brownfield Remediation Assistance

The Connecticut State Data Center has been working on visualizations that highlight some of the data available on the Connecticut Open Data Portal.

This third visualization uses data to provide an overview of brownfield remediation around the state, focusing in particular on projects that have received funding assistance from different government sources. In all, there are 173 financially-assisted remediation projects featured since 2005. You can see the original data here.

Using this visualization allows you to see what projects are happening where, who’s funding those projects, and how much land is being reclaimed and for how much. One page provides an interactive pie chart that can be filtered by municipality and span of time, allowing for comparison of funding sources in different periods and places. One map focuses on remediation assistance applicants; the filters on this map allow for viewing certain projects based on applicant municipality or applicant name. As with previous visualizations, there’s also a GoogleMaps interface that allows for seeing the remediation sites with a satellite basemap and Google Street View.

Highlighting CT Open Data: Hartford Planning Applications

The Connecticut State Data Center has been working on visualizations that highlight some of the data available on the Connecticut Open Data Portal.

This second visualization is a look at planning applications submitted to the City of Hartford between June 30th, 2009 and November 10th, 2014. The original data can be found here.

This visualization includes three views. The first is a map that can be easily searched by street name or filtered by date of application and application type. The second view is a GoogleMaps interface that allows a user to view the data over satellite imagery and even use Google Street View to try and see specific properties. In addition, there is an interactive area chart that tracks the total number of applications submitted per year, including those totals broken down by the type of application.

Tools to help with your demographic research or teaching

CensusBureauThe US Census Bureau offers a myriad of tools to help with your demographic research. One of the most common ways to obtain tables with the raw data, or shapefiles, is to use American FactFinder. The search on this website will allow you to type in the types of tables you are looking for (Education, Population, Median Household Income, etc.) and the geography for which you are looking (Census tracts in Connecticut, Counties, or state level). You can search for Census, American Community Survey, or other datasets. You can then download the table, or create a map and download the tables and associate shapefiles (.shp – for use in ArcGIS or other GIS software). The CT State Data Center also has some how-to videos for help with searching American FactFinder.

The Census Bureau also offers a variety of visualizations and other online maps to assist users with understanding various types of statistics. In November, a new interactive suite of visualization tools for jobs, business and other economic statistics was released.  The tool allows users to change the type of data they are interested in, and visualize the results in graph form.

There is also the Data Visualization Gallery, which provides interesting data visualizations with census data, that are published weekly. For example, see “Population Bracketology,” a game based on the NCAA March Madness bracket that allows users to compare city and state population numbers.

The Census Explorer allows the user to interactively look at datasets as a map. Some of the datasets currently included are both Census and ACS:

  • Total population
  • Percent 65 and older
  • Foreign-born population percentage
  • Percent of the population with a high school degree or higher
  • Percent with a bachelor’s degree or higher
  • Percent with a master’s degree or higher
  • Labor force participation rate
  • Percent of labor force employed in Professional, Scientific and Tech Industry
  • Home ownership rate
  • Median household income
  • Percent of households with incomes of $150,000 or higher
  • Total wage employees (excludes contractors, self-employed)
  • Tech wage employees
  • Average yearly employee wage
  • Average yearly tech employee wage
  • Total number of business establishment
  • Percent of establishments in the technology sector

Additionally, TIGER data can now be viewed in “TIGERweb4.0” a new release that according to the Census Bureau is: “TIGERweb is a web-based application that allows users to visualize the Census Bureau’s TIGER data. The applications allow users to select features and view their attributes, to search for features by name or geocode, and to identify features by selecting them from a map. The application provides a simple way to view TIGER data without having to download the data.”