American FactFinder Eric Guthrie

What is it and how do I get there? It is the data retrieval tool available to the public that allows anyone to obtain data from US Census products form 2000 and later.

Quick Facts

Convenient, Basic Data

Advanced Data Searches

Step One…Geography An important question to ask yourself is “At what geographic level do I require the data?” Nation Region State County County Subdivision Township ZIP CodePlace (City, Town, CDP) TractCongressional District Block Group Block How do I do that?

Really Small Geographies Few will need this level of detail, but if you do, here is where you can find the maps of the small geographies, i.e. tracts, block groups, and blocks South Dakota Tracts 2010 South Dakota Blocks South Dakota Tracts 2000 South Dakota Blocks

Tract, Block Groups and Blocks Small units of geography. In places they are literally as small as blocks, as an area gets more rural, they become larger, but are still the smallest units available

Step Two…Data Set Decennial Census American Community Survey1 – Year Estimates ( ) 3 – Year Estimates ( ) 5 – Year Estimates ( ) Variety of Other Data Sets including Business Patterns, Economic Census, and others

Step Three…Topic This is probably the first thing that most people think of when they are planning the data search, but your selections in the first and second steps really make a difference in what topics you can explore.

Lots of Topics

Data Definitions and Methodology Terms: Methods: (ACS) (2010 Decennial)

The Instruments 2010 Decennial Census Form American Community Survey

Exercise Lets get some data! Let’s find a few things and see how this comes together. Items to find: 1.Median age for Minnehaha county for Number of females over 18 in Box Elder in Persons below the poverty line in McPherson County in 2011

What was that order again? 1.Geography 2.Data Set 3.Topic

Answers 1.Median age for Minnehaha county for (+/- 0.1) 2.Number of females 18 and over in Box Elder in ,474 3.Per Capita Income in McPherson County in 2011 $19,879 (+/- $1,457)

Exercise for credit Students Pick three pieces of data that would be important to you and/or your work and find them for your community, Sioux Falls, and Rapid City (if your community is Rapid City or Sioux Falls, pick any third community) Get these data for from the 2010 Decennial Census and the 2011 Community Survey Send your responses to Mike at:

Thank you Remember, we are here to help. Let us know if we can be of assistance to you with your data needs. Eric Guthrie South Dakota State University Rural Life and Census Data Center