Thursday, 10 March 2011

Census Data Widget

A while back I commented about the moving population center of mass of the USA.  One of the questions we wondered about was why there was such a small jump in the period from 1910 to 1920.  Perhaps some more insight can be gained by a new widget released by the Census dept.  It allows you to click on a decade and see the changes from census to census and over time... The mouse over features take a little time to fully appreciate.. they show figures for each state and adjust the population timeline on the left to show that state.  Seperate tabs show population density and legislative apportionment for the states as well. 
Lots of information to process. 

As far as the period 1910 to 1920... it seems that the west was still growing rapidly, as was the east, but compared to 1900-1910 when may western states had gained near, or over, 100% population growth; in the 1910-1920 period many slowed to a growth of 50-75%.  Decreases in growth in the east occurred also, but were not as great as the differences in the west.  From 1910-1920 there were actually three states that lost population.
Another interesting census to look at is in the 1940 census... look at the loss of the five states in the heart of the dustbowl....In fact,  the 2011 census was the first time that North Dakota has shown growth in two consecutive census reports since 1930.  Their total population change over the 60 years is almost zero. 
I killed the widget because it tried to dominate the whole blog...see the actual one here.
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2 comments:

  1. Steven Colyer10 March 2011 at 14:08

    Didn't the Spanish Flu, a worldwide plague, hit in 1918? I was wondering if that had anything to do with it?

    Also, aye carumba, beginning in '20-'30 Pennsylvania has lost people in every succeeding Census? Why? I've been all over that state, and you won't find nicer people anywhere. Plus, it's probably the cheapest place to live in the Northeast.

    Ah well, life is full of mysteries, I suppose.

    A bit off topic if you'll permit, Pat. Is there such a thing as a Math Olympiad? I know there's one in Physics, an international one, that will be held in Thailand in June. Just wondered if there was a similar one in Mathematics, thanks. And yes, I'm talking about one for high school students only.

    Only 4 days left till Pi day?! I'm so excited, but I fret I will miss the best Pi parties. Do you know where they will be held?

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  2. Pat's Blog10 March 2011 at 19:01

    Steven,
    Check facebook... I think they have something there..surely there is one at a university or school near you.... The big one over here is in my Caculus classroom, complete with Mr. Ballew's famous Lecture on
    "P-i-e, The story of three special numbers"

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