Useful Data Links

• 1990 and 2000 Census Data: Data from the most recent U. S. Census is available through the American Factfinder web site hosted by the U. S. Census Bureau.  Other data sets available include results from the 1990 Census, American Community Survey, 1997 Economic Census and population estimates. Data is available at the city, zip code and census tract level, among others.
• American Community Survey: In response to concerns about currency of data and cost, the Census Bureau is replacing the socioeconomic information from the decennial census long form questionnaire with the results of the American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is a sample based survey that determines the distribution of characteristics in a population. The ACS is not designed as a source of population size. ACS results are reported both as quantities and percentages. Quantities are based on the Census Bureau's current population estimate program.

• U. S. Census Bureau: In addition to 1990 and 2000 Decennial Census data, the Bureau has a information available on line on wide variety of subjects. Visit the agency's home page for more information: http://www.census.gov/
• Consumer and Producer Price Indexes: Figures for the eastern Massachusetts area are available through the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Region 1 Data Series page: http://146.142.4.24/cgi-bin/surveymost?r1
• Current Population Survey: This federal survey provides information on national employment trends. The U. S. Census Bureau conducts the survey for the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data available at a national level only: http://www.bls.gov/cps/
• Economic Census: The Economic Census, conducted by the U. S. Census Bureau, profiles the US economy every 5 years, from the national to the local level. The survey presents employment and income information for businesses by industry sector and geographic area: http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/econ97.html.
• Education: Find school district profiles on the Massachusetts Department of Education web site:
  http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/.
• Employment and Wages: Find current figures for the City of Cambridge, including employment by industry category. Provided by the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development Economic Programs office: http://lmi2.detma.org/lmi/lmi_es_a.asp.
• Per Capita Income: Available from the U. S. Bureau of Economic Analysis for counties and standard metropolitan statistical areas, but not cities or towns. For information relevant to Cambridge, see the figures for the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area and Middlesex County: http://www.bea.gov/bea/regional/data.htm.
• Property Sales: The Warren Group, publisher of Banker and Tradesman, provides some real estate sales statistics for free to the general public:
  http://rers.thewarrengroup.com/townstats/ts_login.asp.
• Public Health Statistics: The Massachusetts Public Health Department makes a wide variety of health related statistics available through its MassCHIP data viewer: http://masschip.state.ma.us/.
• Tax Statistics: Information on federal taxes provided by the Internal Revenue Service: http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/index.html
• Unemployment Rate: Latest local area unemployment figures provided by the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development Economic Programs office. This page also provides information on resident employment and, unemployment: http://lmi2.detma.org/Lmi/Unemployment.asp.

On-Line Mapping

The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in on-line GIS (Geographic Information Systems) applications. Here are a few pertinent examples:

• City of Cambridge GIS Viewer: The City's GIS group has developed a number of map viewers for the general public. These include the Cambridge Viewer, Regional Viewer and Aerial Photo Viewer. All viewers are accessed through the City's GIS Home Page and include an optional address search.
• City of Cambridge Parcel Viewer: The Parcel Viewer provides access to data found in the City's assessing database. The viewer is searchable based on street address and a number of other characteristics such as Map-Lot numbers.

• MassStats: A web site providing interactive maps and statistical views of Massachusetts cities and towns using data from a variety of sources. (Note: You may have to reload the page to get the map to display.)
• Metro Boston Data Common: An on-line GIS data viewer hosted by MAPC with support from the Boston Indicators Project. Allows the user to undertake their own analysis of the data.
• OLIVER: A viewer supported by MassGIS, the state's GIS data center. OLIVER allows you to browse, view and download any of the close to 200 data sets that MassGIS has available for public distribution. OLIVER requires that you have Java Web Start from Sun installed on your computer. A Java installer is available through the OLIVER home page.
• PolicyMap: A viewer that provides an on-line GIS that enables the user to develop maps representing a wide variety of topics.

Many universities maintain extensive on line collections of demographic and socioeconomic data. The following is among the more useful:

For More Information

For more information about socioeconomic and demographic statistics about Cambridge, please contact Cliff Cook, ccook@cambridgema.gov, Planning Information Manager, at 617/349-4656. The Community Development Department TTY line is 617/349-4621.

 

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