Data.census.gov Newsletter – January 2023

Learn about the latest system updates, data releases, and educational opportunities for data.census.gov.

Latest System Updates

In December, we released new updates to improve your experience on data.census.gov. With this release, you will now see:

• New population pyramids in geographic profiles
• Ability to collapse the table or map toolbar
• Improved selection of map layer
• Improved landing page
• Improved sorting of geographies in economic data tables
• Enhanced line charts in the profiles
• Created a share button on the table tool bar
• Continued search engine enhancements
• Fixes to 32 defects

The primary focus of this release are the new population pyramids in the geographic profiles. When you access a profile that contains a section for “Age and Sex,” you will see population pyramids. This includes Geography Profiles for the nation, states, counties, cities/towns, congressional districts, school districts, American Indian Areas, Alaska Native Areas, and Hawaiian Homelands.

Users will also be able to collapse the table or map toolbar. This allows you to devote more space on your screen to the table or map you are viewing.

Data users can now expand or collapse the toolbar by clicking the chevron at the top. We’ve also improved the selection of map layer. When you click the “Layer” button, you will now see a grid view with an image showing the boundary for each option. This new feature is now the default view.

You’ll also notice improved URLs to capture your basemap selection. This means that when you choose a basemap that is different than the default selection, these details will be added to your URL. If you decide to share this link or visit it later, your basemap selection will be saved.

Another improvement is our Landing Page. This update allows you to access more educational materials on the landing page of data.census.gov, including short videos and links to helpful resources.

Further improvements were made to the sorting of geographies in economic data tables. You will see data for higher-level geographies such as the United States at the top of your table and data for lower-level geographies towards the bottom of the table. This applies to the table display on data.census.gov and the downloaded output.

Lastly the line charts in the profiles are now enhanced. This update was applied to account for data from the 2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates not being shown due to the estimates being released as an experimental product. You will now see a dotted line and brief messaging at the bottom of the line chart to explain this.

Latest Data Releases

New data releases:

• Timeseries Annual Survey of Manufactures Area – 12/15
• Timeseries Annual Survey of Manufactures Value – 12/15
• 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Comparison Profile – 12/8
• 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Data Profile – 12/8
• 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Detailed Tables – 12/8
• 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Subject Tables – 12/8
• November 2022 Current Population Survey Basic Monthly – 12/8
• May Current Population Survey Work Schedules Supplement – 12/8
• February CPS Contingent Worker Supplement – 12/8
• 1992-2013 CPS Annual Social and Economic (March) Supplement – 12/1
• 1995-97-99 February Current Population Survey Contingent Worker Supplement – 12/1
• October 2002 Current Population Survey Library Use Supplement – 12/1
• May 1995 Current Population Survey Race and Ethnicity Supplement – 12/1

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Featured Video Tutorial:

Explanation of Mapping Buttons on data.census.gov

Upcoming Webinar:

data.census.gov News and Updates: January 2023

Join us for this webinar where we will cover updates on data.census.gov for the months of October, November, and December. Updates include simplified URLs, new accessibility features, improved selections of map layers, new population pyramids in profiles, and more. 

New Year, New Workshop:

Basics of Using the Microdata Access Tool in data.census.gov

Beginning in January 2023, we are launching our new Microdata Access Workshop!

These participatory classes walk you through examples of creating tables in the Microdata Access Tool (MDAT) within data.census.gov.

Microdata Access on data.census.gov/mdat, allows you to create custom tables that are not available in the pre-made tables on data.census.gov, without having to use your own statistical software or special programming.

More Upcoming Workshops: 

These participatory classes walk you through examples that cover the basics of using data.census.gov to find demographic and economic data, including ways to search, options available for getting tables into Excel, how to map a table, and more. Time is allotted throughout the training for questions, and participation is strongly encouraged. No prior knowledge of using data.census.gov is required for these classes.

Making the Most of Mapping in data.census.gov

Basics of Finding Data on data.census.gov

Advanced Usage of data.census.gov

Featured Question

Can I modify tables, download data, and print data?

Currently users can transpose columns and rows in data tables. You can also download data tables in .CSV format and download multiple years in one ZIP file. Tables visible on screen can be exported to Excel. The export to Excel will maintain any changes the user applies to the table layout using the custom filters.

Users can also copy parts of a table, with or without headers, and paste those parts into Excel to work with it in any way they want.

Coming Soon

In future updates to data.census.gov, we are working toward:

• Enhanced search
• Defect fixes

About data.census.gov

Data.census.gov is the primary platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. We continuously update data.census.gov with new data from our most popular survey and programs, as well as system enhancements to improve your experience on the platform.

We’re here to help with your data needs:

• Visit our data.census.gov Resources page for educational materials
• Learn about Microdata Access and the Census Data API
• Request a data.census.gov training: ced.cedsci.outreach@census.gov
• Request a training for your local area: census.askdata@census.gov
• Ask your questions: census.data@census.gov

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Your suggestions help determine future improvements we implement to make data.census.gov work better for you!