MCDC News and Updates

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Missouri Unemployment Rates, 2020-2021

This December, our partners at the Missouri Spatial Data Information Service (MSDIS) present a swipe map comparing unemployment rates in Missouri counties during the years 2020 and 2021. This is a follow-up to the previous MSDIS map comparing Missouri county unemployment  between 2000 to 2020.

The left side of the swipe map shows unemployment by county for 2020, and the right side shows the rates for 2021.

Missouri Census Data Center frequently works with MSDIS on mapping and data projects. MSDIS is a spatial data retrieval and archival system offering many mapping resources, primarily focused on the state of Missouri.

Geocorr and Other Application Updates (December 2023)

MCDC has a number of significant application updates to announce this month.

We added several new geography types to the Geocorr 2022 application, including the new core-based statistical areas (CBSAs, which include metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas), metropolitan divisions, and combined statistical areas (CSAs), all of which were released by the Office of Management and Budget in July 2023. We also added the “new” Connecticut planning regions, and updated the urban areas to match those currently used by the Census Bureau.

The Connecticut planning regions pose a special problem for those using Geocorr to do county-level correlations. Earlier this year, the State of Connecticut finalized adoption of the State’s nine Councils of Governments (COGs), also called planning regions, as the county-equivalent geographic unit. Unfortunately for longitudinal county-level data users, the new regions don’t match the boundaries of the state’s eight counties that were previously used for census data tabulation.

In Geocorr, we’ve designated the planning regions as a new geography type that exists only in Connecticut. The unwanted consequence is that if you try to run a correlation using the new planning regions with any state besides CT, you’ll get an error. Thus, if you want to run a county-to-target correlation for many states or the whole nation, you’ll need to run it twice: once with all the states except CT, and then a second run to do the region-to-target correlation just for CT.

For more information about the CT changes, see Final Change to County Equivalents in Connecticut and the Final Federal Register Notice, Change to County Equivalents in the State of Connecticut.

Two other MCDC data applications have also been extensively updated: Population Estimates by Age and Population Trends with Demographics. The earlier versions of these apps relied on the so-called “bridged-race” single-year-of-age data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Unfortunately, this very valuable data source was discontinued in 2020. These applications now use the annual population estimates published by the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program. Rather than single-year-of-age data, these estimates are aggregated into 18 five-year age “buckets” or cohorts. Therefore, it’s no longer possible to extract single years of age or make custom cohorts with the MCDC apps. Moreover, the census race classifications changed in 2000. Before then, there was not a separate race category for “Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander”. These populations were included in the “Asian” category prior to 2000. In addition, there was no category for “Two or more races” before 2000. Please exercise due caution when using pre-2000 population estimates from our applications and from the Census Bureau sources.

Please contact the MCDC web manager with any questions or comments.

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Manufacturing Employment in Missouri over the Past Decade

 

The manufacturing sector is the fifth largest employer in the United States and the third largest in Missouri (after health care and retail trade). This month, our partners at the Missouri Spatial Data Information Service (MSDIS) examine how manufacturing employment has changed in Missouri counties between 2011 and 2021 using County Business Patterns data from MCDC and the U.S. Census Bureau. These maps show us how important manufacturing is (and isn’t) in certain counties in Missouri.

Missouri Census Data Center frequently works with MSDIS on mapping and data projects. MSDIS is a spatial data retrieval and archival system offering many mapping resources, primarily focused on the state of Missouri.

Data Updates (September 2023)

We have a few routine data and application updates to announce this month.

  • On August 24, we posted new a zcta_master set to our geographic reference data collection. Zcta_master is a comprehensive ZCTA (ZIP Code Tabulation Area) resource with geographic correspondences and vintage 2021 ACS-based demographics. This new version uses ZCTAs as defined for the 2020 census. We have our usual SAS dataset, accessible via the Dexter data extraction tool, as well as a CSV file.
  • We found some minor errors in the new DHC data collection. Tract codes were missing final digits. These have been corrected.
  • Two of our workhorse data applications, uex2dex and Dexter, underwent substantial code updates and revisions.
  • Just this week, we published the 2022-vintage round of intercensal population estimates, released earlier this year. These include the CASRH (characteristics of age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin) data for all states, population ranks, housing unit estimates, and the new “curmoests” Excel file (Missouri current population estimates for the state, counties, subcounty units, and cities and towns).

Please contact the MCDC web manager with any questions or comments.

CAPS 2020 Is Finally Here!

MCDC is pleased to announce the launch of the newest version of our popular CAPS (Circular Area Profiles) applications.

CAPS 2020 is based on our new standard profiles (/data/dhc2020x), created earlier this month from the Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC) data from the 2020 decennial census, released in May 2023.

Much like the versions of CAPS based on previous decennial censuses, the new application reports just over 100 key variables (with corresponding percents) from the 2020 DHC file.

Functionally, CAPS 2020 is very similar to the older CAPS applications, although we did a lot of code updates under the hood.

Keen-eyed users may notice that 2010 populations reported by the CAPS 2020 app differ (sometimes significantly) from those reported for the same circles in CAPS 2010. In addition to normal population growth or decline, this is primarily due to the many changes in census geographies (blocks, block groups, and tracts) between 2010 and 2020. There is really no good way around this issue. The 2010 population, and the 2010-to-2020 change/percent change figures should be taken with a grain of salt.

DHC 2020 Standard Extracts Added to MCDC’s Collection

The Missouri Census Data Center has added our “standard extract” data based on the 2020 Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC) data. The collection is located in the /data/dhc2020x directory and is also accessible from our data portal page.

This is the collection of standard extracts, where we create a set of just over 100 key variables (with corresponding percents) from the ~9,000 table cells in the complete 2020 DHC file. For each state in the US (plus DC and PR), we have three data sets: one for census blocks, one for complete block groups (summary level 150), and one for “selected inventory” levels: state, county, county subdivision, place (complete and within-county), census tract, and ZIP code (ZCTA). For most geographies, we have added the 2010 population count and used it to calculate change over the decade.

This collection will be the basis for our forthcoming update to the CAPS (Circular Area Profiles) application using 2020 Census data. Users may expect to see the updated CAPS 2020 application in late August 2023.

Demographic and Housing Characteristics Data Added to MCDC’s Collection

The Missouri Census Data Center is pleased to announce that we’ve added the new Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC) data to our census data archives. The collection is located in the /data/dhc2020 directory and is also accessible from our data portal page.

The Demographic and Housing Characteristics data was released by the U.S. Census Bureau in May 2023. This is one of the main data products based on the 2020 decennial census.

As in 2010, there was only a short form questionnaire in 2020, so the DHC tables contain just basic demographics (age, sex, race / ethnicity, household types, etc.). The DHC is more or less equivalent to Summary File 1 from the 2010 and earlier censuses, and contains many of the same tables and variables as SF1, although there are some differences.

This data will become the source for MCDC’s DHC standard extract (or “profiles”) — our custom set of key variables for useful geographic area types — which should be ready within a month or so.

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Missouri Unemployment Rates over Time

This month, our partners at the Missouri Spatial Data Information Service (MSDIS) present a swipe map showing changing patterns of unemployment in Missouri across two decades.

The left side of the swipe map shows unemployment rates by Missouri county for 2000, and the right side shows the rates for 2020. Clicking on any county will show basic employment and workforce stats for the selected county and year.

Missouri Census Data Center frequently works with MSDIS on mapping and data projects. MSDIS is a spatial data retrieval and archival system offering many mapping resources, primarily focused on the state of Missouri.

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Missouri Voter Turnout in General Elections Since 2000 (updated)

Our story map about Missouri voter turnout by county has been updated to include the November 2022 midterm election.

The Missouri Census Data Center frequently works with MSDIS on mapping and data projects. MSDIS is a spatial data retrieval and archival system offering many mapping resources, primarily focused on the state of Missouri.

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Missouri’s Changing Legislative Boundaries

This month, our partners at the Missouri Spatial Data Information Service (MSDIS) present a set of “swipe maps” showing how the Missouri House and Senate district boundaries changed after the 2020 US Census.

The red outlines on each map (the left side of the swipe tool, in this case) indicate the new, post-2020 districts, and the blue outlines represent the previous boundaries. Clicking on any district will show the district number and, for the newer boundaries, the current office holder.

Missouri Census Data Center frequently works with MSDIS on mapping and data projects. MSDIS is a spatial data retrieval and archival system offering many mapping resources, primarily focused on the state of Missouri.