This platform combines publicly available data from a number of different sources. For a detailed description of the data gathering and preparation, see the documentation on the Methodology page. Here we provide a quick overview of where the data come from and what we did to make the data usable for the maps and graphs you see on the dashboards.
Economic Conditions
The data for the Economic Conditions dashboard come from surveys conducted by the United States Census Bureau. Until 2000, the surveys were part of the census conducted every 10 years. As part of the census, 5% of all American households were given a long-form questionnaire which asked more detailed questions than the questionnaire most citizens received. Households were asked about demographics like age and race as well as economic questions about employment and wages.
Post 2000, the Census Bureau began conducting the American Community Survey (ACS) as an ongoing survey, reaching about 3.5 million households every year. The ACS covers a wide variety of topics, but we continue to focus on questions related to employment. The survey results from both the Census and ACS can be found online.
These surveys are an excellent data source as they directly ask questions we’re interested in: current employment, wages, and so on. And they have broad coverage of American households. Over all the years of data in the Economic Conditions dashboard, the surveys contain information on nearly 80 million people.
Policy Transfers
The Policy Transfers dashboard required data from a number of different organizations and agencies.
The data on individual transfers (such as Social Security and unemployment benefits) come from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in the US Department of Commerce. The BEA is the standard source for many economic variables like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and personal income. The data we use on this platform is gathered by the BEA from various sources: the Social Security Administration, the US Department of Health and Human Services, state and federal tax codes, and more. All together, this forms the most comprehensive data source of government funds going to households.
For place-based transfers, the data are more dispersed.
- Business investment incentives data come from Subsidy Tracker created by Good Jobs First, a non-profit which “promotes corporate and government accountability in economic development.” This dataset is one we acquired.
- R&D funding data come from the National Science Foundation. This covers all the money going to Federally Funded Research and Development Centers.
- Regional development and planning data come from the Economic Development Administration (EDA). It includes all awards (contracts, grants, loans, insurance, direct payments, etc.) given by the EDA.
- Small business assistance data come from the Small Business Administration (SBA). This includes all major loans provided by the SBA as well as awards through the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
- Workforce development data on community college enrollment come from surveys of colleges conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Energy Economy
The Energy Economy dashboard has three data sources. The first source is the same Census Bureau survey as the Economic Conditions data (described above), which is used to determine energy sector employment and earnings.
Renewable energy potential is calculated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a national laboratory of the US Department of Energy. The NREL uses a statistical model to estimate how much renewable energy local areas of the country could generate with a variety of technologies (this platform includes land-based wind and utility-scale solar photovoltaics). Their model uses detailed data on local climate/weather, infrastructure, laws about energy development, and more.
Data on current electric power generation is provided by the US Energy Information Administration. They collect generator-level information from electric power plants with 1 megawatt or greater capacity.
Place-based data
What makes all this data particularly useful is its precise geographic information. Many economic indicators are available at the national or state level, but the surveys and data collection that go into this platform can all be connected to particular commuting zones. So, they can be used to understand local economic conditions, policies, and outlook. This platform is the first to bring all this data into one place.
