Facts Matter, Cincinnati's Comprehensive Data Portal, Is Launched

Mark Carrozza, health informatics developer at HealthLandscape, demonstrates the Facts Matter comprehensive data portal at its June 1 launch. Facts Matter is deployed on the HealthLandscape mapping platform.

On Friday, June 1, the Greater Cincinnati nonprofit community gathered at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Fifth Third Convening Center for the launch of Facts Matter, the region's new online gateway to information about income, education, and health.

Facts Matter will be the go-to place for Greater Cincinnati regional data. Prior to its launch, community leaders had to gather income, education, health, and other data from a variety of sources. And much of that data was not region-specific. Facts Matter aims to change that.

Facts Matter:

• Contains local indicators, indicators that the Greater Cincinnati community has agreed are important
• Collects the data into one location and provides quick access to it
• Uses data at a collective level, which increases the opportunity to make collective impact and offers a means for collective measurement
• Makes data more tangible through a variety of visualizations
• Fosters partnerships
• Stays up-to-date, as opposed to state of the community reports which are snapshots in time, published every few years

Why do facts matter? Nonprofits have accountability issues. They must demonstrate to their funders, boards, program participants, and the community-at-large that their programs are necessary, effective, and worthy of continued support. And there is greater emphasis these days on data-driven decision making. "Access to strategic data guides decisions, helps in planning, and helps leaders evaluate success," said Stephanie Byrd, executive director of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Success By 6 initiative, who presented ways that Facts Matter can help agencies in program planning and accountability.

Jim Votruba, chair of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati's Research Council and soon-to-be-retired president of Northern Kentucky University, reinforced the importance of this tool. "To make progress, we need to confront the facts about ourselves and then act on them. This is a remarkable new civic resource. It will make our partnership work for community transformation just that much easier."

Facts Matter is a collaborative effort. Funding partners include the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation. Data partners include Agenda 360, HealthLandscape, Northern Kentucky University, Strive Partnership, University of Cincinnati, and Vision 2015.

The portal currently contains 81 indicators. "All the data that we want in the portal is not in the portal," said Eric Rademacher, Co-Director of the University of Cincinnati Institute for Policy Research and Director of the Community Research Collaborative. "We will be inviting people to become data partners."

Visit Facts Matter at www.crc.uc.edu. Training opportunities are available through webinars and video tutorials. We will post links in a separate blog, for easy reference.

Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2009

New data available in HealthLandscape!

Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau released their 2009 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. According to their analysis, the poverty rate for children ages 5 to 17 in families rose in 295 counties and declined in 19 counties between 2007 and 2009. Most counties saw no statistically significant change between these years.

The U.S. Census Bureau, with support from other Federal agencies, created the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program to provide more current estimates of selected income and poverty statistics than those from the most recent decennial census.

The U.S. Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program provides annual estimates of income and poverty statistics for all states, counties, and school districts. The main objective of the program is to provide estimates of income and poverty for the administration of federal programs and the allocation of federal funds to local jurisdictions. In addition to these federal programs, there are hundreds of state and local programs that depend on income and poverty estimates for distributing funds and managing programs.

The SAIPE program produces the following county estimates:
• total number of people in poverty
• number of related children ages 5 to 17 in families in poverty
• number of children under age 18 in poverty
• median household income

The estimates are not direct counts from enumerations or administrative records, nor direct estimates from sample surveys. Instead, income and poverty estimates are modeled by combining survey data with population estimates and administrative records. Beginning with the SAIPE program's estimates for 2005, data from the American Community Survey (ACS) are used in the estimation procedure; all prior years used data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplements of the Current Population Survey. Further details are given in a 2007 SAIPE report, Use of ACS Data to Produce SAIPE Model-Based Estimates of Poverty for Counties [PDF 3.4M]. For more information, see Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates.

Figure 1. Percent of Population in Poverty by County, 2009


Figure 2. Percent of Population Under 18 Years of Age in Poverty by County, 2009

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Labor Force Size and Unemployment, 2009

The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program is a federal-state cooperative effort in which monthly estimates of total employment and unemployment are prepared. These estimates are key indicators of local economic conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for the concepts, definitions, technical procedures, validation and publication of the estimates that state employment security agencies prepare under agreement with BLS.

A wide variety of customers use these estimates. Federal programs use the data for allocations to states and areas, as well as eligibility determinations for assistance. State and local governments use the estimates for planning and budgetary purposes and to determine the need for local employment and training services. Private industry, researchers, the media, and other individuals use the data to assess localized labor market developments and make comparisons across areas.

The concepts and definitions underlying LAUS data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey that is the official measure of the labor force for the nation. State monthly model estimates are controlled in "real time" to sum to national monthly labor force estimates from the CPS. These models combine current and historical data from the CPS, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program.

For more information, see the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Home Page.

Figure 1. Unemployment Rate by County, 2009

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BEA Regional Economic Profile, 2008

The Regional Economic Profile (Table CA30) provides general economic data that are derived from other, more detailed tables (CA05, CA05N, CA25, CA25N, and CA35). Estimates are organized by both place of residence and place of work. The place of residence profile includes estimates of total personal income, population, and per capita personal income. The place of work profile includes estimates of total earnings, total employment, and average earnings per job. For more information, see BEA Regional Economic Accounts.

Figure 1. Personal Income (Thousands of Dollars), 2008


Figure 2. Number of Non-Farm Proprietors, 2008

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BEA County Income & Employment Summary, 2008

2008 estimates from the BEA County Income and Employment Summary HealthLandscape.

Bureau of Economic Analysis data released in April of 2010 are new estimates for 2008.

The first part of Table CA04 presents the summary statistics: Personal income, nonfarm personal income, farm income, population (estimated as of July 1 of each year by the Census Bureau), and per capita personal income, which is personal income divided by population.

The second part of Table CA04 presents the derivation of personal income. Personal income is measured as the sum of wages and salaries; supplements to wages and salaries; proprietors' income; dividends, interest, and rent; and personal current transfer receipts; less contributions for government social insurance. The personal income of a local area is defined as the income received by the residents of the local area, but the estimates of wages and salaries, supplements to wages and salaries, and contributions for government social insurance by employees are based mainly on source data that are reported not by the place of residence of the income recipients but by their place of work. Accordingly, an adjustment for residence-- which is the net inflow of the earnings of wage and salary workers who are interstate commuters-- is estimated so that place-of-residence measures of earnings and personal income can be derived. Net earnings by place of residence is calculated by subtracting contributions for government social insurance from earnings by place of work and then adding the adjustment for residence. The estimates of dividends, interest, and rent, and of personal current transfer receipts are prepared by place of residence only.

The third part of Table CA04 presents the summary estimates of total employment, wage and salary employment, and proprietors employment.

For more information, see BEA Regional Economic Accounts.

Figure 1. Per Capita Personal Income (Dollars), 2008


Figure 2. Non-Farm Personal Income, 2008

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Appalachian Economic Status Data Updates

Economic Status Data are now available for fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

The Appalachian region is home to 24.8 million people and consists of 420 counties across 13 states, stretching from New York and Pennsylvania in the northeast to Mississippi and Alabama in the south. Forty-two percent of the Region's population is rural, compared with 20 percent of the national population. The Appalachian population is characterized by lower levels of college completion and lower labor force participation. Southern areas of Appalachia attract better educated and higher skilled people.

In recent years, the region's economy has become more diversified, rather than relying on mining, forestry, agriculture, chemical industries, and heavy industry. In 1965, one in three Appalachians lived in poverty. In 2000, the Region's poverty rate was 13.6 percent.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) categorizes each county in the region into one of five economic levels: distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, and attainment. The system involves the creation of a national index of county economic status through a comparison of each county's averages for three economic indicators--three-year average unemployment rate, per capita market income, and poverty rate--with national averages. In 1965, 223 Appalachian counties were considered economically distressed. In fiscal year 2011 that number is 82. For more informatoin on how the ARC defines the economic categories, visit their website.

Figure 1. Applachian Economic Status, FY2011




The ARC uses US Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment rates as a part of its economic classification system. The three-year average unemployment rate is a measure of long-term structural unemployment that allows for the comparison of counties across state borders. The unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the three-year sum of persons unemployed by the three-year sum of the civilian labor force.

Figure 2. Applachian Three-year Unemployment Rate 2006-2008



These data, and others for Appalachia, are now available in HealthLandscape for use in your maps. You can find these data by going to Community HealthView → United States → Appalachian Counties Economic Status.

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