Census 2010 Summary File 1

[JordanBrod]

I've been looking at the way demography is set up now in the info model and noticed that the standalone table contains demographic data based on the block groups.  My question is where can I find this data based in block groups?  I've looked at the census bureau's website and can only find the full demographic data based on census tracts, and even then that shapefile is missing some of the data that this summary file is looking for.  I have also been over to the American Fact Finder but can't find a table there based in block groups either, only county summaries.  Any help would be greatly appreciated since the only data we have from our county is based on the blocks and doesn't include all of the different population breakdowns.

[LindsayThomas · Accepted solution]

Hi Jordan,

I understand the patience required to navigate and understand the Census Bureau.

Here are some tips and tricks on getting what you need???

Also, getting the data isn???t as hard my steps below may look. I am putting all the supplemental links to supporting documentation because I think it really helps.

Here are some tips and tricks on getting what you need???

??? I am assuming you have your TIGER\LINE shapefiles, if not you can grab them here http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tgrshp2012/tgrshp2012.html
Then convert into a Feature Class in the data model. The TIGER\Line has GEOID attribute which you create for the Summary File Data allowing you to join them in ArcGIS.

??? For the Summary File data. Go to http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/ Look for Download Summary File 1 (or Summary File 2)
??? This will take you to the FTP site (http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/04-Summary_File_1/ )
??? Take a look at the two PDF???s located at root level of the FTP site) http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/04-Summary_File_1/0README_SF1_v2.pdf
and this HOW TO http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/04-Summary_File_1/0HowToUseMSAccessWithSummaryFile1.pdf

(I would download the How To, this teaches you how to get the information you need and it the document you will use the most)

??? Select your State (ex: IL)
??? Download the ____.ZIP  ( ex: il2010.sf1.zip)
??? Use the How TO document mentioned above. This will walk you though what you need to do to get the data into Access and then into a DBASE. This document will guide you through the process.

Steps I took that made it easier, complementary to the HOW TO

Most people only want some of the Summary File attributes. To make it easier, go through the How TO, to Step E, once you are at this step you will be able to read the Data_Field_Descriptions database in Access. Look at the descriptions, and decide what files you need load into the access tables and which you do not need to load.

This will make your project more manageable.

You???ll need to decide on a Census Geography (Blocks, BlockGroups, Tracts, etc) this is filtered by the SUMLEVEL attribute. In the HOW TO you will build queries on the data  based on SUMLEVEL, take a look at this document http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/doc/sf1.pdf  (Chapter 4: Summary Level Sequence Chart), to decide what level you would like to use.

Once I populated my tables, created my GEOID???s, and queried on census geography (by using the HOW TO document), I exported to DBASE tables. Once I exported to the DBASE, I added the exported Summary File table(s) to ArcGIS and joined them to the  TIGER\LINE feature class based on GEOID\GEOID10.

Depending on how much data you are exporting, DBASE has size limits and you may need to chop up your table using additional queries in access before you export. There are other ways to export and get into ArcGIS this is just the method I used.

Hopefully this helps,
Cheers,
Lindsay Thomas