Working with U.S. Census Data

This workshop will focus on ways to access data directly from the U.S. Census Bureau. Specifically, you will learn how to:

  • Find data on the U.S. Census Bureau’s website
  • Explore the data with an interactive web map in your browser
  • Download data tables and geospatial files to your computer
  • Open the data in QGIS to make your own maps

This workshop is geared toward folks with a basic understanding of GIS concepts. If you need help getting started with QGIS, check out the Learn the Basics of QGIS tutorial first.


Watch the workshop

Click the link below to watch a recording of this workshop on YouTube:

Most recent
November 16, 2023 - part 2: bespoke maps
November 2, 2023 - part 1: the basics

Previous recordings
November 2, 2021 - full workshop


Workshop outline

Part 1: The Basics of data.census.gov

Time Topic
0:00 Introduction
0:05 Census geographies
0:10 Basic queries
0:15 Map tools
0:25 Custom queries
0:40 Practice
1:10 Wrap-up

Part 2: Creating a Bespoke Map

Time Topic
0:00 Introduction
0:05 Census geographies
0:10 Types of Census data
0:20 Custom queries
0:30 Data cleaning
0:40 Mapping with QGIS
0:55 Practice
1:10 Wrap-up

If you are working through the materials on your own time, it may take a bit longer!


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