Beautiful News DailyMany of us strive to stay well-informed of local and international events, but sometimes the news can be stressful or discouraging. To help counterbalance this, the data visualization website Information is Beautiful recently embarked on a new project, Beautiful News Daily. As its name implies, this project offers its visitors "a collection of good news, positive trends, uplifting statistics and facts -- all beautifully visualized," in colorful charts and graphics. New graphics are posted each day over the course of the project's one-year lifespan, which aims "to move our attention beyond dramatic news headlines to the slow developments and quiet trends that go unseen, uncelebrated." Readers can browse all of the Beautiful News items on the project's main page, and they can also filter them by category. Each item's page includes a brief summary, and below readers will find links to view the data in spreadsheet form and to see the source that inspired the chart, as well as a link to a relevant organization for those who would like to get involved. All of the images created for Beautiful New Daily are covered by a Creative Commons license and can be used and shared freely. Information is Beautiful was founded by David McCandless, a London-based writer, designer, and artist.
Eurostat: Your Key to European StatisticsStatistics Explained offers visitors a searchable "guide to European statistics...presenting statistical topics in an easily understandable way." This resource is an official publication of Eurostat (the European Union's statistical office in Luxembourg) which provides high-quality statistics at the European level, allowing for comparisons between countries and regions. In Statistics Explained, readers will find a plethora of statistical articles on a wide variety of topics, effectively forming an encyclopedia of European Union statistics. Each article is supplemented with embedded links either to glossary entries defining and explaining concepts or to background articles with additional contextual or methodological information. The Statistics Explained main page highlights the most recently added or updated articles, as well as a list of the current ten most visited articles. Readers who are particularly unfamiliar with statistics may want to check out the "Statistics 4 Beginners" section for a five-part primer on statistical concepts and uses.
Where International Communities ClusterCelebrate the power of diversity with Where International Communities Cluster, a visual dataset showing "countries mapped to the U.S. region with the largest percentage of its immigrants and expatriates among the total population." Users can browse this data in two ways: searching by country on the left-hand side panel (where the over 100 countries included are sorted alphabetically), or exploring by state directly on the map (the buttons in the top right corner allow for easy zooming and navigation). The data reveals interesting international revelations. For example, Columbus, Ohio is home to many immigrants from Algeria, while Columbus, Indiana is home to many immigrants from Spain. Readers curious about how Ilia Blinderman and Izii Carter (from the digital publication The Pudding) created this project can click the "How we made this" link in the lower right-hand corner to learn about the method used to turn IPUMS census information into this interactive dataset.
County PopulationsIn 2016, Jonathon Schroeder of the University of Minnesota's Minnesota Population Center published a dataset that contained population estimates for "each U.S. decennial census year, 1790-2010, for all U.S. counties and county equivalents (excluding Puerto Rico and other territories), using spatially fixed 2010 county definitions." This interactive map allows visitors to explore how county populations have grown and changed over time. By dragging their mouse across the screen, visitors can see how county populations changed between 1790 and 2010, illuminating events such as the Westward Expansion and the Great Migration. As this website is careful to note, however, these maps are not entirely accurate: significantly, the U.S. Census often did not count Native American nations.
Data.govThe home of the U.S. Government’s open data
Here you will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.
Data USAData USA was launched in 2014 with the goal of providing visitors with helpful visualizations of data collected by governmental and non-profit institutions. The project is a partnership between the UK private company Deloitte, MIT Media Lab's Macro Connections group, and the web design/programming company Datawheel. Data USA is sleekly designed and easy to use: visitors can simply search for the name of a city, county, state, or occupation to learn more about the demographics of a particular community or predicted job growth (along with other information) about a particular profession. Information is presented in a number of visually striking graphs and maps that allow visitors to easily make comparisons and observe change over time. These visualizations may be especially helpful to policy makers and grant writers. In addition, readers may want to check out the Data USA: Stories section, which features visualizations of data related to a specific topic. Recent stories include an examination of the impact of opioid addiction in the United States and an investigation of the relationship between poverty and health.
General Social Survey (GSS) (U of Chicago)Since 1972, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago has been surveying U.S. residents about a number of policy issues and social trends as part of the General Social Survey (GSS). Survey topics range from participation in organized religion, attitudes toward freedom of speech and other civil liberties, and ideas about gender roles. On this website, visitors can download survey data from the GSS through the Get the Data tab. Alternatively, visitors can also explore the survey data in the GSS Data Explorer. Here, visitors can search data by variables; however, visitors need to pay a fee in order to view the results of many of these variables. That said, visitors can check out a number of detailed GSS trend reports for free. To do so, select the Media Room tab in the GSS Explorer page. From here, visitors can view a number of detailed reports that provide GSS data relating to select themes over time. For example, the Psychological Well-Being report allows visitors to view how survey respondents assessed the happiness of their marriage and job satisfaction (among other questions) every year between 1972 and 2014.
Neighborhood AtlasThe Area Deprivation Index (ADI) is based on a measure created by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) over two decades ago for primarily county-level use, but refined, adapted, and validated to the Census block group/neighborhood level by Amy Kind, MD, PhD and her research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It allows for rankings of neighborhoods by socioeconomic status disadvantage in a region of interest (e.g. at the state or national level). It includes factors for the theoretical domains of income, education, employment, and housing quality. It can be used to inform health delivery and policy, especially for the most disadvantaged neighborhood groups.
The Opportunity AtlasLaunched in October 2018, the Opportunity Atlas answers the question "Which neighborhoods in America offer children the best chance to rise out of poverty?" by using "anonymous data following 20 million Americans from childhood to their mid-30s." The result is a fascinating map showing the average adulthood outcomes of people born between 1978-1983, according to the census tract where they grew up. Visitors can explore the map by zooming into a particular place and selecting the outcome (e.g. household income) and demographics (e.g. parent income) they are interested in. They can also view several interactive stories (identified on the map by a book icon) that provide a tour through some of the insights the Opportunity Atlas offers. The Opportunity Atlas has several features that may be of interest to researchers and educators, including the ability to download raw data, save or link to specific map views, compare two different demographics, and import and overlay your own data. This resource provides tutorials, user guides, and detailed explanations of their methodology. The Opportunity Atlas is a collaboration between researchers at the US Census Bureau and Opportunity Insights (formerly the Equality of Opportunity Project), a research and policy group at Harvard University.
University of Virginia Demographics Research GroupThe University of Virginia's Demographic Research Group offers a number of resources that may be of interest to social science researchers, journalists, grant writers, and others. While some of the group's research centers on the state of Virginia, the group also publishes analyses and reports regarding demographic trends in the United States. These resources include the United State Interactive Map, which provides a helpful visualization of the state population as of the 2010 census and projected state populations in 2020 and 2030. Similarly, the Racial Dot Map (featured in the 08-30-2013 Scout Report), provides a visualization of racial demographic information from the 2010 census. The publications section contains a variety of published reports as well Stat Ch@t, the Demographic Research Group's blog. Recently published reports address topics such as poverty rates in Virginia college towns, health demographics in Virginia, and an analysis of how metropolitan areas are changing.
Where International Communities ClusterCelebrate the power of diversity with Where International Communities Cluster, a visual dataset showing "countries mapped to the U.S. region with the largest percentage of its immigrants and expatriates among the total population." Users can browse this data in two ways: searching by country on the left-hand side panel (where the over 100 countries included are sorted alphabetically), or exploring by state directly on the map (the buttons in the top right corner allow for easy zooming and navigation). The data reveals interesting international revelations. For example, Columbus, Ohio is home to many immigrants from Algeria, while Columbus, Indiana is home to many immigrants from Spain. Readers curious about how Ilia Blinderman and Izii Carter (from the digital publication The Pudding) created this project can click the "How we made this" link in the lower right-hand corner to learn about the method used to turn IPUMS census information into this interactive dataset.
Websites: U.S.: Census
Black Census ProjectRecognizing that "a traditional probabilistic survey sample…often fails to fully represent populations whose experiences are important to understanding the complexity of Black life," Black Futures Lab (an organization committed to "building Black political power" at all levels) launched the Black Census Project in 2018. Using both online surveys and in-person outreach, the project has since become "the largest survey of Black people conducted in the United States since Reconstruction." Its findings highlight key issues of concern to black communities, including criminal justice, affordable housing, and economic insecurity. The project "intentionally oversampled certain populations…enabling the Census to include communities that are often left out," and breaks down these finding into three reports: More Black than Blue: Politics and Power in the 2019 Black Census, When the Rainbow is Not Enough: LGB+ Voices in the 2019 Census, and Beyond Kings and Queens: Gender and Politics in the 2019 Black Census. Readers can download all these reports on the site, each of which is approximately 20 pages.
Census Historical TiimelineOn August 2, 1790, the United States conducted its first census, pursuant to Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution. In the 230 years since, many changes have been made to the census – from its schedule to its counting process to its questions. Sno-Isle Libraries's Census Historical Timeline chronicles many of these changes and key events in U.S. Census history. The timeline is broken down by decade (to correspond with each census taken between 1790 and 2010), and the sections include links to the United States Census Bureau's historical archives, which provide a more in-depth look at each time period. Highlights include 1850, when the names of all members of a household were recorded (rather than just the head of household); 1960, when census questionnaires were first delivered to people through the mail; and 1990, when "extensive public television, radio, and print advertising" promoted the importance of the census. On the left-hand side of the page, readers will find additional census information, including a 2020 Census "Questionnaire Sample" (available in English and Spanish).
Census ReporterWhether you are a journalist in search of reliable data or a layperson interested in exploring findings from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey, Census Reporter may be for you. Funded by Knight News Challenge, this resource seeks to "make it easier for journalists to write stories using information from the U.S. Census bureau." The site features two search bars, inviting users to search by location or topic. Topics are also available categorically under the Topics header. Under this header, readers may want to begin on the Getting Started and About the Census pages, which provide a brief overview on the U.S. Census Bureau's "data collection programs." After this introduction, visitors can navigate data on themes such as Families, Income, and Geography. If you do not find a topic you are looking for, the site embeds a feedback link and welcomes ideas for new information to be added. Those looking for further inspiration may want to browse the Examples section near the bottom of the page (under "Using this site"), which demonstrates how the site's data can be turned into useful charts and visuals.
The Evolution of the American CensusThis year marks the 24th United States Census. The U.S. Census has important implications for our government and legal systems. For example, the data "determine[s] how many seats each state should have in Congress." Over time, the Census's questions have evolved. As The Evolution of the American Census notes, these changes "tell us a lot about the country's priorities, norms, and biases in each decade." Using data from the U.S. Census website and other primary and secondary sources, the project tracks the questions asked each decade (color-coding by question category to show broader shifts in Census priorities over time). Readers can also explore the project by theme (e.g., "Economy and Employment" or "Immigration and Citizenship") using the dropdown box near the top of the page. The left-hand panel of the screen briefly summarizes each Census year; meanwhile, the right-hand panel provides historical context, chronicling key dates and events (e.g., wars and legal decisions and amendments). Not only is the project interactive and informative, but it ends with a reflection, reminding users: "the democratic ideal of the census means that every ten years, we have the chance to carry out a better system to count every person in the United States." Developer Alec Barrett created this project at data visualization agency TWO-N, and it was published in The Pudding in March of 2020.
Explore Census DataReaders who want to investigate past Census Data should look no further than the United States Census Bureau, "the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy." On the Explore Census Data portal, users can find relevant data by conducting a basic search on the main search bar or clicking "Advanced Search" (located just under the bar) to search with additional filters. For example, a basic search for "poverty guidelines" reveals that in 2018 about 13.1 percent of individuals in the United States were living below the poverty line (according to 2018 American Community Survey results). Scrolling down the main page, visitors will find a Questions section that may be helpful to troubleshoot any issues. Below that, there are sections for Tables, Data Profiles, Maps and Visualizations, and Industry and NAICS codes. By clicking the "View Tables" button, users can toggle through Tables, Maps, and Pages tabs. On the Tables tab, readers will find a variety of pre-sorted data charts and also have the option of building out a new chart by clicking the "Customize Table" button in the top-right corner. The Maps tab features a State Selection Map, an interactive tool that lets users click on a state to pull up a state-specific data profile. Each state's page includes interesting statistics such as the total population, median household income, and poverty and employment rates. Finally, the Pages tab houses publications such as data "QuickFacts" sheets. Data can also be sorted by clicking the "View Profiles" and "Explore Microdata" buttons found near the bottom of the Census Bureau website's homepage.
U.S. Census Knowledge QuizWhat role do postal carriers play in census preparations? What new response category will be featured on this year's census form? Test your Census expertise on these questions and more with the Pew Research Center's U.S. Census Knowledge Quiz. The 12-question quiz covers the history, purpose, and changes to the U.S. Census and provides test-takers with answers and explanations immediately following their attempt. Readers who are displeased with their results may want to sign up for the Pew Research Center's "short email mini course" on the U.S. Census (accessible by clicking the linked text on the quiz's landing page). This free course is divided into five sections including "What is the census and why is it taken?" and "What is new – and possibly challenging – about the 2020 census?" The course is taught by D'Vera Cohn, a journalist who has studied the topic for over two decades. Enrolled users will receive "an email with a lesson every few days," allowing for a manageable way to better understand why this data collection process is so important.
US Census Bureau: Statistical Abstracts SeriesThe U.S. Census Bureau terminated the collection of data for the Statistical Compendia program effective October 1, 2011. The Statistical Compendia program is comprised of the Statistical Abstract of the United States and its supplemental products—the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and the County and City Data Book. To access the most current data, please refer to the organizations cited in the source notes for each table of the Statistical Abstract.
Statistical Abstract data present here ranges from our most recent edition to the historical abstracts compiled throughout the decades. Some of the data were scanned as an effort to make historical abstract information available to the public. The display of data will continue as historical records become available.
Good CalculatorsWhether you are participating in a mathematics course or calculating your taxes, you need access to a good calculator. Fortunately, calculators have become increasingly available via websites and free applications. This website is dedicated to providing a reliable collection of freely available calculators "for domestic and commercial use." The majority of these calculators have been developed by the team behind this website, who describe themselves as "fervent IT professionals." Visitors can browse these calculators by category, which include engineering calculators, statistics and analysis calculators, and budget calculators.
