American Community Survey via Social Explorer

Start at the Library Web Site

It's helpful to start from the libraries' web site, https://cul.colgate.edu.

Click on the "Databases" link in the 4 item menu below the search box.

Select Social Explorer

Click on the "S" in the alphabet menu at the top of the page.

Then click on "Social Explorer" towards the bottom of the list of databases.

Select Data Tables

Click on "Tables" in the left hand menu bar.

Click on:

American Community Surveys (5-Year Estimates)

 Near the top of the list of data sources.

Then click on "BEGIN REPORT" on the right side of the first option:

American Community Survey (ACS) 2015-2019 (5-Year Estimates)

Select Specific Data

Now the fun starts :^ )

Using the top-most drop-down menu under "Select a geographic type:" Choose the geographic unit that matches your data. The most likely units are:

050 County
060 County Subdivision
140 Census Tract
860 5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area

Select Specific Geographies

(If your chosen geography is 5-Digit Zip Code, go to the next page.)

Else, select your state from the drop-down menu under "Select A State".

If selecting County Subdivision or Census Tract units, you will be prompted to select counties, and then county subdivisions or census tracts.

Then, under "Select one or more geographic areas and click 'add':" select the areas that match your data.

Hold down the <Ctrl> key on your keyboard while clicking on your selected geographies to select multiple areas.

Finally, click the "Add" button, then click on the "Proceed to Tables": button.

Selecting ZIP Code Geographies

After selecting "860 .... 5-digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area"

drop down the

"Select a 3-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area" menu.

Click on a selected 3-Digit ZIP.  You will observe the

Select one or more geographic areas and click 'add':

box become populated with the 5-Digit ZIP Codes that are found in the selected 3-Digit ZIP, and the 3-Digit Zip box collapses.

Repeat to select other 3-Digit ZIPs

Then, hold down the <Ctrl> key on your keyboard while finding and clicking on desired 5-Digit ZIP Codes.

Finally, click the "Add" button, then click on the "Proceed to Tables": button.

Select Specific Data Sets

In the top drop-down menu select:

American Community Survey (ACS) 2014-2018 (5-Year Estimate

Then, under "Select one or more tables" and click "add':" choose the data tables you wish to analyze, and click the "Add" button.

For starters, click on and add tables:

• B01003. Total Population
• C02003. Detailed Race
• B03002. Hispanic OR Latino Origin By Race

Click on the "Show results" button after you have added the tables you want.

Download Selected Data

Click on the middle "Excel" tab.

Un-check the "Output Percents" box

Click on Excel 2007 (.xlsx)

Open the downloaded file, or save the file.

This concludes selecting and downloading American Community Survey Data from Social Explorer.

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