Research Guides: CITY 185: Urban Culture and Society (BMC): Census Data

Census information and Mapping Tools

United States Census Bureau
Provides population, housing, economic and geographic data from the latest Decennial Census, the Economic Censuses and Surveys, and the American Community Survey.

Social Explorer
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Offers access to reports and interactive maps for the U.S. Census (1790-present), World Development Indicators (1960-2013), and Eurostat (European Union data), among others. A project of Queens College, sponsored by the New York Times and the National Science Foundation.
PolicyMap
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
PolicyMap is an online data and mapping application that gives access to over 15,000 indicators related to demographics, housing, crime, mortgages, health, jobs and more. Data is available at all common geographies (address, block group, census tract, zip code, county, city, state, MSA) as well as unique geographies like school districts and political boundaries.
China Data Online
- This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive database focusing on economic statistics of China, arranged by regions and categories. BRYN MAWR subscribes to the statistical modules only.

Visualizing Census Data Tutorial

Before you start using Social Explorer or PolicyMap, complete the following tutorials to help you learn the programs.

For Bryn Mawr students: https://brynmawr.libwizard.com/f/CITY185_Census_BMC

For Haverford students: https://brynmawr.libwizard.com/f/CITY185_Census_Haverford

Census vs. American Community Survey

Beginning in 2010, the American Community Survey (ACS) replaced the Decennial Census for collecting detailed demographic information (age, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino origin, household relationships, housing tenure (owner- and renter-occupied housing units). The US Census no longer includes information on education, income and poverty, transportation, and other topics. Those data are now available from the ACS instead. The ACS is conducted annually to approximately 3.5 million addresses and documents social, economic, demographic and housing characteristics.

All census data is available at data.census.gov. American Fact Finder is longer updated as of June 2019.

For data from the Decennial census and the ACS, the easiest place to start is Social Explorer or PolicyMap.

When in doubt, you can always ask a librarian for help.