Economics 191AC Economics of the Arts and Culture
Spring 2012
ACCESSING ECONOMIC
CENSUS DATA
FOR INDIVIDUAL
CITIES
(1)
Go to the Census Bureau homepage and click on the "Data" tab at the
top
(2)
Select the link to "Economic Census" and under “Get Data,” select
2007 Economic Census.
(3)
Choose "Geographies” and select your 5 cities (you have to “add” them;
they should appear in the box titled “Your Selections” at the upper left).
(4)
You are now in the “Geographic Area Series” of the 2007 Economic Census. Different industrial sectors are listed by
their 2-digit North American Industrial Classication System (NAICS) codes in
the main menu box. Now you need to
narrow them down. Where do you think you
might find theaters? architectural services? recording studios?
(5)
Click “Industry Codes” in the left-hand menu, then choose “Industry Sector”
(2-digit NAICS codes) or “Industry Subsector” (3-digit NAICS codes). Select and add all of the appropriate series.
(6)
When you have selected all of the cities and series, your “Search Results”
screen should list “All Sectors:
Geographic Area Series: Economy
Wide Key Statistics” as one of the options (perhaps the only option). Select the box at the bottom labeled “View”
and take a look.
(7)
If you are satisfied that you have what you want, click “Download.” The resulting csv zip file will be downloaded
to your computer (don’t forget where you put it!).
(8)
To open the file, you should be able to click on it. If you have Microsoft Excel, it should open
in Excel but it is not yet an Excel file.
Save it as an Excel file.
(9)
Copy the data in the file – or manipulate it – so that it fits the format
provided in this sample data file: Sample City Data.xls.
Note that the data
may not be complete—there may be a big “D” in the column, categories may be
combined (eg, Theater companies plus dinner theaters), or there may be no entry
at all. We will discuss this in class.
E-mail me with
questions (this is a new download procedure for the Census Bureau, so there may
be hiccups)