Social Explorer, the nation’s leading provider of data visualization and reporting tools for a range of demographic information, is beginning to add resources from the 2020 Census results released earlier this month, along with data from the 2010 Census that asked virtually identical questions.  In this way, our users can easily see what is different and what has changed in the last decade. 

Already, our Census data has served as the basis for a New York Times article that examined the growth of the minority population throughout the United States. But the results from the PL94-171 dataset won’t just be used to examine historical trends; the data will be used as the basis for distributing trillions of tax dollars over the next decade and will be the focus of intense debates over redrawing legislative boundaries at the state and federal levels.

“We’re pleased that we can expedite Census results to serve our clients,” said Andrew Beveridge, president and co-founder of Social Explorer. “This data won’t just be used to tell us about our nation’s history; it’s going to be used to create a roadmap for our future.”

Unlike the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which is released annually and also covers a range of social and economic issues, the 2020 Census essentially is limited to six questions. The 2020 form asked for a name, relationship to householder, gender, age, birth date, Hispanic origin, and race. Despite the limited number of questions, billions of records will be generated from the data.

Social Explorer’s initial results will allow users to visually and quantitatively analyze data at state, county, place, metro and Census tract (neighborhood equivalent) levels for the following categories:

·         Population density

·         Total population

·         Race by ethnicity (e.g., white non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, etc.)

·         Age by race by ethnicity (children)

·         Age by race by ethnicity (adults, age > 18).

In the coming days, Social Explorer will add data from all six tables released in PL94-171, including race and Hispanic population for the total population; the 18-and-older population and the 17-and-younger population; housing units (occupied and vacant); and the population living in dormitories, nursing homes, jails and other group quarters. Tools that allow users to compare easily the 2020 Census with results from the 2010 Census, and have available previous headcounts across a wide variety of geographies will make analysis of trends all that much easier. For more information, visit our website at http://www.socialexplorer.com.

Census 2020 Data. Click here to explore further.

Author: Frank Bass