Choose a place

Every profile is about a place, your study area, and you can add places to compare it with. Each time you pick a place, Studio gives you five ways to find it: Search, The map, Browse levels, FIPS codes, and Saved places. On the first page of a new profile they sit under the search box. In the Add a geography dialog they are tabs across the top.

Most people search. Use the map when you know where a place is but not its name, or when your study area is a group of neighborhoods rather than one official place.

Search

1. Click in the search box. Before you type anything, it lists Other ways to pick, your saved places, and your Recent picks.
2. Type a place name (at least two characters) or a street address (at least three). Results appear as you type.
3. If there are many places with the same name, add the state, for example "Burlington, Vermont" instead of "Burlington". Each result shows its type and state under the name, such as "Place · Vermont". A city or town is listed as a Place.
4. Point to a result, or move to it with the arrow keys. Buttons appear on the right:

• Use this: picks the place. Clicking the result or pressing Enter does the same.
• Smaller areas inside: opens The map on that place so you can pick the neighborhoods or counties inside it. See "Select every area inside a place" below.
• See on map: shows the place on The map before you pick it. It appears for places that have no smaller areas inside.

If you type a street address, Studio lists Geographies including this address: the areas that contain it, such as its block group, tract, city, county, and state. Pick one, or choose Area around this address to select the areas within a distance of it. Back to results returns to the list.

If Studio says No places match, check the spelling, try a full street address, or use The map.

The map

The map dialog has three parts: the tools on the left, the map in the middle, and a footer with a summary of your selection and the buttons to finish.

Choose a level

The buttons across the top of the map set which kind of area you are selecting: State, County, City, Census Tract, or Block Group. More lists the other levels, such as County Subdivision, Congressional District, school districts, and metro areas.

You can select only one level at a time. If you switch levels, Studio clears what you selected so far.

To move the map, drag it, use the + and - buttons, or type a place in Search for a place to zoom to… at the top right. The round button above the zoom buttons switches to a satellite map.

Click areas

With the Click tool, which is on when the map opens, click an area to select it and click it again to remove it. Point to an area to see its full name and FIPS code.

Select every area inside a place

1. Search for the place, point to it, and click Smaller areas inside.
2. The map opens on that place, with its outline drawn, at the next level down: counties inside a state, or census tracts inside a county or city.
3. Click Select all inside, followed by the place name, to select every area inside it at once (up to 1,000).
4. Click any area to remove it, or click areas outside the outline to add them.

If Studio says Too many areas to add at once, pick a smaller place or a larger level.

Select with a shape: Radius, Travel, and Draw

These tools select every area within a shape. They are useful for questions like "who lives within a mile of this park?"

• Radius: a circle. Set the Starting point by clicking the map or searching an address, then choose a distance under Distance in miles, or type your own in Other (0.1 to 10 miles).
• Travel: the area you can reach from the Starting point. Choose Walk, Bike, or Drive under Travel by, and a time under Time in minutes (1 to 60). Travel times are estimates.
• Draw: drag to draw a shape, or click its corners and double-click to finish. Hold Space or right-drag to move the map while drawing. You can draw up to 10 shapes.

Click Change next to the starting point to move it.

Center or Every area

A shape rarely lines up with census boundaries, so Studio needs a rule for areas on the edge. The rule is shown under the count of selected areas. Click its first word to switch:

• Center: an area is selected when its center point is inside the shape. This is the default for Radius and Draw.
• Every area: an area is selected when the shape overlaps it, as long as at least the share you set (2% by default) is inside. This is the default for Travel.

Areas that only partly overlap the shape are shaded with stripes. To add them too, click Add N partly inside (for example Add 8 partly inside).

The selection summary

The box under the tools shows how many areas you selected, for example 3 census tracts selected, and Clear to start over. It also tells you when something needs attention:

• Too many block groups for one selection. Click Try Census Tract to use larger areas.
• No census tract has its center inside this shape. Click Try Block Group to use smaller areas, or switch the rule to Every area.

The footer repeats your selection, for example "3 selected: Census Tract 3, Census Tract 41, Census Tract 42".

The footer buttons

The main button depends on what you are picking:

• For your study area: Use as study area for one area, or Use as the study area for several. Several areas become one combined area, so Studio asks you to Name your area first. See Build a custom area.
• For comparisons: Add comparison for one area. For several, choose Add as one area to combine them into one column, or Add N separately to give each its own column.

Cancel closes the map without changing anything.

Browse levels

Pick a geography level, then a place, or use All ... in ... to add every area of a level inside a parent.

FIPS codes

Choose the geography type, paste your codes, and press Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows). Studio shows which codes it recognized. If a code is not recognized, check for a dropped leading zero, which spreadsheets often remove.

Saved places

Pick a place you saved earlier. See Saved places.

Kinds of places you can use

Studio uses the official areas the Census Bureau publishes data for:

• Nation, State, and County.
• County Subdivision: towns and townships inside a county.
• Place: a city, town, or village.
• Census Tract: a neighborhood-sized area, usually 1,200 to 8,000 people. Good for studying part of a city.
• Block Group: a piece of a census tract, usually 600 to 3,000 people. The smallest area Studio offers.
• Metro Area: a city and the surrounding counties that are tied to it by commuting.
• Congressional District and State Legislative District (upper and lower).
• PUMA: an area of at least 100,000 people that the Census Bureau uses for detailed survey data.
• ZIP code (ZCTA): the Census Bureau's version of a ZIP code area.
• School District: elementary, secondary, and unified.

To report on an area that is not on this list, such as a downtown or a service area, combine several of these areas. See Build a custom area.

Related articles

• Build a custom area
• Add comparison areas
• Create a profile