Brian,

 

I’m not sure if data from state to state is different, but here at NCDOT we have been using the tables you mentioned below for the 2006-2010 5-year estimates at the block group level (have not checked 2007 5 year estimates yet). The table we use for language spoken at home is: Table B16001 “Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over.” For poverty, we use: Table S1701 “Poverty Status in the Past 12 months” and Table C17002 “Ratio of Income to Poverty Level in the Past 12 Months.” And yes, they are found at the block group level (at least for the State of North Carolina).

 

This was a major headache for us after the Census change in 2010 when trying to do socio-demographic analyses for our reports. Data Ferret and the Summary File Excel Retrieval Tool were not very user friendly and took quite a long time to use, so we ended up downloading all of the ACS 5-Year Estimate Data from the Census FTP site and then joining them with the 2010 Census geography boundaries in ArcGIS. This has made our lives so much easier trying to extract census data for certain geographies in our project areas.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Megan Cogburn, MCRP

Community Planner | Human Environment Section

NCDOT Project Development & Environmental Analysis

e: mscogburn@ncdot.gov

p: (919) 707-6062

f: (919) 212-5785

 

 

 

 

Hello,

 

Brian Chenault from the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization here.  We are trying to collect several pieces of data at the block group level using 2007-2011 ACS 5-year estimates.  Using the Census’ Summary File Excel Retrieval Tool, we are able to retrieve basic population data at the block group level.  However, data at the block group level is not provided for poverty, language spoken at home, etc.  This appeared to be the case even when examining 2006-2010/2005-2009 5-year estimates.  Has this information not been “filtered down” from the census tract level yet?  How is one supposed to go about gathering this type of updated information at the block group level?

 

Much appreciated,

 

Brian        

 

 

Brian Chenault

Community Outreach Planner

Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization

The Regional Building | 723 Woodlake Drive | Chesapeake, Virginia | 23320

bchenault@hrpdcva.gov | http://www.hrtpo.org | Phone: 757.420.8300 | Fax: 757.523.4881