Explanation of the Census and ACS

American FactFinder

Quick search: You can use this to do a quick search for county-wide data.

Facts for features

You may want to subscribe for regular census updates.

NYC Census 2010

The 2010 census provides a demographic portrait of New York City’s population. This includes data on age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, household size and type, living arrangements and relationships of household members, and housing units by occupancy status (occupied, vacant) and tenure (owner, renter). These data are presented for a variety of geographic areas, including the city, five boroughs, community districts, neighborhood tabulation areas (NTA), and census tracts.

Census Factfinder

Use this interactive map to get demographic information by neighborhood or census tract. You can also view that change over time.

Data2Go.nyc

Baruch guide to the Census

New York City Data Sources

NYC.gov

NYCStat is the City’s one-stop-shop for all essential data, reports, and statistics related to city services. From this page you can access a wide array of performance-related information including citywide and agency-specific performance, 311-related information, and interactive mapping features for selected performance data and quality of life conditions.

NYC Department of City Planning

New York City’s 59 community districts, established by local law in 1975, illustrate the remarkable diversity of the city’s land uses and population. They range in size from less than 900 acres to almost 15,000 acres, and in population from fewer than 35,000 residents to more than 200,000. These and other facts about the districts are presented in the profiles that follow. Each district profile contains summary data on population size; birth, death and infant mortality rates; land area and land uses; and levels of income support

NYC Population

Population Projection 2040

Newest New Yorkers 2013

Uses Census information and other federal and local data to take a detailed look at the origins, spatial settlement, and other characteristics of the foreign-born population in New York City and in the larger metropolitan region.

NYC Open Data

- Business: legally operating businesses, licensed retailers, DCA inspections

- Education: SAT scores, math results, school attendance and enrollment, graduation outcomes, class size

- Housing: DOB Complaints Received, Building Permits, Top Ten Elevator Offenders, NYCHA Facilities and Service Centers, Damage By Sandy By Age Of Building

- Health: New York City Restaurant Inspection Results, New York City Leading Causes of Death, NYC School meals income levels, HIV Testing Locations, Rodent Inspection, Mental Health Service Finder Data, Most Popular Baby Names by Sex and Mother’s Ethnic Group

- Public safety: NYPD Motor Vehicle Collisions, Historical New York City Crime Data, NYPD 7 Major Felony Incident Map, Motor Vehicle Collisions, Inmate Stabbing. Slashing Incidents, FDNY Line Of Duty Deaths, Emergency Response Incidents, NYC Park Crime Data

- Social services: 311 Service Requests from 2010 to Present, Lower Manhattan Complaint caused by Construction, Directory Of Homeless Drop-In Centers, ACS Community Partners, Cash Assistance Recipients in NYC, Abuse/Neglect by Community District (CD)

- Transportation: For Hire Vehicles (FHV) – Active Drivers, 2014 Yellow Taxi Trip Data, 2015 Green Taxi Trip Data

- City government: 2013 Campaign Contributions, Mayor’s Management Report

MMR

Mayor’s Management Report

The Mayor’s Management Report (MMR), which is mandated by the City Charter, serves as a public report card on City services affecting New Yorkers. The MMR is released twice a year. The Preliminary MMR provides an early update of how the City is performing four months into the fiscal year, from July 1st through October 31st.

Citywide Performance Reporting (CPR) tool

Agency performance reporting is part of the Citywide Performance Reporting (CPR) tool. It presents critical performance measures from 44 City agencies in an easy-to-use online format. Most of the data in CPR is updated monthly, on the first of every month. Users can search for measures of various services, analyze long-term trends and review agencies’ key performance measures.

This is a good site to use if you are doing a story that involves a city agency such as: CUNY, Administration for Child Services, Civilian Review and Complaint Board, Department of Education, Department of Correction, Department of Homeless Services, FDNY or the NYPD. You can review annual performance reports for the agencies and often get very helpful statistics for your story.

NYC Stat 311 Reporting

Street & Sidewalk Cleanliness

NYC Records

This site is for historical records on NYC and includes collections from the Municipal Archives, Vital Records, Tax Records. There are many interesting photo galleries of historic NYC and related documents.

The Online Gallery provides free and open research access to over 800,000 items digitized from the Municipal Archives’ collections, including photographs, maps, motion-pictures and audio recordings.

Example: Giuliani archives

Government Publications Portal
This can be a useful — if haphazardly organized — resource for reports for and about city agencies.

Education

School Progress Report
Progress Reports help parents, teachers, principals, and school communities understand schools’ strengths and weaknesses. Progress Reports grade each school with an A, B, C, D, or F and are based student progress (60%), student performance (25%), and school environment (15%).

If you are doing a story about a school, you can find the latest progress reports here.

Find a School Survey

You can also learn about a particular school or community by reading the results of the school survey.

“The NYC School Survey helps school leaders understand what key members of the school community say about the learning environment at each school. The information captured by the survey is designed to support a dialogue among all members of the school community about how to make the school a better place to learn. ”

NY State Department of Education

Use this site for state-wide data and news on education.

It also issues report cards for schools.

Health

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Environment & Health Data Portal

Neighborhood Profiles

Publications: NYC Vital Signs
These are quick data-rich facts sheets on a range of topics.

Epi Data Briefs are short (2-3 pages) publications that highlight data findings from varying Health Department programs and projects. Examples: Traffic Fatalities in New York City, Tuberculosis among New Yorkers Born in China, Cocaine Use in New York City: Morbidity and Mortality and Ambient Noise Disruption in New York City

Epiquery Data

Unintentional Drug Poisoning (Overdose) Deaths Involving Opioids in New York City, 2011-2014

Condom Usage

Rat Portal

Transportation

NYC Department of Transportation Library
Here you can find a range of reports on transportation topics like Traffic and Crash Data

- Vision Zero Year-Two Report (PDF)

- Data feeds
-Vision Zero

Crash Data:
Injuries by Year shapefile geoJSON
Injuries by Month shapefile geoJSON
Fatalities by Year shapefile geoJSON
Fatalities by Month shapefile geoJSON

MTA

Capital Program Dashboard

MTA Stat

MTA Facts & Figures

MTA Turnstile Data by Day

Economy, Employment & Business

NYC Office of Management and the Budget

NY Department of Labor Statistics

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Example data set: demographics of the labor force

NY-NJ Stats

Department of Consumer Affairs

DCA licenses nearly 80,000 businesses in 55 different industries. You can use the Search for a DCA Licensee service to see if an individual or business holds a DCA license.

Examples of reports: A Study of Gender Pricing in New York City

Property Records

Register’s Office

The Offices of the City Register maintain the official public records for New York City Real and Personal Property transfers, interest, and ownership for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Records dated after 1966 can be recorded and corrected through the Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) online or at ACRIS terminals in City Register Offices. Records dated before 1966 can only be accessed in the City Register’s Office in the borough where the property is located.

NYC Department of Buildings

The Department’s Buildings Information System (BIS) provides the public with real-time access to Department data and information, including: Complaints, Inspections, Application processing, Accounting information, Periodic safety reports , Equipment tracking, Trade licensing and contractor tracking

Department of Sanitation: Reports, Statistics

2014-2015 Biennial report

Criminal Justice System

NY State Criminal Search

NYC Inmate lookup

Hart Island Lookup

NY Sex Offender

NYPD Crime Statistics

NYPD Crime Map

NYPD Crime Stoppers

Inmate Lookup

Fire Department

Civil courts

Findlaw Directory on NY Courts

Civil Small Claims

See Through New York

On this non-profit site you will find payroll, budgets and pension information for New York employees.

NY State portals

NY State Statistics

Federal

FedStats.gov

AFL-CIO – Corporate Watch

Bankruptcy

United States Bankruptcy Court

Pacer.gov

Politics

Open Secrets

Federal Election Committee

County portal

National Association of Counties

Business and Corporation Records

Hoovers.com

National Crime

Sex Offenders

FBI Crime Reports

US Bureau of Justice Statistics and Publications

Criminal Justice Services

Health

NY State Department of Health Statistics

CDC Statistics

SAMHSA Substance Abuse Statistics

Economy

US Commerce Department – Bureau of Economic Analysis

Census – Business and Industry

Education

Department of Education

Employment and Labor

U.S. Department of Labor

Occupational Safety & Health Administration

Statistics

Environment

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Toxic Release Inventory

Chemical release

U.S. Energy Information Administration

Food and Agriculture

National Agriculture Statistics Service

Office of Management and the Budget Federal Spending

USA Spending

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Immigration

ICE Online Detainee Locator System

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Census on Foreign Born Population

Transportation

RITA-National Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Non-profits

National Center for Charitable Statistics

Guidestar

IRS Search for Charities

International

CIA World Factbook

NationMaster

LEARNING THE NITTY GRITTY OF MY MINI-CITY

I currently reside in the Pelham Parkway area of the Bronx. Though it has more official titles like zip-code 10469, Northeast Bronx, and the home of the 49th Precinct. I moved here from Soundview back in 2004. Yet, as familiar as I have gotten with the area in the last 10 years, I’ve never truly felt like I knew what makes this corner of New York City I call home, really tick. So it was with great intrigue that I began my investigation into finding the real nitty gritty details of my neighborhood.

The borough of the Bronx is the resting place for 1,455,444 New Yorkers, according to the ACS 2015 Population Estimate, 30,073 of which are my neighbors in Pelham Parkway. What I never knew was that 54 percent of my neighbors are female. Which would come as good news to the single gentlemen of the area hoping for options? The median age is 36, which makes me not average and slightly younger. Like most places in New York City, my locality can be considered a “melting pot” of races. However, the dominant groups consist of Whites (20 percent), Blacks/African Americans (56 percent), and Hispanics (25 percent). And since I could be deemed as both White and Hispanic, that means I can relate to 45 percent of my neighbors on a certain cultural level.

However, if we can’t connect on a cultural level, surely, we can relate on our mutual responsibilities to our employers? As I pass by my fellow district denizens on mornings to work 49 percent travel by car, truck or van and 45 percent by public transportation (51 percent of them being women). Unfortunately for many of those travelers, 30 percent need an hour or more to get to their destinations and the average travel time for all of these migrants is 40.5 minutes, making me realize how fortunate I am to have such a short travel to my job. The median income is $56,000, with the jobs most common in the area being in the fields of health care and retail. About 8,665 work in health and social services (24 percent male, 76 percent female) and 3,172 (51 percent male, 49 percent female) working in retail businesses.

Mixed in with those travelers are students as well as former students. Enrollment rates are strong for children of the region. Over 70 percent of their parents and grandparents (25 and older) have gotten their high school diplomas, along with another 21 percent of them having gone on and earned a Bachelor’s degree. Both levels have been attained most often in the 25-34 age groups (84 percent and 25 percent respectively).

It is no coincidence that a full education coincides with better employment opportunities. So for the individuals without a solid educational base, poverty can become an issue. In Pelham Parkway, 13 percent of the inhabitants fall below the poverty rate. The households with the greatest poverty rates are those run by single mothers. Nonetheless, poverty levels in the area are lower than both the city (17 percent) and Bronx’s specific average (27 percent).

Along with poverty, also comes crime. The land held under the purview of the 49th Precinct has not seen too much change in the status quo of criminal proceedings from last year to this year. There have been three more murders and 2,000 more instances of petty larceny (that number makes me uncomfortable). Robbery, felony assault and burglary are down, but otherwise, across the board, most of the crime statistics are at or near the previous year numbers. The one positive is overall crime has gone down immensely in the last 24 years. So this neighborhood isn’t a utopian society, but at least it’s not New Jack City-style 90s scary anymore.

Aside from the threat of crime, air quality for residents of the community is more positive than negative. Instances of asthma visits to emergency rooms are higher compared to the rest of the city, but better than the Bronx’s boro-wide average. Indoor air quality (consisting of mold, secondhand smoke or the existence of roaches and mice) is on par with the rest of the city, but again still better the Bronx average. Lastly, occurrences of leaks, crack/holes and general maintenance issues are on par with the rest of the city but still better than the rest of the county.

I have never been under the impression that where I live is on par with more elite neighborhoods like Park Slope, the Village, or Chelsea. However, it isn’t Alphabet City, Bed-Stuy, or the South Bronx. So in this case, being average is actually a good thing. This leads to a solid way of life, and reason to appreciate where I rest my head, perfections and imperfections included.

(All census statistics are as of 2012, while Health and NYPD Records encompass 2013-2014 numbers)

In Manhattan there are many places that attract people from all over the world but one place that gets the most attention is the Meatpacking District. The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood which goes from West 14th Street to Gansevoort Street. The neighborhood has a lot of history because it once used to house a lot of people in rowhouses. In the post-Civil War era, there were many businesses that were successful but in particular there were two, the Gansevoort Market and the West Washington Market. These two markets started the Meatpacking District’s future as a big manufacturer of produce and meat.

Today, if you take a look at the Meatpacking District it is completely different. There are not too many actual meat and poultry shops, because they have been taken over by trendy nightclubs and expensive boutiques. According to the American Community Survey of 5-year estimates from 2009-2013, the population was 30,597. The neighborhood is known to be not only trendy but also very expensive. The median rent paid in 2013 was $1,847 and the median household income in 2013 was $165,232. This is clearly a lot of money and we can see from these numbers exactly how much this neighborhood cost. But the average household size in the Meatpacking Districts is about 1.7 people, and the percentage of family households in the district is 16.7 percent.

The median age for males is 37.5 years and for females it is 37.6 years. So the age group living in this neighborhood is similar. The percentage of married-couple families among all the households is only 20.5 percent and the percentage of married-couple families with children is 59.6 percent. So there are definitely families living there with children. There are also a slim percentage of single-mother households with about 15 percent.

In this neighborhood, there are only about 3 percent of people there who do not speak English. There are also about 42.1 percent of people who are born here. The percentage of native residents who were born outside of the United States is only about 1.5 percent but the percentage of foreign-born resident is slightly higher at 16.8 percent.

The overall occupation of males and females are really different. The majority of men are in the management occupation field, while most women are in sales and office occupations. The second major field for males is service occupations and for females it is also service occupations.

The percentage of the population who are below the poverty level is very low (5.3 percent) compared to the New York population, which is at 20.9 percent.

Though it might seem like this neighborhood is too expensive for you to have a good time, there are also a lot of fun things to do that will not cost you a lot. It is definitely worth visiting this neighborhood because there are a lot of fun and interesting things to see.

Through the bustling sounds of the urban city streets, is a place beaming with life and diversity. My neighborhood, Morris Heights, one of the many sectors of the Bronx, is home to people from all parts of the world. From the local bodega found in every corner, to the number of beauty salons found on every street, Morris Heights is the breathing ground to New York’s low income-working class residents and much more.

According to demographical data, Morris Heights has been known to be one of the poorest communities in America for decades. A study by Zillow, an online local information database revealed that in comparison to the rest of the nation, Morris Heights has a household income of about $20,800. This is due to the amount of people who hold minimum wage jobs, or who receive welfare or other types of public assistance.

The study also concluded the type of people that live in Morris Heights and classified them into mainly three different types. The first is classified as being Foreign born Urbanites. These are individuals who were born outside of the United States and live in the city. The study explains that they are people who range in age and have had some college and high school education and are working in an array of occupations. The second classification is deemed as being a melting pot. These are urbanites that have a low income and speak a foreign language. They are residents that are employed in service jobs because they have a high school education or even lower. The last classification is called Urban Bootstrappers. These are single parent residents who support their children on a low income. The study concluded that a high portion of them are females with a high school education and rent out their homes to cover some costs.

Still, this neighborhood, which houses an estimated population of over 45,000, made up primarily of Puerto Rican, Dominican and African decent, has an up-and booming middle class made up of homeowners and business-owners. With a new health clinic under-way, Morris Heights is making room for more construction on affordable housing complexes, Coops and family practices that the government hopes will help create jobs. The government’s goal is to keep many Morris Heights residents off of public assistance and provide them with new job opportunities, which will ultimately help in boosting the economy for this neighborhood. Residents hope these new changes will hold a brighter future for Morris Heights.

White Plains is a great city to live in and it keeps growing.  It is a nice alternative place to live if you can’t live in New York City. Even though White Plains is in the suburbs of Westchester County, it still can give a person the feeling of a metropolitan area. Over the last 11 years, the population grew from 53,077 to 56,853 people. 483,400 people living in White Plains are female compared to the 440,059 males.

White Plains is a very diverse city, a big melting pot. Who makes up the city of White Plains? 29.6% of those living in White Plains are Latino, 48.9% White, 13.2% Black, 5.4% Asian, and 2% other.  Since White Plains is very diverse, 36% of the people above the age of 5 speak a language other than English. The most commonly spoken foreign language in the area is Spanish. 11,524 people speak Spanish and 29% of them, can’t speak English well at all.

The public schools in White Plains have many ESL programs for these students who do not know the language well enough to excel in school. White Plains High School is the only main stream public school in White Plains, but there are many other private school that students attend who may not live in the area. White Plains has a total of 12,863 students enrolled in some sort of institution from preschool to college.  21.3% of the 37,983 25 years and older population have received their bachelor degree. There are 20,921 households in White Plains, 2,356 of those households are run by woman and the male head is not present.

Since White Plains is like a mini city, there are a handful of people who have no kids and enjoy their freedom. There 9,566 households that just consist of a married couple with no kids. Only 5.6% of the population over the age of 16 is unemployed in 2000. Westchester County is always perceived as having a very expensive cost of living. However, not all people living in Westchester have a high income. Most households in White Plains have an income between $50,000 and $74,999, but the average household income is $58,545.
Fun facts:

-In the year 2000 White Plains had 25,065 residents that have formerly lived in the Bronx.
-The City of White Plains has its own New Year’s Eve ball drop in the heart of White Plains.
-A person can get to Manhattan in 31 minutes on the express train from White Plains.