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Using American FactFinder

American FactFinder is the main portal for accessing popular data from the U.S. Census Bureau, including decennial census, American Community Survey, and more.

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Using American FactFinder

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  1. Using American FactFinder Follow-up Webinar John DeWitt Project Manager Social Science Data Analysis Network Lisa Neidert Data Services Population Studies Center

  2. What is American FactFinder? • http://factfinder.census.gov • Main portal to most popular data from U.S. Census Bureau • Decennial census • American Community Survey • Puerto Rico Community Survey • Population Estimates • Economic Census and Surveys • Multiple data products • Several indicators across geographies • Many indicators for a single geography • Occasionally difficult to link “data” to “information” • Trends • What product to use?

  3. Since the Oct. 2009 Boot Camp… • ACS 2009 Release: • 1-Year Summary File , September 2010 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) Files, November 2010 • 5-Year Summary File, December 2011 1-Year & 5-Year Spanish Version of Puerto Rico Community Survey Data Release, December 2010 • 3-Year Summary File, January 2011 3-Year Spanish Version of Puerto Rico Community Survey Data Release, January 2011

  4. Release Schedule for ACS Data

  5. Census 2010 Releases • 2010 Demographic Analysis Population Estimates, December 6th 2010 • Apportionment Announcement to President, December 2010 • Census Demographic Profiles, March 2011 • 2010 Summary File (SF1) begin release, June 2011 • 2010 Summary File (SF2) begin release, December 2011

  6. CensusScope Updates

  7. American Fact Finder in 2011 • 2011 will bring some changes to the Fact Finder website:

  8. American FactFinder • Fact Sheetsquick stats for a town, county or zip code • “Get data” linksmany of AFF’s data products • Download centerquick downloads of detailed tables for all available states, counties, metro areas, etc.

  9. Fact Sheets (Data Profiles) • Quick lookup • Many common indicators • Includes U.S. numbers for comparison

  10. Aggregate Products are the most commonly used data products available from the ACS. These include the tables and maps in the American Factfinder, which describe the distributions for basic and detailed population and household queries.

  11. Detailed Tables These are where experienced journalists go first to find the estimates they need. In the American FactFinder, these tables are known as the detailed and custom tables and include the most descriptive and detailed data. These tables feature simple frequency estimates for individual variables and estimates for combinations (such as poverty status by sex and age). Many variables in the detailed tables, such as age, are subdivided into several categories (such as ages 0–17, 18–64, 65 and older, and so on). Detailed tables can also be obtained through FTP. automatically inserted into a preformatted text.

  12. Detailed Tables Select multiple geographies.

  13. Detailed Tables Select multiple tables.

  14. Detailed Tables See multiple geographies side-by-side Scroll to see other selected tables.

  15. Detailed Tables Collapsed table A detailed table with a reduced amount of detail shown to comply with data release rules. Specifically, it is a detailed table with a "C" prefix for which two or more lines of data from the corresponding "B" prefix table have been collapsed into a single line in the "C" table. Not every B table has a collapsed version.

  16. Downloading from AFF

  17. FIPS Codes: A slight diversion FIPS • Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) • Issued by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), now updated by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) • Useful for mapping and databases

  18. Subject Tables These are summarized, topic-specific tables based on data from the detailed tables. They are easier to navigate and can be a better choice if you just need a quick overview, or if you’re new to the ACS. Subject tables provide data for some of the most popular topics, such as finances, households, and occupational characteristics for a single geography. If your questions is simple, subject tables may provide the data you need with a minimum of fuss.

  19. Subject Tables Select only one geography.

  20. Subject Tables Browse by subject or select a table below.

  21. Subject Tables

  22. Ranking Tables These tables compare the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico according to various characteristics and rank them from highest to lowest. Ranking tables present state data from nearly 100 different characteristics. These tables can also be viewed as charts, using a link on the page. The charts show the 90-percent confidence limits around each estimate as an indication of which rankings may be statistically different (meaning the two estimates probably are truly different.)

  23. Ranking Tables Browse by subject or select a table below.

  24. Ranking Tables Sort alphabetically by State or numerically by Ranking.

  25. Geographic Comparison Tables These are similar to ranking tables but are available for geographical levels that extend below the state level. Unlike ranking tables, they provide margins of error for the estimates but do not tell you whether or not the differences in rankings are statistically significant.

  26. Geographic Comparison Tables Select a geographic area (Nation or State), and then the table format, or the geography you want to compare. Here we are choosing to compare all of the counties in Michigan.

  27. Geographic Comparison Tables Select only one Comparison Table.

  28. Geographic Comparison Tables

  29. Data Profiles This product offers tables that provide summaries of several basic social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics for each geographic unit. While they are less sophisticated than detailed tables, data profiles do a good job of describing the broad characteristics of a geographic area.

  30. Data Profiles Select only one geography.

  31. DataProfiles Select different profiles to see economic, housing, or demographic data tables. Scroll to see more information.

  32. NarrativeProfiles Accessible through data profiles are narrative profiles, which present the data in plain language and use graphics, similar to a news article. These products contain data that are automatically inserted into a preformatted text.

  33. Selected Population Profiles Population profiles are ready-made tabulations for specific groups of interest, such as a specific ancestry or race. While other ACS profiles provide general information for a geographic area, the selected population profiles use a similar format to provide basic information for a specific segment of the population.

  34. Selected Population Profiles Select multiple geographies.

  35. Selected Population Profiles Select the specific population group you want to look at. You can choose from Race or Ethnic groups, Ancestry groups or Country of Birth.

  36. SelectedPopulationProfiles Scroll to see more information.

  37. Thematic Maps The maps include two important features in addition to their categorical color schemes. First, users can quickly identify which other geographic units have a significant statistical difference from the selected unit for a particular characteristic. Also, tabular interfaces to the data are readily available as a link on the left of the page.

  38. Thematic Maps Select only one geography.

  39. Thematic Maps Select only one Thematic Map.

  40. ThematicMaps Use the zoom feature to see a more detailed map. Change the geography displayed. Other options include Congressional Districts, Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Public Use Microdata Areas.

  41. Comparison Profiles The comparison profiles show data side-by-side from the 2006 ACS and the 2007 ACS, indicating where there is a statistically significant difference between the two sets of estimates. Comparison profiles are only available for 1-year estimates.

  42. Comparison Profiles Select only one geography.

  43. ComparisonProfiles Select different profiles to see economic, housing, or demographic data tables. Compare data across the years. Some data is not able to be compared accurately, in this case the 2007 and 2008 3-year estimates.

  44. DownloadCenter Use the download center to quickly download large amounts of data. The download center allows users to download up to 50 tables for a single geography at a time, or you can download all the summary file extracts for all the tables. The individual tables download as zip file with pipe-delimited text files.

  45. Download Center Select only one geography at a time. Select the aggregate product, or data visualization, you want to download.

  46. Download Center Select up to 50 different tables to download.

  47. Download Center

  48. Sample Tasks • How could you get a demographic overview of your local county, city, or state? • What FactFinder product would allow you to look at median age of first marriage for your multiple counties, a state, and the U.S. all at once? • What state has the largest percentage of population that has completed high school? • Which FactFinder product allows a user to download multiple files for all available geographies of specific summary level (e.g. counties, metropolitan and micropolitan areas, etc)

  49. Questions?

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