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Census Bureau releases new app

December 18, 2013

The U.S. Census Bureau today released Census Explorer, a new mobile app that provides neighborhood-level statistics. The mapping tool uses updated statistics from the 2008-2012 American Community Survey, which were also released today.

Census Explorer allows users to map out different social, economic and housing characteristics of their state, county or census tract, and to see how these areas have changed since the 1990 and 2000 censuses.

"Census Explorer is another useful tool, like the dwellr and America's Economy mobile apps, that the Census Bureau has developed to disseminate statistics faster and make them easier to access,” Census Bureau Director John Thompson said. “This interactive map helps users to learn more about the social, economic and housing characteristics of their communities — the same characteristics that drive decision-making from the local to the national level.”

The tool allows users to look at eight statistics from the American Community Survey:

  • Total population
  • Percent 65 and older
  • Foreign-born population percentage
  • Percent of the population with a high school degree or higher
  • Percent with a bachelor's degree or higher
  • Labor force participation rate
  • Home ownership rate
  • Median household income

The Census Bureau launched its first mobile app, America’s Economy, last summer. America’s Economy provides updated statistics on the U.S. economy, monthly economic indicators and trends, and a schedule of upcoming releases. In November, it released dwellr, a mobile app that provides access to demographic, socio-economic and housing statistics for thousands of locations nationwide.