Missouri Census Data Center

What's New at the MCDC in 2013

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Beginning with this 2013 edition of What's New we are going to highlight many more things that are new on the MCDC web site or on related sites that we think may be of interest to our users. "New" does not necessarily mean something that just happened on the date that we report it here. It may take a little time for us to get around to or decide that something we did or saw others do is significant enough to warrant an article here. We don't want to clutter the page with trivial items, but we reserve the right to change our minds about what is worth a notification.

To be notified of new items being added here users can subscribe to the MCDC's RSS feeds which will consist of very brief headlines regarding the items, with links to the more detailed articles appearing on this page. Note that these articles will no longer (necessarily) appear on the MCDC home page as they have in the past.

2011 Vintage ACS Datasets

Posted 1/16/2013 11:47:07 AM

It has taken us a while but we are nearly finished with our processing of the standard extraction datasets that we created based on the 2011 vintage American Community Survey (ACS) data released by the Census Bureau late in 2012. Actually, what we are talking about is a collection of datasets all based on the 5-year 2007-2011 period estimates data (as opposed to the 1-year and 3-year data released earlier which are relatively small data collections in comparison to the 5-year data and are this represented by only a single data set or two for each. With fewer than 7500 geographic areas having single-year data and fewer than 15,000 having 3-year data (based on population thresholds of 65,000 and 20,000, respectively) we provide a single pair of usmcdcprofiles and usmcdcprofiles3yr datasets to contain all of the data that most users will want to access based on the first two releases. But with the 5-year period estimates we are now dealing with over 740,000 geographic areas (including almost 21,000 in Missouri) for which we have data. For convenience we do maintain a single dataset, named usmcdcprofiles5yr with all these data lumpred together. But for most real-world applications users will want to access subsets of these data based on the geographic entities being summarized. This is why we have gone to the trouble of creating a collection of us (i.e. containing data for the entire country) geographic subsets, with Missouri subsets of these as well.

The best way to see what we have created as well as to access the data is via our Uexplore/Dexter software. More specifically, you can use the custom Datasets.shtml file within the acs2011 data directory.

Most of these datasets are comparable to ones we created last year (in the acs2010 data directory). But two of them are new or different:

  1. The uszctas5yr dataset is different in two special ways. First and most importantly, these data are now being provided by the Census Bureau. Last year we had to approximate them by doing our own special allocation of tract level data to ZCTAs. There were no MOE (margin of error measures) in that data set. But this year we do have _moe variables included. The other difference is that we have merged the ACS data with data stored in our zcta_master dataset (in the georef data directory.)

  2. The usbgs5yrtemp dataset is our first attempt at making our profile data available at the census block group level. We have not done so in the past because of the limited data that were available at this level, and because of our comfort level (or lack thereof) with the statistical reliability of data for such small areas. We shall not make these data available via our acsprofiles web application for reasons consistent with the Census Bureau's for not allowing these data to be accessed in American FactFinder. Having said all that, we are designating this as a "temp" dataset because we are working on a revised version to be released hopefully within a few weeks. Users will note numerous variables on this dataset that have missing values for all observations. We hope to be able to fill in at least some of these values by modifying the code we use to derive these variables. There appear to be many cases where the data is available but not in the base table that we are currently referencing to define the variable. (Persons over 65 is a good example of this.) We are also planning to add two new variables with the unweighted sample counts of persons and housing units.

2011 Vintage ACS Datasets for Current Congressional and State Legislative Districts

Posted 2/7/2013 11:00:57 AM

While the Census Bureau has released geographic files that allow us to get the spatial definitions of the new 113th CD and vintage 2012 state legislative district boundaries, this information was not available in time for them to use it when tabulating the vintage 2011 American Community Survey data. This is comparable to what happened last year when they had published the geographic datasets for the new 2010 ZCTAs but no ACS data were published for the new areas. As we did last year with ZCTAs, we have created our own allocated-tract-level-data estimates of ACS data for these new districts. We are talking about three new datasets:

These datasets can only be accessed via Uexplore/Dexter (for now). We recommend access via the Datasets.html file in the acs2011 data directory. The new datasets are named uscd113s5yr (113th CDs), ussldl12s5yr (the lower or, in most states, the state "House" districts), and ussldu12s5yr (the higher or, in most states, the state "Senate" districts). They are on lines 5, 16 and 17 of the table displayed on the Datasets.html page. (Subject to change if we add or delete any datasets).

These datasets were created by allocating the current tract level data (in ustracts5yr in the same acs2011 data directory), using 2010 census tract to the 3 district levels correspondence files derived from our mable12 database. We had to program around a slight glitch in the equivalency files when we discovered that the census tracts in 2 New York counties (Madison and Oneida) being used in the latest ACS data are not the same as the tracts used in the 2010 census (!).

Notice and do not be confused by the presence of the uscdslds5yr dataset where we have combined the data for the old 111th CDs and the old state legislative districts as defined prior to redistricting.

Those interested in data just for Missouri will note that we have (per our custom) created Missouri subsets of the three new datasets. Same dataset names except replace "us" with "mo" (lines 22, 28 and 29).

We made no attempt to allocate and aggregate the MOE (margin of error) data as part of our estimating process so you will not find any _moe variables on these datasets.

MCDC Web Applications Updated With Latest Population Estimates Data

Posted 2/11/2013 8:11:53 AM

Note: A slightly modified version of this update was posted to our home and Whatsnew pages last November but we have had several inquiries about it so we are repeating it here.

Following a new release of intercensal population estimates at the state and county levels for the decade 2000 to 2009 from the National Center for Health Statistics, the MCDC updated both our Estimates by Age and Poptrends web applications. Both applications now provide detailed and customizable data reports covering the period from 1990 through 2011. Demographic detail include single years of age, race (4 bridged categories), Hispanic origin, and sex (not all combinations, but many). Data are for July 1 of each year in the period. The Estimates by Age page provides a link to a Census only version that does comparable data but only for April 1, 2000 and April 1, 2010.

Note that we provide links to both of these applications in the Quick Links box, appearing on our home page.

Metadata for the nchsbri Population Estimates Data

Posted 2/14/2013 9:32:55 AM

Last fall we processed an important set of new population estimates - the "bridged race" estimates produced by the National Center for Health Statistics. While we downloaded, converted and did basic updating of Contents files to make these new data accessible via Uexplore/Dexter, we did not do a thorough job of documenting what all these new data sets were about. (Most users access these data indirectly via our two online web applications, Pop Trends and Estimates by Age). Much of the "newness" of these data was the result of the new availability of updated inter-censal estimates, which we saw as being important as being replacement alternatives for the old post-censal estimates of the prior decade (2000-2009).

There are two new files that users of these data need to know about and make use of. Point uexplore to the - popests/nchsbri subdirectory and these are the first two sets on the page, displayed in bold.

  1. The Readme.shtml file does what readme files are supposed to do. It provides background info and basic information intended to help the user make sense of what may seem like a bit of a data maze to be traversed.

  2. The Datasets.html page is one of our standard files with that special name and contains the usual matrix display of all the data sets in the directory complete with descriptions, universes, summary units, time periods coverted, etc. with links to Detailed Metadata custom pages for most of the data sets. Using the metadata won't necessarily make accessing the data trivial or even easy, but it will make it a lot more possible.

OSEDA Application Displays MCDC ACS Profile Data by Missouri Counties and Regions

Posted 2/28/2013 8:12:43 AM

Interested in viewing Missouri county-level data from a recent ACS release? Check out OSEDA's web application at http://wwwdev.oseda.missouri.edu/index.php/apptools/missouri-map. The data are the MCDC's mcdcprofiles standard collection, and are currently for the 2006-2010 5-year period estimates. The application has several key features that distinguish it from our own (MCDC's) web tools:

Note: OSEDA is the Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Most of the people responsible for creating the MCDC web site work at OSEDA.

Census Bureau Releases New County Estimates With Components of Change

Posted 3/14/2013

This is the first in a series of three major sub-state estimate products to be released in the first half of this year. The key item in this set is the 2012 estimated total population for each state and county. (The state figures have actually already been published back in later December/early January but they are repeated here.) These figures contain yearly estimates (starting with July 1,2010 and going through July 1, 2012) and report components of change for each year since 2010 plus the 3-month period April-June, 2010. These data are stored in a series of data sets within the popests data directory, and the Datasets.html file for navigating though those sets has been updated to reflect the 5 new data sets (mocom12, mocom12t, uscom12, uscomcbsas12, and mocomregns12). Follow the metadata links in Datasets.html for details. They are all the same as last year but now with data for (or through) 2012 rather than 2011.

We have updated the poptrends1 web application, best accessed using applinks. We have a link to the Applinks master menu in our Quick Links box. For those interested just in Missouri we recommend using the MO County Data Map link, also in Quick Links. Would you like to see these reports and charts for every county in the state? Just replace the value of the &co parm with the word ALL instead of a county code. For example the URL http://mcdc.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/broker?_PROGRAM=websas.poptrend1.sas&_SERVICE=sasapp&st=29&co=all results in rather long report showing basic pop trends (no component detail, just total pops) for each county in Missouri going back to 2000. Change the value of the &st parm if you want it for a different state (e.g. &st=06 will generate a report for California counties.)

We have updated our Population Estimates page to reflect what's new. That page contains a link to the Reports library (bullet item 3 under Our Best Estimates), with new reports for Missouri and the nation at the county and CBSA (metro area) levels.

Updating of the Counties sheet within the Curmoests.xls file (referenced on the Population Estimates page, bullet item 1) has been completed.

(New note - 3/19/13) The metropolitan area data (CBSA) on these data sets and report are still the 2010 vintage definitions. OMB released new definitions in February, 2013 and the Bureau's published metro area estimates use the new definitions, whereas ours do not. When we are able to access the new definitions in a program-compatible format we plan to update these data sets and reports with the new definitions. Estimates using the new defintions are available at the Bureau web site or in the raw file CBSA-EST2012-alldata.csv in the /pub/data/popests directory.

Access the data as released by the Census Bureau at their Population Estimates main page, under Latest Releases.

New Metropolitan/Micropolitan Statistical Area Definitions for 2013

Posted 3/26/2013

The Census Bureau has released the first new edition of the Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) definitions since November of 2009. These metro areas are comprised of complete counties. In the state of Missouri there were only three changes to the definitions affecting the state. In each case a county was dropped from a CBSA. Specifically:

  1. Howard, MO was dropped from the Columbia CBSA (leaving it as a single-county metro area consisting entirely of Boone County.)

  2. Franklin, Kansas was dropped from the Kansas City metro area.

  3. Washington county, MO was dropped from the St. Louis metro area.

We have created five new data sets in the georef directory of the MCDC data archive. To see what these are go to the georef data directory and click on the Datasets.html file. Look for the five data sets with creation date ("Created" column) indicating late March 2013. These sets show various combinations of county, CBSA, CSA (combined statistical areas comprised of groups of continguous CBSAs), Metropolitan Divisions (sub-areas of CBSAs) and states. Some contain population data from the 2010 census and the latest (just released, vintage 2012) estimates.

MCDC to Host Training Webinar

Posted 4-17-2013

The Missouri Census Data Center (MCDC) will be hosting a free training webinar at 9:00 am on April 24, 2013 on the use of Missouri Census Data Center (MCDC) data sets, tools and web applications. The session will be targeted to the types of data and geographies most used by the planning, community and economic development, and local governance professionals. To attend the webinar, you will be required to register here: https://partreg1.mc.iconf.net/conf/action/expressAction?scheduleid=411207225&ba=300001210

After you register, you will receive an invitation with a link to the webinar. Register soon as space is limited to 125 participants.

New Web Application Provides Easier Access to ACS Profile Data

Posted 5-13-2013 (rev. 5-15-2013)

We have created a new web application that should make it much easier for users to access data from the American Community Survey. More specifically, the access is to the latest (vintage 2011) 5-year period estimates for the most common levels of geography, for all or selected states, or for selected counties within a state. The application provides easy access to an enhanced profile data set at the block group level with some variables that were previously unavailable at the BG level. Most of the data sets being accessed by this application have been enhanced by merging them with Summary File 1 (sf1) data from the 2010 census. Finally, the application has options for accessing three MCDC-exclusive (for this year, at least) levels of data that were created by doing tract-level (dis)aggregation to get approximate summaries. The three levels are the new 113th Congressional Districts and the 2012-vintage state legislative districts, upper and lower chambers. We do not provide margin of error measures (_moe variables) for these three data sets.

The application can be accessed using the new link ACS Profile extact app in the Quick Links box that appears on the upper-right corner of most MCDC web site pages. The URL for the application is http://mcdc.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/broker?_PROGRAM=websas.acsmcdcprofiles_extract_menu.sas&_SERVICE=appdev&st= . Users familiar with the comparable application for accesing 2010 sf1 data extracts (see the Quick Links box, SF1 Data extract app) will note that the new ACS-based application is very much modeled after its sf1-based predecessor.

Like its sf1 counterpart, this application is a front end for our Dexter data extraction module. You fill out the form and the selections are passed to a custom Dexter query form. You can then submit the form to get your extract exactly as specified, or you can use dexter to be more precise about what you want prior to submitting (add another filter; exclude certain variables from a table; add a title for a report, specify a sort order, etc.).

A video-based tutorial for the application is under development. A link will be provided from the application.

Video-based Tutorial Now Available

Posted 5-21-2013

Per the note at the end of the previous posting, the (mostly) video-based tutorial for the acsmcdcproifles_extract web application has been completed. Or, at least it has progressed far enough that we feel comfortable making it publicly available. We reserve the right to do retakes and especially to add more alternate extract modules. The module is linked to from the acsmcdcprofiles_extract_menu page or you can access it directly at http://mcdc.missouri.edu/tutorials/acsmcdcprofiles_extract .

Sub-county Population Estimates Thru 2012 Now Available

Posted 5-23-2013
Revised 5-29-2013

The Census Bureau has released a new set of their official FSCPE sub-county population estimates. These are the post-censal estimates showing July 1 estimates for all incorporated places (cities) and other sub-county governmental units for each year from 2010 through 2012. There is no other detail other than just the total population estimate. (e.g. no components of change or demographic detail such as age or race.) The MCDC has downloaded the data and stored the results in two archive data sets, ussc12 and mosc12, within the popests data directory. Based on these data we have generated a series of standard reports showing which cities have grown or shrunk the fastest over the past two years. The best way to access the reports as well as the data sets on which they are based is via the Popests Reports directory. We have now (5-29-13) incorporated these data into our Curmoests.xls Excel file, which is now complete for the 2013 estimates cycle.

New version of CAPS works with 5-year ACS Estimates

Posted 6-4-2013

This application accesses census tract-level American Community Survey data (our standard "MCDC profile" data) and generates data for circular areas. So you can use it (for example) to get a feel for the characterisitics of persons living within a 5-mile radius of an existing or proposed site (includes not only the basic demographics, which are already available from our caps10c applicaition, but also the "good stuff" only available from the ACS - income, poverty, education, housing values, etc.) The application has a built-in limit of a 2-mile radius; so you cannot use it for circles smaller than this. The application is called caps10acs and you can access it at http://mcdc.missouri.edu/websas/caps10acs.html.

Population estimates at state and county levels with Demographic Detail for 2012

Posted 6-13-2013

These data were released by the Bureau today. The MCDC has downloaded the data and processed it as we have for several years now. The results can be viewed in the usual standard report formats by accessing the Estimates Reports page. There are the same set of 4 reports for each state (at state, county and metro area levels), and for the United States at the state and nation levels.

The raw data can be accessed in the public archive in the usual locations. The data as downloaded and converted more or less as-is can be viewed in the casrhalt subdirectory of the popests data directory. The best way to access the new data in the main directory, where we have done our usual reshaping of the data in an attempt to make it easier to code extraction queries based on the various cominations of demographic detail, is via the Dataset.html page within the popests directory. There are 51 datasets with names such as mocasrh12, ilcasrh12, cacasrh12, etc. each with data for a specific state. Two other datasets of interest are usstatescasrh12, which contains data summarized at the state level for all the states; and us1dimsums_casrh12, which contains county-level data for the entire US. The "1dim" in the name indicates one-dimensional summaries, meaning each observation provides estimates for a single demographic dimension: one for for each race alone, one for each gender, one row for each 5-year age cohort, one row for each Hispanic/non-Hispanic.

All the county-level datasets have been enhanced by merging the latest (March, 2013) metro area ("CBSA") codes and types, making it relatively easy to aggregate queries at the metro area or metro area type (Metro, Micro or blank) levels.

See the whatsnew page for last year.

This file last modified Thursday June 13, 2013, 10:41:50

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