WebJunction - Demographics

An’s Lemongrass Grille, a Vietnamese restaurant, is located in the middle of downtown Denver at 1617 California Street.

Sample Exercise 1: Fact Sheet for States.

The owner wants basic socio-economic data for Colorado. If possible, he would also like basic information on the Asian population.

1. Go to the American FactFinder at http://FactFinder.census.gov.
2. In the “Fast Access to Information” section, select “Colorado” as a state and click “Go”.
3. Data profile defaults to most current American Community Survey data. (Note that 2005 ACS data is limited to households and doesn’t include group quarters.)
4. For context, read the “Narrative Profile”.
5. Population data for the “Asian alone” population is available from this profile.
6. For access to more data, click the “show more” links. The link next to “General Characteristics” includes data for Asian subcategories (e.g. Vietnamese).
7. For Census 2000 data, links to thematic maps, and links to Census briefs by topic, click on the 2000 tab at the top of the profile.
8. This profile includes links to thematic maps, including a map showing the percentage distribution of the Colorado’s Asian population by county in 2000.
9. The profile also includes links to Census “briefs”, including one entitled “The Asian Population: 2000” issued in February 2002.

Sample Exercise 2: Fact Sheets for Counties, Places (Cities/Towns), Zip Codes, Census Tracts.

The owner of An’s Lemongrass Grille would like to see similar profiles for other areas like Denver County (Denver City), and any other areas relevant to the location of the restaurant.

1. Go to the American FactFinder at http://factfinder.census.gov.
2. Click on “Fact Sheet” in the column to the left.
3. In the search box in the upper right, click on “search by address”.
4. Enter the address of the restaurant and click “Go”.
5. The page will default to 2005 ACS data for Denver City. Data is available as well as data for Denver County, Colorado, and the United States.
6. Click on the tab for 2000 data. Data is now available for 80202 zip code and Census Tract 17.02.

Sample Exercise 3: Finding basic race/ethnic data for neighborhoods.

Although the restaurant’s location is in downtown Denver, the owner wants to know how many people live within a few blocks of the restaurant.

1. Go to the American FactFinder at http://FactFinder.census.gov.
2. Using the “Address Search” function in the lower left, find the Census Tract, Block Group, and Block in which the restaurant is located. (Tract is 17.02, Block Group 1, Block 1027)
3. Click back to the Main search page.
4. Choose Data Sets from the left column; page will default to Census 2000 screen and to Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF-1) 100-Percent Data.
5. Click on “Detailed Tables” to the right
6. Select “Census Tract” as the geographic type; select Colorado -> Denver County -> Census Tract 17.02 then click the “Add” button.
7. Return to the top to select “Block Group” as the geographic type; select Census Tract 17.02, then Block Group 1 and “Add”.
8. Return to the top to select “Block” as the geographic type: select Block Group 1, then Block 1027 and click “Add”.
9. Click on “Next”.
10. Choose tables “P1. Total Population”, “P7. Race (Total Population)”, and “P8. Hispanic or Latino by Race (Total Population)” and click “Add”. (To find out what data is included for any given table, highlight that table and click on “What’s this?”
11. Click “Show Result”.
12. To print or download the data, choose the “Print/Download” option in the blue bar at the top. To return to edit any of the steps, click on the “breadcrumb” links (e.g. Data Sets, Geography, Tables) above the blue bar at the top.

Sample Exercise 4: Finding detailed race data by neighborhood.

The owner of the An’s Lemongrass Grille wants to know where the Denver’s Vietnamese population is concentrated.

Note: For this exercise, we will use Summary File 2 (SF2), which has basic population data for 249 population groups. SF2 data is available only down to the Census Tract level. Two threshold “rules of 100” apply to SF2 data:

• No tables are available for geographic areas having a population of less than 100.
• Tables are repeated only for the race groups, American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, and Hispanic or Latino groups having a population of 100 or more within the geographic area.

1. Go to the American FactFinder at http://FactFinder.census.gov.
2. Choose Data Sets from the left column; page will default to Census 2000 screen.
3. Click in the radio button for Summary File 2 (SF2) 100-Percent Data
4. Choose the “Custom Table” option to the right.
5. Select “Census Tract” as the geographic type; select Colorado as the state; select Denver as the county; select “All Census Tracts”, click “Add” and then “Next”.
6. Select Table P1, Total Population and click “Go”.
7. “Total” is the only data available for Table P1, so mark it and click “Add”.
8. Mark the current element selection (Total population: Total) and click “Next”.
9. Select the “Next” button under “Click ‘Next’ to select Population Groups”.
10. From the list of detailed race and ethnic groups, scroll down to find “Vietnamese alone or in any combination”. (Alternatively, one might choose to select “Vietnamese alone”).
11. Click “Show Result”.
12. The resulting list shows data for any Census tract in Denver County with at least 100 people who identify themselves as Vietnamese alone or in combination with one or more races.
13. Print or download the list using “Print/Download” option.
14. With the list of Census tracts with Vietnamese populations, go to http://ftp2.census.gov/plmap/pl_trt/ for 2000 Census tract outline maps.
15. Choose “Colorado” then “Denver”. Note: the first PDF document is an “index” map for the remaining map sections, but it does not include Census tract numbers. Census tract numbers can be searched in the sectional maps using the “Find (CTRL-F)” function in the “Edit” menu or by using the “Search” button within the Adobe program.

Discussion questions:

• Is the New Saigon Restaurant strategically located?
• Is there another area where a Vietnamese restaurant would do well?
• Might it be worthwhile to get data for another county? Which one(s)?

Sample Exercise 5: Finding household income data.

The owner would like to know the median household income for the Asian population in the Denver County, Jefferson County, and the Denver Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Sample Exercise 6: Circular Area Profiles

The owner of An’s Lemongrass Grille wants to see population figures (total and by race and ethnicity) within 5, 25, 50, and 100 miles of his restaurant.

1. Go to http://terraserver.microsoft.com and type in the address of the address in the upper left hand corner. (Other options include http://www.batchgeocode.com/lookup and http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/geocoder.asp).
2. Click on one of the links under “Available Image” for that address
3. Note down the longitude and latitude coordinates to the left.
4. Go to http://mcdc2.missouri.edu/websas/caps.html.
5. Enter the latitude and longitude coordinates (note that the negative sign is not needed for the longitude coordinate as west is assumed.)
6. Enter a name for the site (e.g. An’s Lemongrass Grille).
7. Enter the radius values 5, 25, 50, 100
8. Highlight the “Population Basics” and “Race and Hispanic” reports and click “Generate Report”.

Discussion questions:

• At which radius (of the ones given in this exercise) is the relative size of the Asian population the greatest?
• Do any of the circular areas cross over into another state? If so, which state? Which county?

Sample Exercise 7: Historical data for Denver County

How has the population of Denver County changed over time (since 1970)? How does its growth rate compare to other counties across the country? How does the population of Asians in Denver County compare to other counties across the country?

1. Go to http://www.stats.indiana.edu.
2. Click on USA Counties IN Profile – County Indicators.
3. Select “Colorado” as the state; select “Denver” as the county.
4. Get more population information by clicking on the “Population” link in the blue bar.
5. Population change data is in the first table ("Population Over Time").
6. Click on the "Rank in the U.S." figure to find a list of all counties ranked by population change.
7. Population data for race is in fourth table down ("Population Estimates by Race and Hispanic Origin").
8. Click on the "Rank in the U.S." figure to retrieve a list of all counties ranked by total Asian Alone population.

Discussion questions:

• Does the Asian population make up a greater percentage of the total population in Denver County compared to the U.S. average?
• How does Denver County compare to other Colorado counties?