Introduction The Texas Hill Country’s regional population is expected to double in the next 20 years. Proper planning is required to ensure that this area does not lose its unique cultural and physical identity. A demographic profile reveals characteristics of people and various changes that occur over time. HCA and TDCG collaborated to use GIS in order to create a demographic profile of the hill country.

Data Data was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 census data was acquired from Social Explorer database HCA provided HCA_Counties and Surrouding_Counties shapefile All data was projected in NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_14N projection

Methods Data Collection Data Selection Data Formatting Join Data to Geography

Methods Data Collection Difficult to find digital data before 1990 – None available direct from US Census Bureau University of Texas in Austin – Social Explorer! – Provided digital data between 1970 and 2000 – Downloaded as comprehensive excel reports

Comprehensive Excel Report from Social Explorer for 2000 Methods

Methods Data Selection Comprehensive reports contained unnecessary data Selected data that was common throughout 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 – Standardized mapping purposes – Data sets needed to be consistent between each decade – Excluded Bexar and Travis counties Skewed classifications High metropolitan population counts greatly outnumber small rural population counts

Methods Example of data Skew with Equal Intervals :

Methods Example of data Skew with Natural Breaks:

Methods Data Formatting ESRI standards – Table structure Reformatted Social Explorer reports – Transposed data (excel functions) Concatenated data sets – Add multiple data sets together

Social Explorer report before formatting:

Newly formatted table:

Methods Joining Tables with Geography Joined new table to HCA counties geography

Methods Cartography and Map Making Symbology – Graduated color ramps Used to display 5 equal intervals Normalizations – Without normalizations the more populous counties will always be in the highest interval

Methods Percent of Population Over the age 65:

Results and Discussion Results – Charts: Provide statistical data – Maps: Normalized statistical data – Data: Shapefiles and excel sheets Discussion – Analysis of data Correlations Trends Implications

Results MapsCharts

Unemployment Rate 10 of the 15 counties had an unemployment rate lower than the state average (4.5% in 2000) Hays and Uvalde County have Highest Unemployment Rate (2000) Unemployment Rate vs. Hispanic Population

Implications Unemployment RateHispanic population

Trends: Urbanization Total Population Total Population

Correlation Urban vs. RuralPopulation growth

Conclusion TDCG assisted the HCA in its mission to better understand the inhabitants of the hill country. A demographic profile of the region was created illustrating 40 years of census data. TDCG was able to create maps, graphs, and charts that display numerical values for each county. By profiling the people of the region, TDCG displayed socioeconomic characteristics that provide insight to various phenomena.