Issues When Mapping County Data

[KenTennies]

Hello,

I'm mapping some county data using the Esri Maps for Excel Add-in.  The spreadsheet I'm using has a simple table with two fields: 1) County and 2) Percentages.

The Add-in accurately suggests I map county data with a layer containing a single color that is shaded darker for counties with higher percentages and shaded lighter for those with lower percentages.  This is a great start, but I have two issues:

1)  When adding data for a county that has the same name as a county in another state, the Add-in places some of my counties in states other than the state with which I'm trying to work.  I can't figure out what to do to make it stay specific to my state, Oregon.  For example, Grant County is being placed in New Mexico, as there is also a Grant County there.  How do I instruct this Add-in to place that data in Grant County, Oregon (i.e. keep all data specific to Oregon or if that's not possible then edit/move individual county data)?

2)  The Add-in automatically calculates shading intervals per my percentage field, but they don't make much sense for my purpose and I don't know how to edit those intervals.  For example, the percentage field in my data contains percentages from 0.55 to 0.83.  The lightest shade shades counties with percentages of 0.55 to 0.59.  The darkest shade shades counties with percentages of 0.76 to 0.83.  Not only is this inconsistent, but I want to customize the intervals from 0 to 1.  How do I edit the intervals so the lightest shade is 0-0.2, next 0.21-0.4, etc. so the shades cover equal percentages?

Finally, as a side question - why does ArcGIS online not let me map counties?  That is not a selectable location type.

Thanks,

Ken

[SepheFox]

Hi Ken, fellow Oregonian here. I would really like to help, but I don't know much about the Add-in. Where is your state data coming from? Does this add-in allow you to work with the data in ArcMap, or do you work with it in Excel only?

[KenTennies]

Hi Sephe,

I realized after I posted that there is another area more specific to the add-in, so I re-posted there (sorry mods!).

In any case, the data is my own; I work in housing.  The add-in is MS Office-specific and is an extension of ArcGIS Online.  I currently do not have any Esri software installed aside from the add-in.  Once the add-in is installed, both Excel and PowerPoint will show "Esri Maps" ribbon tabs that allow you to create and/or work with maps directly within the programs.  It's great in theory, but I am learning that the functionality is similar to that of ArcGIS online, which appears to be somewhat limited.

I did figure out part of the answer to my second question in that I can shade counties with equal percentage distributions from 0.55 to 0.83, but I cannot define my own (e.g. from 0-1).

Ken

[SepheFox]

Ok. I suggest that you delete one of your posts, and you can share the remaining post in as many places as you like.

[KyleBalke__GISP]

Hi Ken,

I am having similar issues regarding the mapping of County names, did you find a solution?

[KenTennies · Accepted solution]

Kyle,

I did, actually.  I created a county column using 5-digit county FIPS codes and everything was mapped correctly.  The only downside is the popups that appear when clicking/hovering over the counties obviously then show the FIPS codes and not county names... but I use static pictures of my maps so no big deal.  I don't really understand why they allowed the add-in to read actual county names with no option to limit to state, but I digress.

Below is some FIPS code info if you need it.  You'll have to do a web search to find all of the county codes you need if you don't already have them.  I created a sheet for my use which links county name to code so I have that info readily-available whenever I need to create a county-level map.

A Census Block FIPS code has 15 digits and is structured as follows:

AABBBCCCCCCDEEE

A = State (2 digit FIPS code)
B = County (3 digit FIPS code)
C = Tract (6 digit FIPS code)
D = Block Group (1 digit FIPS code)
E = Block (3 digit FIPS code)

So if you want the County Group Code it would be the first 5 digits (AABBB)