Since this is a question that we frequently receive and there have been many changes to the census recently, I thought I’d provide some suggestions on how to answer it. Resources include the Census American Factfinder, the Social Explorer database, LibGuides, and Infoshare.
First, a new version of the American Factfinder has been launched. For this semester (Spring 2011) I’d suggest that you NOT use it – stick to the old version. The most recent datasets from the census are from the American Community Survey (ACS) and the new version doesn’t have ANY of the ACS data loaded yet. It will take several months before all of the ACS is added.
Second, I wouldn’t worry about looking for 2010 Census data yet. It’s going to take quite awhile before any neighborhood-level data is released, and once it is released it’s not going to be as comprehensive as it was in the past; the 2010 Census questionnaire was one of the shortest in US history. The ACS is replacing most of the detailed decennial census questions that were previously asked.
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Q. If I’m looking for data for a specific neighborhood, an overview or profile of that neighborhood, where should I look?
A. I’d suggest looking at the 3 year ACS (2007-2009) for public use microdata areas (PUMAs) which are decent for simulating NYC neighborhoods. There are 55 PUMAs in NYC:
1. Use this Google Map on the Neighborhoods tab of the NYC Data guide (http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/nyc_data) to click on a neighborhood, and go directly to a profile for that neighborhood on the census bureau website. Or
2. Use the Social Explorer database (http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/search/databases.php), select the ACS 2007-2009, zoom in and click on the PUMA you want. You can then view a detailed demographic profile for that PUMA.
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Q. Hmmmmm… the PUMAs cover an area that’s larger than what I’m interested in. Are there smaller areas I can look at?
A. You can look at the 5 year ACS (2005-2009) for statistical areas called census tracts (the NY Times uses these in their Mapping America web map). Chances are these are smaller than what you would want to simulate a neighborhood , so you may have to choose several tracts and add the data together.
1. Use the Social Explorer’s map interface for the ACS 2005-2009 and select several census tracts by clicking on them or drawing a circle around an area. When you view the data report, you’ll see data for each tract you selected, and a totals column for all the areas (it sums them for you).
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Q. What if I want to compare several neighborhoods or all neighborhoods at once for a particular census variable? I’d like to build a comparison table.
A. The Social Explorer is the easiest choice, but to get access to ALL census tables you’d have to use the American Factfinder (Social Explorer only has a subset of census data):
1. You can use the Social Explorer to generate tables for PUMAs from the 3 year ACS or tracts from the 5 year ACS by clicking on individual areas or drawing a circle around them to create data tables.
2. You can go to the Census American Factfinder site directly (http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html). Choose your dataset (ACS), Series (3 year 2007-2009 or 5 year 2005-2009), geography (pumas or tracts), and then the data table you want. When you choose geographies, you can easily select all PUMAs ranging from 03701 to 04114 to capture all PUMAs in the city.
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Q. I can’t find exactly what I’m looking for in the Census. Are there other sources?
A. Yes – take a look at the NYC Data subject (http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/nyc_data) guide for a list of alternatives. For example, the Furman Center at NYU publishes neighborhood profiles with lots of real estate data, and the NYC Dept of Health publishes profiles with health data.
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Q. Can I get current data for ZIP Codes?
A. Nope. ZIP Code data is not published as part of the ACS; it’s only available in the decennial census.
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Q. What about the Infoshare database on the library’s db page? Can’t I use that to get census data?
A. You can use Infoshare to build profiles or comparison tables for PUMAs (called sub-borough areas), Community Districts (59 areas slightly different than the 55 PUMAs), tracts, and “neighborhoods”, which are 292 areas designated by a city taskforce created by aggregating census tracts. The latter is the big selling point of this database; although it is difficult to ascertain what the boundaries of these neighborhoods are. My own personal bias is to use freely available resources whenever possible, especially when accessing a dataset that’s public domain to begin with. The American Factfinder is public domain, and there is a limited free version of Social Explorer available via the web. But in the end it’s up to you.
