Smart Map Search

Smart Map Search allows you to view geography areas that match your criteria. This section shows you how to select up to five criteria, set your ranges and view your results on the map.

When working with Smart Map Search, it is useful to select a location on the map. You can view a specific location such as an address or you can zoom into an area and use different geography levels including state and county. See Navigating the Map to change the map background, zooming in or out, printing, and so on.

Steps:

1. From the Create Maps from Data, click Smart Map Search.
2. Click Get Started in the Smart Map Search dialog box.

   You can click the Skip this in the future check box to bypass this introduction page and go directly to Smart Map Search.

Choose up to five variables from the options below

You can search for variables by entering a variable in the Search all variables text box such as population or income.

Search by category, favorites or saved list

Use the options to find the variables. Click on a category to access the Data Browser.

• Category - Provides variables that are grouped in categories.
• Favorites - Lists your favorite variables. The Favorites tab is populated by variables that you have indicated with yellow stars.
• Saved List - View the variable lists that you have saved.

Browse all variables

Click Browse all variables.

The Data Browser appears with options to search variables or browse by category. You can create a custom variable if you need a specific type, range or combination of data.

Selecting a variable using any of these options will apply the variable and display it on the map. For more information on working with the map, see Set your ranges, View results table and Export to Excel.

Set your ranges

Once you've made your selection, the variables will be applied and displayed on the map. You can select the geographic view and use the lock feature to set the view, use the sliders to adjust the variable range and save the variables to the saved list.

You can choose the geography level for your analysis from States, Counties, ZIP Codes, Census Tracts, and Block Groups. You can use the lock to set the geography levels for your maps. By default, the map is displayed in the geography based on the zoom level and updates when zooming in or out. You can set the analysis geography by locking and unlocking geography levels by clicking on the lock icon.

You can use the Current Map drop-down menu, which is the default, or you can select study areas on the map to filter your Smart Map search results to the specific area.

Note:

Small geographies are not available at all zoom levels. When zooming out, a pop-up window appears to indicate that the selected geography can't be viewed at this scale. You must zoom in to make the geography visible.

You can use the sliders to adjust your results or uncheck a variable, with the check box to the left of the variable name, to remove it from the map. Changes appear immediately on the map.

Tip:

To save your variables list, click Save. The Save Variables List dialog box appears for you to name the list. Once saved, the list appears in Saved List.

View results table

With the results of the search, you can use the table for a different view of the criteria with the ability to view by number or graph. You can also change the transparency and color, and save.

Steps:

1. Click View Results Table.
2. Place the mouse pointer over an item in the table and the corresponding area on the map is highlighted.
To view the graph, click the Graph button.
3. Place the mouse pointer over an item in the graph and the corresponding area on the map is highlighted.

   The graph view shows only the top five among the geographies within the current view of the map.

Transparency

The Transparency slider allows you to change the transparency percentage of the map view.

Steps:

1. To change the transparency, use the Transparency slider.
2. Place the mouse pointer over the transparency line and slide it to the left to decrease the transparency percentage or to the right to increase the transparency percentage.

Overlay color

You can change the overlay color of the map.

To change the colors in the legend, click the color. A color palette appears.

Click a color and the map changes.

To export to Excel

You can export the results of your search to an Excel file.

Steps:

1. Click Export to Excel.
2. Select the location to download the Excel file.

Note:

For the U.S., only the first 100 block groups can be exported.

For Canada, only the first 100 dissemination areas can be exported.

The Excel file appears in the location you selected.