Examples of how the City of Boston uses the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey (ACS) .

1. Using the 2010 Census
and the American
Community Survey
Alvaro Lima – Director of Research
Boston, May 2011

2. 2010 Census
+ Provide a complete count of all residents
+ Can be used to compare to previous Census
- Asks only basic questions:
 Number of people
 Age
 Sex
 Race And Ethnicity (Hispanic origin)
- It happens only every 10 years (data gets old)

3. American Community Survey (ACS)
+ Yearly data collection (up-to-date information)
+ Covers questions that are no longer part
of the Census
- Subject to sampling error
- Relatively small sample size (difficult to look at
small geographies)
- Average of five years (2005 – 2009)

4. Which data source to use?
(Census 2010 counts) (ACS 2005-2009 estimates)
Total Population
Racial Distribution
Age
Sex
Housing Occupancy
Income
Education
Ancestry
Occupation
Poverty
Nativity
Language

5. What we do with these data (1)
We provide data and analysis to
Diversity Index by Planning District - 2000 - 2010
city agencies, neighborhood
North Dorchester organizations, the press …
Back Bay/Beacon Hill 0.8 South Dorchester
0.7
South Boston South End 25%
0.6
0.5
West Roxbury 0.4 Boston Central, 22.4%
0.3
0.2 20%
Charlestown Jamaica Plain
0.1
0
South Boston, 17.3%
Housing Changes (2000 - 2010)
Mattapan Harbor Islands
15%
South End, 14.2%
Central Hyde Park Roxbury, 13.9%
Feneway/Kemore Roslindale Charlestown, 11.5%
Allston/Brighton East Boston 10%
Roxbury Fenway-Kenmore, 8.8%
Boston, 8.2% West Roxbury, 9.5%
Jamaica Plain, 6.7%
North Dorchester, 5.4%
5% East Boston, 5.1%
Back Bay-Beacon Hill, 4.3% Hyde Park, 3.5% South Dorchester, 4.0%
Mattapan, 3.2%
Allston-Brighton, 3.0%
Diversity Index - 2010 Diversity Index - 2000
Roslindale, 2.6%
Harbor Islands, 0.0%
0%
Planning Districts

6. What we do with these data (2)
2010 Census profiles for Boston and
its neighborhoods
 Our analysis shows:
 Strong population growth since 2000
 The “majority-minority” city status
increased from 51% to 53% since 2000
 The Hispanic population grew dramatically
 The city’s housing stock showed its
strongest growth in over half a century

7. What we do with these data (3)
Foreign-Born Profiles (2010 Census
and 2005-2009 ACS)
 BRA Research Division series called
“Imagine All the People” looking at the
largest immigrant communities in Boston
 The series looks at key characteristics of
these immigrant communities:
 general demographic characteristics
 educational attainment and language ability
 place of residency in the city
 economic impact and entrepreneurship

8. What we do with these data (4)
Language Skills in Metro Boston’s
Labor Market
 This document looks at the language ability
of Greater Boston’s immigrant population
and links it to job opportunities in the
region concluding that:
 the number of immigrants with limited
English language skill is growing
 jobs requiring higher language abilities pay
more and are expected to grow faster
 wage difference between jobs requiring
advanced and limited language skills is
expected to grow

9. What we do with these data (5)
Thrive in 5 – toward Universal School
Readiness
 The BRA Research Division provided data
and analysis to Boston’s Public School
Department to design this program
 Using the ACS we assembled data on:
 the number of children ages 0 – 5
 educational attainment of their parents
 age of the parents
 racial distribution of children and parents
 poverty status

10. What we do with these data (6)
Young Adults in Boston
 Coupling city data sources with 2000 Census
data, this report argues that Boston attracts
and retains a large number of young adults
20-34
 Using ACS data it also shows that Boston
ranks 2nd of the 25 largest cities in the US
in terms of proportion of young adults
between the ages of 20-34
 This analysis led to the creation of the City’s
One in 3 program aimed at helping Boston
retain young adults

11. What we do with these data (7)
Boston by The Numbers
 Using ACS data in combination with state
and federal data this snapshot of Boston’s
economy shows that Boston accounts for
16.2% of all jobs in Massachusetts
 It also shows that Boston has more jobs
than residents with 62% of these jobs filled
by commuters from outside the city
 Finally, up to 36% of workers in the
surrounding cities work in Boston