Examining Houston Metro Demographic-Economic Characteristics

.. tools & data to examine metro demographic-economic characteristics .. this Houston, TX metro focused section is one of several similar metro sections that will be covered in weeks ahead.  Each metro-focused section provides a summary of tools and data that can be used to view, rank, compare, analyze conditions and trends within the metro and this metro relative to other metros, regions and the Nation.  The ready-to-use GIS project/datasets provide the basis for extended data/geographic views and analysis immediately.  See more detail about topics covered in this related Web section.

Relating your data to demographic-economic characteristics and trends in a region involves more than information provided by a report or set of statistical tables. It is important to use your data to be able to identify areas of missed opportunity and competitive position. It is important to have a “10,000 foot” view as well as understanding individual neighborhoods and market/service areas. Geographic Information System (GIS) tools, with the right set of geographic, demographic and economic data can facilitate decision-making through the use of visual and tabular data analytics.

This section provides information on installing and using the Houston Metro Demographic-Economic GIS software and project/datasets. This same scope of data, tools and operation is available for any metro, state or combination.

10,000 Foot View
The following graphic shows patterns of median household income by census tract for the Houston metro area. This is the start-up view when using the GIS tools and data described below. The color patterns/intervals are shown in the highlighted layer in legend at left of map window. Use the GIS tools described below to develop thematic pattern maps for a range of data and criteria.

.. view developed using the CVGIS software.

See more about census tracts; see tracts main page.

Several additional views follow, developed using this same GIS project. These views illustrate different levels of geographic granularity and patterns of different subject matter.

Median Household Value by Block Group
See more about block groups; see block groups main page.

.. view developed using the CVGIS software.

Population/Housing Unit by Block
See more about census blocks; see census block main page.

.. view developed using the CVGIS software.

Zoom-in to Sugarland/Fort Bend County
See more about cities/places; see cities/places main page.
Access data for any city using interactive table.

.. view developed using the CVGIS software.

Further Zoom-in Showing Street/Road Detail
See more about streets.

.. view developed using the CVGIS software.

Additional Information
See the related Houston metro Situation & Outlook Report.

Using the GIS Software and Project/Datasets
(requires Windows computer with Internet connection)
1. Install the ProximityOne CV XE GIS
… run the CV XE GIS installer
… requires UserID; take all defaults during installation
2. Download the Houston Metro GIS project fileset
… requires UserID; unzip Houston Metro GIS project files to local new folder c:\p1data
3. Open the c:\p1data\us1_metros_houston.gis project
… after completing the above steps, click File>Open>Dialog
… open the file named c:\p1data\us1_metros_houston.gis
4. Done. The start-up view is shown above.

Join me in a Data Analytics Lab session to discuss more details about accessing and using wide-ranging demographic-economic data and data analytics. Learn more about using these data for areas and applications of interest.

About the Author
— Warren Glimpse is former senior Census Bureau statistician responsible for innovative data access and use operations. He is also the former associate director of the U.S. Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards for data access and use. He has more than 20 years of experience in the private sector developing data resources and tools for integration and analysis of geographic, demographic, economic and business data. Contact Warren. Join Warren on LinkedIn.

New Residential Construction by County

.. what’s happening in the north Dallas metro? .. a lot, take a look at the patterns of new residential construction for Collin and Denton counties using data and tools presented in this section. Examine new residential construction, leading economic indicator, for counties and regions of interest to you anywhere in the U.S. Use of the Regional Demographic-Economic Modeling System (RDEMS) to examine patterns of residential construction in context of related wide-ranging, multi-sourced data.

This section provides a summary of new housing units authorized by building permits for new residential construction for each/all counties. Use data analytics tools and data described here analyze these data and related housing issues.
• interactive data analytics – details/access
• use GIS project/datasets – details/access
• access individual county profiles – details/access

Patterns of New Authorized Residential Units by County
The following graphic shows the 2015 per capita value of total units authorized by county. The four largest Texas metros are shown with bold brown boundaries.
See about subject matter included in datasets.

View created with CV XE GIS. Click graphic for larger view.

Additional views with counties labeled with name, 2015 housing units and 2015 total new housing units authorized.
• Charlotte, NC-SC metro by county
• Dallas, TX metro by county
• Houston, TX metro by county

Leading Economic Indicator
Building permit data (housing units authorized by building permits for new residential construction) are economic leading indicators. Investors and housing developers use these data to examine the characteristics and trends in new residential housing development. The short time lag between the data reference date and data access date, 1-2 months, makes this set of indicators important in assessing the current situation and patterns during the past year or more. The national scope coverage and geographic granularity (state, metro, county and city) enable comparison among types of areas and peer groups. Finance and real estate professional and researchers examine building permit patterns to develop strategic insights. Government and policy makers use these data to get a pulse on markets and changing patterns to administer programs and operations. See more about these data below in this section.

New residential construction begins with building permits. Overall U.S. housing starts are approximately 2.5% less than permits issued (22.5% less for multi-family units). Completions are approximately 4% less than starts (7.5% less for multi-family units). During the past year-plus, “residential fixed investment” has been approximately $500 billion and remained steady at 3.1% of real Gross Domestic Product.

Access Individual County Profiles
The following graphic illustrates use of the Regional Demographic-Economic Modeling System (RDEMS) to access the HSG1 Housing Units & New Residential Construction tables for a selected county. Click graphic for larger view.

Mecklenburg County, NC [37119] located in the Charlotte, NC-SC metro

Add a link to your Web page for areas of interest: The URL structure for Mecklenburg County is:
– http://proximityone.com/rdems/1/rdems37119hsg1.htm
– more in general, substitute the county state+county FIPS code (37119 in this case) to access a county of interest.

Using the Interactive Table
The interactive table includes a row for each county. Column structure and content are described below the table.
• Click the StCty link to view the housing unit/new construction profile.
• Select a metro to examine component counties

The following graphic illustrtaes use of the table to examine characteristics of the Dallas metro counties. Click graphic for larger view.

Join me in a Data Analytics Lab session to discuss more details about accessing and using wide-ranging demographic-economic data and data analytics. Learn more about using these data for areas and applications of interest.

About the Author
— Warren Glimpse is former senior Census Bureau statistician responsible for innovative data access and use operations. He is also the former associate director of the U.S. Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards for data access and use. He has more than 20 years of experience in the private sector developing data resources and tools for integration and analysis of geographic, demographic, economic and business data. Contact Warren. Join Warren on LinkedIn.

Texas School District Demographic Trends

.. new data, new insights .. in the 2015-16 school year, there were 21 school districts in Texas (of a total 1,025) with enrollment of 50,000 or more students. Among these districts, six districts experienced an enrollment decline between the 2011-12 and 2015-16 school years. Four districts experienced more than 10-percent increase in enrollment (Frisco, Katy, Conroe and Klein). Use the interactive table to view, rank, query and compare Texas school districts by annual enrollment, 2011-12 to 2015-16 , and change over the period. This section provides access to data analytics tools to examine patterns and characteristics of enrollment for Texas local education agencies. Use the GIS project and datasets described here to examine districts and regions of interest. See the full Web page for more comprehensive version of topics reviewed here.

Enrollment Change Patterns: Texas School Districts. 2011-2015
The following graphic shows patterns of the percent enrollment change by Texas school district during the period 2011-12 to 2015-16 school year. The percent change intervals/colors as depicted in legend panel at left of map window. Create custom maps similar to this view for your regions of interest. Examine alternative patterns such as percent change for different time periods, enrollment change or enrollment level. Set queries to include school district by peer group. Click graphic for larger view with more detail; expand browser window for best quality view.

View developed with CV XE GIS software using the Texas school districts GIS project.

The following views (click link) show a zoom-in with districts labeled with name and 2015-16 enrollment .. install the software and GIS project on your Windows computer for alternative and more detailed views.
• Dallas Metro Region
• Houston Metro Region
• San Antonio-Austin Metro Region

School Districts by Locale Code
The following view shows patterns of school districts by locale code. Examine districts based locale code in the interactive table below. See more about locale code below in this section.

View developed with CV XE GIS software using the Texas school districts project.

Additional School District Demographic-Economic Data
Use the following interactive tables to view attributes of individual school districts in context of others. These are national scope tables; select only Texas (or other state) using tools below table on respective pages. Compare Texas (or other state) school districts by national scope peer group size.
• General Demographics
• Social Characteristics
• Economic Characteristics
• Housing Characteristics
More about data analytics and analyzing the school district community.

Enrollment by Texas Local Education Agency: 2011-12 – 2015-16
— Interactive Table
The following graphic illustrates use of the interactive table. This view shows districts having 2015-16 enrollment 50,000 or more ranked in descending order on the enrollment percent change from the 2011-12 school year to the 2015-16 school year. See the full interactive table to perform similar operations. Click graphic for larger view.

See about other demographic-economic interactive tables.

Join me in a Data Analytics Lab session to discuss more details about accessing and using wide-ranging demographic-economic data and data analytics. Learn more about using these data for areas and applications of interest.

About the Author
— Warren Glimpse is former senior Census Bureau statistician responsible for innovative data access and use operations. He is also the former associate director of the U.S. Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards for data access and use. He has more than 20 years of experience in the private sector developing data resources and tools for integration and analysis of geographic, demographic, economic and business data. Contact Warren. Join Warren on LinkedIn.

2013 Metros: Houston, TX

  94% of the U.S. population live in metropolitan areas.  Metropolitan areas are comprised of one or more contiguous counties having a high degree of economic and social integration. This section is one in a continuing series of posts focused on a specific metropolitan area — this one on the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA.   This section illustrates how relevant Decision-Making Information (DMI) resources can be brought together to examine patterns and change and develop insights.  The data, tools and methods can be applied to any metro. About metros.

Focus on Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA
A thumbnail … in 2012, the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA had a per capita personal income (PCPI) of $51,004. This PCPI ranked 23rd in the United States and was 117 percent of the national average, $43,735. The 2012 PCPI reflected an increase of 4.5 percent from 2011. The 2011-2012 national change was 3.4 percent. In 2002 the PCPI of the Houston MSA was $34,696 and ranked 37th in the United States. The 2002-2012 compound annual growth rate of PCPI was 3.9 percent. The compound annual growth rate for the nation was 3.2 percent.  These data are based in part on the Regional Economic Information System (REIS).  More detail from REIS for the Houston metro at the end of this section.

Geography of the Houston MSA
The geography of the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA is shown in the graphic below.  The green boundary shows the 2013 vintage metro, black boundary/hatch pattern shows the 2010 vintage boundary, counties labeled. San Jacinto County is no longer a part of the metro.

Changing Metro Structures Reflect Demographic Dynamics
Click here to view a profile for the 2013 vintage Houston metro. Use this interactive table to view demographic attributes of these counties and rank/compare with other counties.

The Census 2010 population of the 2013 vintage metro is 5,920,416 (6th largest MSA) compared to the 2012 estimate of 6,177,035 (5th largest MSA). See interactive table to examine other metros in a similar manner.

Demographic-Economic Characteristics
View selected ACS 2012 demographic-economic characteristics for the Houston metro (2010 vintage) in this interactive table.  Examine this metro in context of peer metros; e.g., similarly sized metros.  In 2012, the Houston metro had a median household income of $55,910, percent high school graduates 81.1%, percent college graduates 29.6% and 16.4% in poverty.

Houston Demographic-Economic Profiles
Use the APIGateway to access detailed ACS 2012 demographic-economic profiles.  A partial view of the Houston 2010 metro DE-3 economic characteristics profile is shown below.  Install the no fee CV XE tools on your PC to view extended profiles for Houston or any metro. See U.S. ACS 2012 demographic-economic profiles.  Viewing graphic with gesture/zoom enabled device suggested.  

Houston 2010 vintage MSA Economic Characteristics

Houston Metro Gross Domestic Product
View selected Houston 2013 vintage metro Gross Domestic Product (GDP) patterns in this interactive table.  The Houston metro 2012 real per capita GDP is estimated to be $62,438 ($385,683M real GDP/6,177,035 population).

Examining Longer-Term Demographic Historical Change
— Use this interactive table to view, rank, compare Census 2000 and Census 2010 population for Census 2010 vintage metros (all metros).
— Use this interactive table to view, rank, compare 2013 vintage metros (all metros) — Census 2000, Census 2010, 2012 estimates population and related data.

Houston Metro by County Population Projections to 2060
The graphic presented below shows county population projections to 2060 for the 2013 vintage metro.  Use this interactive table to view similar projections for all counties.  The metro population is projected to increase to 2.8 million by 2030 and to 3.4 million by 2060 based based on current trends and model assumptions. Viewing graphic with gesture/zoom enabled device suggested.

Houston Metro Population Projections by County to 2060

Thematic Maps & Visual Analysis
The graphic below shows the 2013 vintage metro (bold boundary) counties labeled with county name and county per capita personal income (PCPI).  The legend shows the change in PCPI from 2008 to 2012.

The above graphic illustrates the power of using visual analysis tools (CV XE GIS).  These data are from the  Regional Economic Information System (REIS) introduced earlier in this section.  Use the links shown below to examine much more detail from REIS at the metro and county level.  A thematic pattern map could be developed for any one of these items.  The REIS data are annual time series starting in 1970 and continue to 2012.  Click a link to view a sample profile spreadsheet for Harris County, TX and the Houston MSA for 2011 and 2012.
• Personal income, per capita personal income, and population (CA1-3)
• Personal income summary (CA04)
• Personal income and earnings by industry (CA05, CA05N)
• Compensation of employees by industry (CA06, CA06N)
• Economic profiles (CA30)
• Gross flow of earnings (CA91)

Join us in an Upcoming Decision-Making Information Webinar
We will review topics and data used in this section in the upcoming webinar “Metropolitan Area Geographic-Demographic-Economic Characteristics & Trends” on January 9, 2014.  This is one of many topics covered in the DMI Webinars (see more).  Register here (one hour, no fee).

About Metropolitan Areas
By definition, metropolitan areas are comprised of one or more contiguous counties. Metropolitan areas are not single cities and typically include many cities. Metropolitan areas contain urban and rural areas and often have large expanses of rural territory. A business and demographic-economic synergy exists within each metro; metros often interact with adjacent metros. The demographic-economic makeup of metros vary widely and change often.

2013 vintage metropolitan areas include approximately 94 percent of the U.S. population — 85 percent in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and 9 percent in micropolitan statistical areas (MISAs). Of 3,143 counties in the United States, 1,167 are in the 381 MSAs in the U.S. and 641 counties are in the 536 MISAs (1,335 counties are in non-metro areas).