Download the data
First, you'll access the data you need on the Census Bureau site and download it. You'll download two sets of data. The first will be demographic data involving age and poverty. The second will be geographic boundary data for your area of interest.
Search for census data
The health network has identified older adults experiencing poverty as potentially underserved by existing medical resources. Areas with large populations of these people might receive the largest benefit if targeted by the proposed mobile primary care centers.
You'll perform an advanced search of the Census Bureau site and apply filters to find the data you need.
- Go to the Census Bureau Data home page.
- Under the search bar, click Advanced Search.
Note:
The Census Bureau site changes frequently. Your experience may differ from the example images.
The advanced search enables you to filter data by geography, topic, year, and so on. First, you'll limit the search to the type of geographic area you want. You can search at the national, state, and county level, among others.
Your area of interest is a county (Mesa County, Colorado). However, you want to map areas within the county so you can compare them with each other. To do so, you'll search for data at the census tract level. Census tracts are small subdivisions of counties, each with an average of about 4,000 residents.
- In the side pane, under Geographies, click Census Tract.
The Select State pane appears. You'll use this pane and subsequent panes to filter your search to your area of interest.
- Under Select State, click Colorado.
- Under Select County, choose Mesa County, Colorado.
Tip:
The counties are organized alphabetically. If you have trouble finding the county you want, you can search for it by name using the search bar.
You can continue to filter the results to specific census tracts, but you want data for all census tracts in the county.
- Check the box for All Census Tracts within Mesa County, Colorado.
The filter is applied and added to the side pane. You're ready to perform a search.
- At the bottom of the page, click Search.
The search runs and the Tables pane appears. This pane lists all data tables available at the census tract level for Mesa County. There are more than 2,800 results, including results for race, age and sex, commuting characteristics, and so on.
Narrow down the results
Next, you'll add another filter to narrow down the list of results. Specifically, you'll add filters for age and income, which are demographic variables of key consideration for the health network's expansion efforts.
- In the Filters pane (now labeled as 1 Filter), under Topics, click Populations and People.
Tip:
If you do not see the Filters pane, in the side pane, click Filters.
- In the Select Populations and People pane, check the box for Older Population.
The Older Population filter is added to the Filters pane. There are now two filters. The last filter you add will be for income and poverty.
- In the Filters pane (now labeled as 2 Filters), under Topics, click Income and Poverty.
- In the Select Income and Poverty pane, check the box for Income and Poverty.
The Income and Poverty filter is added to the Filters pane. There are now three filters.
Tip:
If you made a mistake and want to remove a filter, click the X by its name. To remove every filter, click Clear all filters.
- Close the Select Income and Poverty pane.
The Tables pane reappears. The filters you added have already been applied to the search results. Now, only a single table, B22001, appears in the list of results.
This table was created as a result of the American Community Survey (ACS), a survey that provides annual information about people in the United States. A survey is a poll of a representative subset of the population to estimate data about the population as a whole. It is different from the decennial (10-year) census, which acquires information from every household in America once a decade.
- Under Tables, click B22001 | Receipt of Food Stamps/SNAP in the Past 12 Months by Presence of People 60 Years and Over for Households.
The table appears.
As the title indicates, this table shows data about both people aged 60 years and over and people who received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. In Colorado, SNAP benefits require proof of income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify.
The Label column contains rows that break down the information even more. There are rows for households receiving SNAP benefits with and without at least one person over 60 and rows for households not receiving SNAP benefits with and without at least one person over 60.
The other columns are divided by census tract. Each census tract has two columns, Estimate and Margin of Error. Because the ACS is a survey, not a census, its results are estimates, rather than full counts of the population. The margin of error indicates how much the survey's estimates might differ from the actual population.
Note:
Census data is updated frequently. Your numbers may not match the example images.
The ACS calculates its estimates at a 90 percent confidence level. This means that it is a 90 percent chance that the actual population is within the estimate's margin of error.
For example, if the number in the Estimate column is 100, and the Margin of Error is ±10 (plus or minus 10), it is a 90 percent chance that the actual number is between 90 and 110.
- In the list of results, under B22001, click View All 17 Products.
There is data available for estimates going back to 2010. The data is all labeled as ACS 5-year estimates, meaning the estimates were based on the previous five years of data. Tables for other variables might also include ACS 1-year estimates, which are based on the previous one year of data. ACS 1-year estimates are generally more suitable when you want to use the most up-to-date data, while ACS 5-year estimates use more data and provide a higher level of reliability.
Note:
To learn more about the difference between ACS estimates, see Using 1-Year or 5-Year American Community Survey Data.
You want to use the most current data. By default, the most current data is selected and displayed in the table, so you don't need to choose a different data product.
Visualize and download data
You've found the data you want. However, the table you're viewing has a lot of extra formatting that might make it difficult to add to a map later. Using the Census Bureau site's built-in map viewer, you can visualize the data you want to map and download a simplified table that contains that information in map-friendly format.
- On the ribbon above the table, click More Tools and choose Map.
Note:
The buttons on the ribbon above the table are dependent on the table's size and your screen size. If you have a very large screen or closed the Filters and Results panes, you may not see the More Tools button. If so, you can click the Map button from the ribbon.
A map appears, showing census tracts in Mesa County, Colorado. By default, each census tract is styled by its total number of households. Tracts with more households are darker blue.
You'll adjust the map so each census tract is styled based on the number of households receiving SNAP benefits with at least one person older than 60.
- On the ribbon above the map, click Total.
A list of the rows from the table appears.
- Under Household received Food Stamps/SNAP in the past 12 months, click At least one person in household 60 years or over.
The map updates. Now, darker census tracts are those with higher numbers of households receiving SNAP benefits that also have someone 60 years or older.
You'll view a simplified table associated with this map and download it.
- On the ribbon above the map, click More Tools and choose Table.
The Map Table pane appears. This table contains only three columns: one for the name of the census tract, one for the estimate of households, and one for the margin of error. The table has simple formatting that is compatible with mapping data.
You'll download this table. You have the option of removing the Margin of Error column from the table before you download it. Although you won't map this column, it might be useful to keep it in case you want to know more about the data.
- Scroll to the bottom of the Map Table pane. Click Download Table.
The table is downloaded as a comma-separated values (CSV) file. The default name of the file contains the data you downloaded, but isn't very descriptive. You'll rename it.
- Using your computer's file browser, locate the downloaded file. Rename it to ACS_SNAP_Over60.
This table contains the demographic information you want, but it doesn't have any geographic information other than the names of the census tracts. If you want to map this data, you'll need to combine it with geographic boundary data. You can also download this data from the Census Bureau map viewer.
- Return to the Census Bureau map viewer. On the ribbon above the map, click More Tools and choose GeoJSON.
A zipped folder is downloaded to your computer. This zipped folder includes a GeoJSON file, which is a type of file that contains simple geographic data. As before, the default file name isn't very descriptive. You'll unzip the folder and rename the GeoJSON file.
Tip:
An alternate resource for downloading spatial data for specific geographies is the Census Bureau's TIGER/Line Shapefiles page. Although this data is in shapefile format rather than GeoJSON format, it can be visualized on a web map the same way as a GeoJSON. GeoJSONs typically have more simplified geography compared to shapefiles, but for this tutorial, the differences don't matter.
- Using your computer's file browser, locate the downloaded zipped folder. Extract it to a location you can easily remember.
Note:
How you extract the file depends on your computer's file extractor. Most Windows computers include one by default. To use it, right-click the zipped folder you want to extract and choose Extract All. Set the destination location you want the extracted folder to go to and click Extract.
- Open the extracted folder. Rename the JSON file inside to Mesa_Census_Tracts.json.
You've now downloaded two files from the United States Census Bureau website. One is a CSV file with demographic data. The other is a GeoJSON file with spatial data. Both of these files are compatible with GIS and can be mapped.
Map the data
You have two files that you want to map, a CSV file and a GeoJSON file. First, you'll prepare the CSV file. Then, you'll upload the GeoJSON file to ArcGIS Online as a hosted feature class and add it to the map. You'll add the CSV file to the same map as a table and join both datasets together into one. Lastly, you'll style the dataset to emphasize the information you want to show.
Prepare the CSV file
Your ultimate goal is to join, or combine, the CSV and GeoJSON files in ArcGIS Online. To perform a join, both datasets need a shared column of data, usually a name column.
Both of your datasets have a name column for the census tracts in Mesa County, Colorado. However, the name column in the CSV file is formatted in an unusual way. Each name includes not only the name of the census tract, but the name of the county and state. You'll remove the unneeded county and state information to ensure you can join the files properly.
- Open your ACS_SNAP_Over60 file in Microsoft Excel (or an equivalent spreadsheet editor).
- Increase the width of the Geography column until you can see the full name of each census tract.
The words Mesa County; Colorado aren't useful to you, as all of your data is limited to Mesa County. They will also make it more difficult to join this file to the GeoJSON. Because the words you want to remove are separated by semicolons, you can remove them automatically.
- Click column A to select the entire column.
- On the ribbon, click the Data tab. In the Data Tools group, click Text to Columns.
The Convert Text to Columns Wizard appears. This wizard can divide one column into multiple columns based either on column width or the delimitation of certain characters, such as semicolons.
- For Choose the file type that best describes your data, choose Delimited.
- Click Next. For Delimiters, check Semicolon and uncheck any other options.
The preview at the bottom of the window shows how the column will be broken up. Delimiting the column this way leaves a column that contains only the name of each census tract, with no other information, which is exactly what you want.
- Click Next.
The final step of the wizard has options for formatting each column that will be created. You don't need the other two columns that will be created, so you'll choose not to import them.
- Under Data preview, select the column that contains the Mesa County records.
- Under Column data format, choose Do not import column (skip).
- Under Data preview, select the column that contains the Colorado records. Under Column data format, choose Do not import column (skip).
Now, both the Mesa County and Colorado columns have the header Skip Column, indicating they won't be imported.
- Click Finish.
The words Mesa County; Colorado are removed from the Geography column.
Lastly, you'll rename the column header for the estimates to be shorter and more descriptive.
- Select cell B1 (the cell that starts with the word Total). Above the spreadsheet, in the formula bar, change the text of the cell to Households receiving SNAP benefits with at least one person over 60.
- Save the file. Close Microsoft Excel.
Upload the GeoJSON file
Next, you'll upload your data to ArcGIS Online and add it to a web map. You'll start with the GeoJSON file, which contains the census tract boundaries.
- Sign in to your ArcGIS organizational account.
Note:
If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.
- On the ribbon, click Content.
- On the Content page, click New item.
The New item window appears. You have the option to add a file from your device or create a dataset.
- Under Drag and drop your file or choose an option, click Your device.
- In the window that appears, browse to your Mesa_Census_Tracts.json file. Select the file and click Open.
The file is added to the New item window. You have the option to upload the file as only a GeoJSON file, or to automatically create a hosted feature layer from it. A hosted feature layer can be added to a web map, so you want to create one.
- For How would you like to add this file, confirm that Add Mesa_Census_Tracts.json and create a hosted feature layer is selected.
- Click Next.
You can supply metadata before creating the file.
- Set the following information:
- For Title, type Mesa County Census Tracts.
- For Tags, type Geographic Boundaries, Colorado, and United States Census Bureau, pressing Enter after each tag.
- For Summary, type Census tract boundaries in Mesa County, Colorado.
Note:
Feature layer titles must be unique within an organization. If another person in your organization has done this workflow, you may need to add your name or initials to the title to ensure it is unique.
- Click Save.
The GeoJSON file is uploaded and a hosted feature layer is created from it. When the process finishes, you go to the item details page for the feature layer.
Next, you'll add the feature layer to a web map.
- Click Open in Map Viewer.
The layer opens in Map Viewer. It shows the census tracts in Mesa County.
Upload the CSV file
Next, you'll add the CSV file you downloaded to the map as a table.
- In the Layers pane, click the Add drop-down menu and choose Add layer from file.
A window appears with options for where to add your file from.
- In the Add Layer window, click Your device.
- Browse to and double-click your ACS_Snap_Over60 CSV file.
Like with the GeoJSON, you're asked whether you want to add this file as a hosted feature layer or not.
- In the Add Layer window, confirm that Create a hosted feature layer and add it to the map is selected and click Next.
A list of options appears for choosing what fields in the CSV file will be included in the output dataset. By default, every field is selected, which is appropriate.
- Confirm that the boxes next to all three fields (Geography, Households receiving SNAP benefits, and MoE) are checked. Click Next.
The Location settings option appears. This option is for specifying the type of geographic information, such as coordinates or latitude and longitude, the file contains. Your file only has the names of census tracts, with no other location information, which means you must add it to the map as a table.
- Confirm that None is selected. Click Next.
Lastly, you'll set the metadata for the table.
- Set the following metadata:
- For Title, type Households receiving SNAP benefits with older adults. If necessary, add your name or initials to ensure the title is unique within your organization.
- For Tags, type CSV File, Food Stamps, and Seniors.
- For Summary, type A table showing the number of households per census tract in Mesa County, Colorado, that receive SNAP benefits and have at least one adult over 60.
- Click Create and add to map.
The table is created and added to the map, though you can't see it because it doesn't have location data.
- On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Tables.
The Tables pane appears, listing the table you added.
- In the Tables pane, click the Households receiving SNAP benefits with older adults table.
The table appears. It has the same information as the CSV file.
Join the two files
The feature layer created by the GeoJSON file has geographic boundaries but no demographic data. The table created by the CSV file has demographic data but no geographic boundaries. To visualize the demographic data on a map, you'll join, or combine, these two datasets into one.
To join two datasets, both datasets must have a shared attribute field, usually a name or address attribute. Your table has the Geography field, which gives the name of each census tract. You'll look at the attributes of the census tracts layer to see whether it has a matching field.
- On the Contents toolbar, click Layers.
- In the Layers pane, for Mesa County Census Tracts, click the Options button and choose Show table.
The table associated with the census tract layer appears. All feature layers have a table that contains additional information associated with each feature.
This table contains the NAME field, which also lists the name of each census tract in an identical format to the CSV file table's Geography field. Using these two matching fields, you can join the datasets.
- Close the tables.
- On the Settings (light) toolbar, click Analysis.
The Analysis pane appears. This pane contains many tools that can be used to transform your data.
- In the Analysis pane, click Tools.
- Under Summarize data, click Join Features.
Tip:
If you have trouble finding a tool, you can search for its name.
The Join Features tool opens. Each tool has parameters you can set to ensure the tool runs the way you want. First, you'll choose the two layers you want to join.
- For Target layer, click Layer.
- In the Select layer window, click Mesa County Census Tracts.
- For Join layer, click Layer. In the Select layer window, click Households receiving SNAP benefits with older adults.
Now, both layers are listed. The number of features of each layer is also listed. Both layers have 33 features, suggesting that they will join completely and no data will be lost.
Next, you'll choose the matching fields from each layer that will be used to join them.
- Under Join settings, for Target field, choose NAME. For Join field, choose Geography.
The remaining parameters under Join settings would help you join the two layers if the number of features didn't match exactly or determine how the joined attribute table will be organized. You can leave these parameters unchanged for your analysis.
- Under Result layer, for Output name, type Mesa County Older Adults on Food Stamps. If necessary, add your name or initials to ensure the layer name is unique within your organization.
- Click Run.
The tool runs. After a few moments, the joined layer is created and added to the map and Layers pane.
- In the Layers pane, for Mesa County Older Adults on Food Stamps, click the Options button and choose Show table.
- Scroll to the end of the table.
The Households receiving SNAP benefits with at least one person over 60 field from your CSV file is included in the table. The two layers were successfully joined.
- Close the table.
You no longer need the original census tracts layer, so you'll remove it.
- In the Layers pane, for Mesa County Census Tracts, click the Options button and choose Remove.
The layer is removed.
Style the layer
Though the census tracts now have the demographic data you want to show, this data isn't visualized on the map. You'll change the joined layer's style to emphasize the demographic data.
- In the Layers pane, confirm that Mesa County Older Adults on Food Stamps is selected.
- On the Settings toolbar, click Styles.
The Styles pane appears. You can style data based on a specific attribute, which is what you'll do.
- In the Styles pane, under Choose attributes, click Field.
- In the Select fields pane, check the box for Households receiving SNAP benefits with at least one person over 60 and click Add.
On the map, the style changes. Census tracts with more households fitting the criteria have symbols with larger circles. Changing the style in this way made the original census tract boundaries disappear, which can make the map difficult to read. You'll add the outlines back.
- Under Pick a style, for Counts and Amounts (size), click Style options.
More style options appear.
- Scroll down the Style options pane. For Background symbol style, click the symbol.
You'll give the background symbol a color that matches the orange circles.
- In the Background symbol style window, under Outline color, click the symbol.
- In the Select color window, next to the # symbol, delete the existing text and type e38b4f.
- Click Done.
By default, the background symbol has high transparency, making it difficult to see on the map. You'll remove the transparency.
- In the Background symbol style pane, for Outline transparency, set the slider to 0 percent.
- In the Style options pane, click Done. In the Styles pane, click Done.
Lastly, you'll change the basemap to one that is simpler and that will emphasize your data on the map.
- On the Contents toolbar, click Basemap.
- In the Basemap pane, click the Light Gray Canvas basemap.
The basemap changes. Now, your data shows up more clearly on the map.
- Close the Basemap pane. Zoom in to the center of the map, where most of the census tracts are located.
At this zoom extent, it's easier to see which census tracts have large numbers of households receiving SNAP benefits with at least one adult over 60. These census tracts are the ones the health network may want to prioritize.
- On the Contents toolbar, click Save and open and choose Save as.
- In the Save map window, add the following information:
- For Title, type Mobile Healthcare Priority Areas.
- For Tags, type Census Tracts, Seniors, and SNAP.
- For Summary, type Map showing the spatial distribution of older adults receiving SNAP benefits by census tract in Mesa County, Colorado.
- Click Save.
In this tutorial, you found and downloaded ACS data from the United States Census Bureau website. You added the data to a web map in ArcGIS Online, joined it to census tract boundary data, and visualized the results.
The information in your map can be used to inform healthcare resource allocation and prioritization. To move from data exploration and visualization into action, you could perform analysis to examine patterns of resource disparities relative to demographic and environmental factors. For instance, you could map existing healthcare services and use proximity analysis, such as the Create Buffers or Create Drive Times tools, to find census tracts that lack easy access.
Esri provides access to many spatial data layers with United States Census Bureau data through its free authoritative data repository, ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. Try the tutorial Get started with ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World to learn more about the data available and how to access it. To learn more about ACS data in particular, explore the resources included in Learn about your community using Census ACS layers in Living Atlas. To learn about ways you can share your maps, try the tutorial Share a map.
You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.
