By James Clary
Economist
The U.S. Census Bureau released the American Community Survey’s five year estimates on December 14th. This presents a tremendous opportunity for analysis because it provides estimates down to the block level for the first time since the 2000 Decennial Census. The New York Times has provided an interactive mapping tool for the entire country using this data, allowing the user to compare neighborhoods throughout Hampton Roads, as well as those throughout the country.
The data is divided into the categories of Race & Ethnicity, Income, Housing and Families, and Education. The Census website does have nine static maps of county level data; however, the ability to both control the map and zoom to the neighborhood level is a user-friendly valuable addition.
Change in Household Median Income Since 2000
The screen shot above is an example of one map on the website, and shows the change in Median Household Income by Census Tract since 2000. As you can see, neighborhoods have had very different experiences, a fact that would be lost looking at the data from the county level.
This resource can be accessed at: http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer?hp?hp 
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