Examining Current Demographic
Features of Your Region
Module
Six
Our Previous Module
(Assets & Barriers)
Update on homework related to Module Five.
Any feedback on. . .
 Capacity inventory of individuals?
 Inventory of local associations & institutions?
 Community participation and leadership
inventory?
 Subcommittee activities?
 Other items?
Module Six Objectives
• Understand secondary data and its
limitations
• Identify demographic variables that are
important for regional planning
• Know the characteristics of your workforce
• Review the data in your region
• Discover three to four “themes” in your
region and how they impact your goals
What Are Secondary Data?
• Information sources that already
exist
• Data collected by someone else
that are being “re-used” by others
• In contrast, “primary data” are
those that you have collected
• Secondary data can be either
qualitative or quantitative in nature
Ways to Analyze Data
Three Common Approaches:
• Cross-sectional: Look at data at one
point in time
• Comparative: Examine the data in your
county or region relative to other counties
or regions
• Longitudinal: Focus on how the data
change over a longer time period
What to Look for in Your Data
•
•
•
•
Conditions that the data describe
The direction of change
The intensity of change
The overall picture that the data paint
about your county/region
Understanding the Good & the Bad
about Secondary Data
The Good About Secondary Data
• Already exist !!
• Are less expensive
• Take less time to
assemble & analyze
• Are easier to use
The Bad! Secondary Data May. . .
•
•
•
•
Have inconsistencies in definitions
Be inaccurate, incomplete, or biased
Have problems with “reliability”
Be only indirect measures of the
issues
• May be outdated
• Require caution in interpretation
Questions You Should Consider
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is the source of the data?
Does it cover the correct geographical location?
Does it provide data on my target audience?
Does it deal with my issue/topic of concern?
Is it current data?
Are the data available for the same time period?
Are definitions of variables the same over time?
Why Examine Conditions
and Trends?
• Help identify a region’s
competitive advantage
• Highlight important changes in
residents and business/industry
• Essential for understanding
what has worked and what
hasn’t worked in the past
Regional Planning Variables
•Performance Assessments
•School Enrollment
•Dropout Status
•Educational Attainment
•Population Size &
Composition
•Population Distribution
•Migration Patterns
•Population Change
POPULATION
•Climate
LOCATION
•Local taxes
•Infrastructure
•Cost of Living
•Commuting Patterns
•Natural Resource
Amenities
•Available Land & Buildings
EDUCATION
SOCIAL
•Housing
•Crime Rates
•Poverty Status
•Health Care Resources
•Health and Nutrition Status
•Food Assistance Enrollment
•Child Care Access/Enrollment
Population Characteristics
Population Change, 2000-2009
Source: U.S. Census
Population – Sources of Change
Total Population
Change
Natural
Increase
Net International
Migration
United States
25,581,948
15,875,579
8,944,170
Northeast
1,688,851
1,877,814
1,835,442
- 2,539,582
Midwest
2,441,721
2,969,319
1,158,438
- 1,752,191
South
13,082,047
5,837,372
3,118,775
3,874,132
West
8,369,329
5,191,074
2,831,515
417,641
2000-2009
Source: U.S. Census
Domestic
Migration
State Population Projections
2000-2030
Source: U.S. Census
Population – Age
Percent of the Total Population 65 Years and Over: 2009
Source: U.S. Census
Population: Your Region
• What can you
conclude about
trends in your region?
• What are some
overarching
opportunities and
concerns?
Education
Characteristics
Population – High School Graduate or Less
Source: U.S. Census
Closing the Gap?
In-School Success
Source: National Assessment of Education Progress, 2010. http://www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata
Education – Your Region
• What can you conclude
about trends in your
region?
• What are some
overarching
opportunities and
concerns?
http://factfinder.census.gov
Location Characteristics
Location – Cost of Living
Composite Cost of Living (Scaled)
2nd Quarter 2010
Source: Missouri Economic Research
and Information Center
Location – Natural Amenities
Source: Economic Research Service, USDA
Location – Percent of Households
with Broadband Access, 2000
Location – Percent of Households
with Broadband Access, 2009
Location – Your Region
• What can you conclude
about trends in your
region?
• What are some
overarching opportunities
and concerns?
Social Characteristics
Social – Poverty in Rural America, 2008
Source: raconline.org
Social – % Without Health Insurance, 2000
Social – % Without Health Insurance, 2009
Social – Change in Food Stamps
(SNAP) Use by States, FY2005-2009
Social – Your Region
• What can you conclude
about trends in your
region?
• What are some
overarching opportunities
and concerns?
Demographic Data Wrap Up
• What are some of the overarching issues
that you seen from the data you’ve
analyzed?
• Where are their areas of concern? Where
are there possible opportunities?
• How well to these concerns/opportunities
align with your regional goals?
Regional Workforce
Your People
Experience
Skills
Your Labor Force
Willingness
to work
Training
What else defines your labor force?
How to Measure Experience?
Skills
Source: http://www.statsamerica.org/
Identifying Skills in the Region
Example: Manufacturing
Employed by
this Industry
Projected
Projected Job Openings
Growth
(2008-2018)
(2008-2018)
Occupation
100%
Pourers and Casters, Metal
Decline
rapidly
2900
100%
Extruding and Forming Machine
Setters, Operators, and Tenders,
Synthetic and Glass Fibers
Decline
rapidly
1500
99%
Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing
Out Machine Setters, Operators, and
Tenders
Decline
rapidly
5800
98%
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool
Operators, Metal and Plastic
Average
36900
98%
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool
Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal
and Plastic
Decline
rapidly
9100
98%
Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine
Operators and Tenders
Decline
rapidly
1700
100%
Pourers and Casters, Metal
Decline
rapidly
2900
/
Willing to Work?
An important question!
How do we measure willingness to work?
• Labor force participation rates
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) &
Disability Payments
U.S. Labor Force Participation
Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) Recipients, 2009
Training
• Institutions of Higher
Education
• Community Colleges
• Technical Schools
• Workforce Training
Programs
Workforce Influences
• Is your region retaining
the skills it creates?
• What type of skills does
your region attract?
• Does your region attract
retirees?
Regional Workforce –
Your Region
• What can you conclude
about trends in your
region?
• What are some
overarching opportunities
and concerns?
Refining Regional Goals
Given the secondary data you have explored:
• Do your regional goals build on (or respond
to) the population, social, education and
location characteristics of your region?
• How well to the goals take into account the
characteristics of your region’s workforce
• If not, what revisions should be made to
your regional goals?
Refining Regional Goals
Current
Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Goal 4
Revised
Final Reflections
What are the takeaways from this module?
 What topics did you find most helpful?
 What did you find confusing?
 What do you hope to implement as part of
your regional team’s activities?
 Other items you want to mention?
Looking Ahead: Module Seven
Were going to examine the following:
• Basic concepts of competitive advantage
• Approaches to analyzing regional
connections
• Tools and data for detecting regional
competitive advantage
• Strategies for building stronger regional
economies
Additional
Resources
Census Data
U.S. Census Bureau
– Main Portal
• http://www.census.gov/
– Census Bureau A-Z Subjects
• http://www.census.gov/main/www/subjects.html
– Census of Agriculture
• http://www.nass.usda.gov/Census_of_Agriculture/index.asp
– State and Metropolitan Area Data Book
• http://www.census.gov/compendia/smadb/
– American Community Survey
• http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
US Census QuickFacts
http://quickfacts.census.gov
SRDC Community Data Center
http://srdc.msstate.edu/data/center/
American FactFinder
http://factfinder.census.gov
STATSAmerica
http://statsamerica.org/profiles/us_profile_frame.html
STATSAmerica
http://statsamerica.org/innovation/anydata/index.asp