Introduction
The goal of this lab was simply to learn how to download data from the United States Census Bureau and then be able to map data in ArcMap. In this lab we were required to use Wisconsin population by county, but our next data set was our choice. I chose to map the population of citizens over 60 years of age. We were urged to pick formats and colors that were cartographically pleasing to eye and that were easily interpretable for the everyday person.
Methods
There was some background knowledge that was needed to successfully complete this lab. First and foremost we needed to know what the US Census Bureau did. Next we have to be able to clearly differentiate from Census boundaries to Statistical boundaries. Throughout the lab we were encouraged to use only 2010 SF1 100% data because that is the data that is collected every 10 years, making it the most consistent and accurate. So our first move in this project was to go to the Census website and select the total population by county. Then we had to download the file, un zip it and save it into our lab 3 folders. Next we had to format it to be usable in ArcMap. Next we went back to the website and under the Geography tab found the Wisconsin counties map and saved that to our folder. The final set in getting this set up was adding both data sets to ArcMap and join them together. Lastly we used the symbology tab in ArcMap to edit our colors and layouts. Finally for my second map I preformed all the same steps as previously described and chose the same color layout for professionalism purposes. The very last thing I did was add a legend, north arrow, title, scale, source and a grey background map that had the great lakes outlined in order to provide the viewer with a generalized sense of what they were looking at.
Results
The two maps below show total population by county and the percent of people over 60 in each county. There is a direct relationship between the percent of people over 60 and the population per county. In the Madison, Milwaukee area we see the highest populations along with 3-14% of people over 60. Whereas up north where the population is smaller we see under half a percent over 60. This is most likely because healthcare is much better in populated areas, the people over 60 feel more safe and comfortable with more resources readily at hand.
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