Welcome to our series on helpful tips for PolicyMap. With over 10,000 data indicators and many online features, we hope our series can help users better utilize PolicyMap. For a complete training, please join a free online session here: Click Here
Did you know you can print a map of just your target area shaded and have the surrounding area clear? We call this feature "island printing." To use island printing:
- Search for your default location. Your searched location will be the area the map will shade by. (i.e. searching for Chicago will only shade the city of Chicago when you choose "island printing.")
- Create a map as normal with a data layer and Add Sites.
- When you are ready to print the map, choose "only shade selected region."
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The Census Bureau defines cost burdened renters as households for whom gross rent is 30% or more of household income. Gross rent is the contract rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.) if these are paid by the renter (or paid for the renter by someone else). Gross rent is intended to eliminate differentials that result from varying practices with respect to the inclusion of utilities and fuels as part of the rental payment. Percentage calculations were suppressed in cases where the denominator of the calculation was less than 10 of the unit that is being described (e.g., households, people, householders, etc). Such areas are represented as having “Insufficient Data” in the map. Denominators for percentage calculations were created by summing all of the component data items in a particular dataset.
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As the nation debates the need for healthcare reform, a question worth asking is: where are the most uninsured populations? The Census’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) can provide some answers. They have county and state level data for 2005 and 2006.
The Census’ Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) dataset produces model-based estimates of health insurance coverage for states and counties. This dataset is an estimate based on a model because data on health insurance coverage are not available elsewhere at this time. (A question on health insurance coverage has recently been added to the American Community Survey, but widespread reporting on that question is not yet available).
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Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts is known as a playground of the affluent, but its year round residents need to pay a pretty penny, as Dukes County ranks near last in this gauge of homeowner affordability.
Percent of owner-occupied housing units valued at or less than roughly three times of the Area Median Income for a four-person family in 2009. For example, a family with an income of $30,000 could afford to purchase a home valued at less than $80,000. Area Median Income is the median income for a family of a specified size within the county (if the area is located outside of a metropolitan area) or metropolitan area (if the area is located within a metropolitan area), as published by HUD.
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The Urban Institute uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to measure cultural vitality by looking at employment in the arts. We have data on employment levels and hourly and annual wages by artistic occupation (art director, fine artist, photographer, writer, etc.). One might expect to see New York or Los Angeles on this top-ten list, but residents of Trenton, New Jersey and Toledo, Ohio may be surprised to learn that their art directors are among the best paid in the country.
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) is a series of surveys conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) which produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations, among them a number of arts-related occupations. These data present estimates of the number of people employed in arts-related occupations, and estimates of the wages paid to them. Self-employed persons are not included in the estimates. Any year’s data is based on surveys conducted in May of that year.
The average annual wage for art directors in 2006
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City, State, Metro Area Type |
Average annual wage for art directors |
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$112,730 |
| New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$102,070 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$100,690 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$93,720 |
| Trenton-Ewing, NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$93,700 |
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San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$86,050 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$85,160 |
| Toledo, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$81,170 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$80,800 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area |
$80,640 |
Do you want to learn more about this dataset or other features on PolicyMap? Join our free weekly trainings (Click Here) or send your questions to pmap@policymap.com.
Want to see PolicyMap’s new widgets demoed live? Join us in New York City next week on Jan 13th & 14th 2010 for the Inman News’ Real Estate Connect New York City 2010. What is a widget? Widgets are customizable instances of PolicyMap maps with dynamic features such as the ability to zoom into or pan across a map, click on an area to view the underlying data or toggle between additional data layers and points of data.
Learn more and see some examples of live widgets here; visit us at booth D-28 in the exhibit hall of the Marriot Marquis Times Square or contact us.
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Our education data from the New America Foundation includes the per-pupil amount of funding districts receive from either federal or state sources. Total Federal Direct Aid includes No Child Left Behind Title I Grants to local school districts and IDEA Special Education State Grants. It can be found in the "Education" tab, under "School District Funding."
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From data layers to reports to Analytics, PolicyMap offers many ways to interact with data. To help you become familiar with the system, we have created the PolicyMap Primer. This is a complete overview of all features and functions.
Download the PolicyMap Primer
At PolicyMap, we strive to continually improve our application and will keep you posted as we update data, add new datasets or introduce new functionality. The Primer will also be updated as new features are added to PolicyMap.
If you would like more information on various features or have any questions about PolicyMap, please join us in our weekly trainings (open calendar) or contact us at (866) 923-MAPS (6277) or info@policymap.com.
The Brookings Institution uses data from the IRS to construct a broad database of tax return data, available by ZIP code, city, county, metropolitan area, state, state legislative district, and congressional district, for every year from 2000 to 2006. The data is available in PolicyMap in the "Money & Income" tab, in the "Federal Tax Returns" section. Due to privacy concerns, some areas with very low counts have suppressed data. Listed here are the top 10 zip codes that do not contain suppressed data.
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