APIs and Tableau

It’s possible to get all Census data via API, saving a ton of time on downloading and managing files. The viz below is an example of how that could be done. In it there are two WDC connections – one to the data, and one to the variable names. There is also an Excel connection for relating the geoid to a descriptive area name – for internal use this would be better done as a database connection but by making it an Excel connection anyone viewing this post can download the workbook and pull different content through the same WDC.

Some notes – the connector can be used for many purposes and doesn’t save the parameters from previous calls. Record the values used in case you need to refresh or update. I did this by renaming the connection.

The variable names come from four separate APIs, divided by type. If you’re looking at a Data Profile table, you’ll need to change that second connection to the data profile variables link. Those are listed here:

Subject variables: http://data.widcenter.org/wfinfodb/Tableau/WDC/variablesACS.html
Detailed variables: http://data.widcenter.org/wfinfodb/Tableau/WDC/variabledetailACS.html
Data Profile variables: http://data.widcenter.org/wfinfodb/Tableau/WDC/variabledataprofileACS.html
Comparison Profile variables: http://data.widcenter.org/wfinfodb/Tableau/WDC/variablecomparisonACS.html

               Posted in: Uncategorized           

National Cost of Living

Occupations and Wages

               Posted in: Uncategorized           

Median Household Income

Download: http://data.widcenter.org/wfinfodb/national/Census Income 2016.xlsx

County to County Commuting Flows

Download: http://data.widcenter.org/wfinfodb/national/commute2013.txt

Licensing Database Contents and Coverage

In the past year, 20 states have submitted new Occupational License data. The data can be found in CareerOneStop’s License Finder, but it can be a little difficult to do the kinds of broad searches that states may be more interested in. Check out the viz below to look at the current contents of the license database.


Note: A couple of states just barely missed the submission to CareerOneStop and therefore their updates are not in this feature. Rest assured – if I replied to your email submitting the data, I have it and it will be in the next publication.

Workforce Development Boards Definitions Available

CPI Areas 2018

In 2018 the CPI program changed the areas and area codes for which it provides data. Some areas were added, some discontinued, and some have different geographic codes. To accommodate this, we added an areatype 41 (2018 CPI Areas) to the recommended values and a new set of sub-national area codes to the geog table. If you load the CPIPLUS data from the ARC or CPI data for you state from the BLS you will need to make changes to the lookup tables.

For more details on the change, see the BLS documentation.

               Posted in: Updates           

NAICS 2017

The NAICS coding structure has been revised.  While the recommended indcode has not been changed in the WID, revisions will need to be made to lookup tables to avoid foreign key violations as new data comes out.  Updates to indcodes (full or just the additions) and naiccode are available.

QCEW data is being reported using new codes and how that is implemented and affects imports to EXPO will vary from state to state.

CES data code changes took affect with 2018 data and requires new codes to be added. For state level data there may be additional changes – series are sometimes added and dropped for other reasons and those changes take affect with January data.

For details of the CES changes, look at the BLS documentation.

               Posted in: Updates