Additional Maps

These demographic maps complement the maps that are available in the Equity Atlas 2.0 mapping tool. They offer an in-depth look at demographic patterns across the region related to:
  1. Population
  2. Race & Ethnicity
  3. Age
  4. Household Type
  5. Income
The maps enhance our understanding of regional equity by examining: 
  • ​Changes in the region’s demographic patterns over the past decade
  • The distribution of different demographic groups as measured by the density of people or households per acre within each of the region’s census tracts
  • The distribution of different demographic groups as a percent of the total population within each of the region’s census tracts

For more information about the maps, please read the About the Maps section.

POPULATION

RACE & ETHNICITY:

African American

Asian

Hispanic

Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

Native American or Alaskan Native

Populations of Color

AGE:

5 Years of Age and Younger

18 Years of Age and Younger

65 Years of Age and Older

HOUSEHOLD TYPE:

Single-Parent Households

Single-Parent Female-Headed Households

INCOME:

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ABOUT THE MAPS 

Source Data

The data for the maps are based on the 2000 and 2010 US Census. (The Percent Change in Median Household Income map uses American Community Survey 2006-2010 estimates instead of 2010 Census data because the 2010 Census did not include an income question.)
 

Geography

All of the maps display data using 2010 census tracts. A census tract is a geographic unit with boundaries determined by the US Census. Census tracts are designed to be relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions, with an optimum of about 4,000 inhabitants (although this can vary widely from about 1,200 to 8,000).  Since census tract boundaries are largely determined by the number of residents, tract size can vary widely over a geographic region -- with smaller tracts in dense urban areas and much larger tracts in rural areas.
 

Change Over Time 

The change over time maps show the rate of change in population between 2000 and 2010 by census tract.  The rate of change is calculated by subtracting the number of persons in 2000 (by census tract) from the number of persons in 2010 and then dividing this number by the number of persons in 2000. The data are displayed using 2010 census tract geographies.

 

Density by Acre 

The maps that show the density of people or households per acre measure the number of persons or households per unit of land. Density is calculated by dividing the number of persons (a raw count) in a census tract by the total acres within that same census tract. The resulting maps show the physical concentration of the demographic group being mapped (note that this is not the same as “total” persons or households). 

The Equity Atlas 2.0 mapping tool also includes maps of density by acre, but those are heatmaps whereas these maps are shape maps (also known as “vector” or “choropleth” maps) that display densities by census tracts rather than as rasters. Density is used to normalize (or equalize) a range of values across a geographic region. Normalization involves factoring out the size of the areal unit to create a map of counts collected over unequal areas. This eliminates the variability in census tract sizes across the region by transforming measures of magnitude (counts) into measures of intensity.  
 

Percent of Total Population  

The maps that show the percent of total population measure the proportion of a census tract’s population that is comprised of a specific demographic group. In these maps, percentage is calculated by dividing the number of persons from a specific demographic group (a raw count) in a census tract by the total number of persons within that same census tract.
 

Legends

The classes in the map legends were determined using natural breaks, which is an algorithm that calculates where there is a statistically significant break in the range and frequency of values in each dataset. The use of natural breaks means that the classification scheme is relative rather than absolute. In other words, because the range of values differs for each demographic group, the classification schemes are different for each map. This means that you can use the maps to compare the relative distribution of each demographic group, but you cannot compare the specific distributions by classification scheme across different maps.

For example, because the overall number of Hawaiian/ Pacific Islanders in the region is much smaller than the overall number of Hispanics in the region, the areas with the highest densities of Hawaiian/ Pacific Islanders may have less than 1 person per acre, whereas the areas with the highest densities of Hispanics may have 20-30 persons per acre. 

 

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