One hundred years ago today, a fire devastated the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Lower Manhattan.  Burned, trapped and injured as they tried to escape, 146 people died in the blaze.  Many of them young immigrant women, the median age of the victims was 20, and some were as young as 14.

Their deaths brought attention to dangerous working conditions in factories.  Public outcry, labor organizing and advocacy helped to improve workplace safety and employment laws.

Looking back to the victims, we know their names and something about their backgrounds thanks to remembrance projects and documentarians.   With Social Explorer, you can learn more about when and where they lived.

Using 1910 census data, we focused on downtown Manhattan census tracts where multiple victims resided (based on a map from Street Pictures).

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Victim Manhattan Neighborhoods (1910 census tract)

In these Lower East Side and Village neighborhoods, more than two thirds of residents were recently arrived immigrants.  The concentration of immigrants was high, even for Manhattan.  In the borough, 77% of residents were immigrants or the children of immigrants, while in these neighborhoods, nearly 97% were.

New York City may be a melting pot, but it was almost exclusively mixing immigrants together.  These census tracts housed almost no native born whites and even fewer blacks.  (In one of the tracts with a higher black population, the number of black residents equaled the number of residents born at sea—a scant six people.)

Many of these immigrants came from Russia (47.6%), Austria (22.7%) and Italy (12.0%), followed by Hungary (5.7%), Germany (3.9%) and Ireland (2.2%).

Social Explorer’s tools help users learn more context about the past.

On St. Patrick’s Day, Social Explorer can be be your patron saint of demography.  Social Explorer has data on Irish residents back to the nation’s founding.  With Social Explorer, users can see where Irish immigrants have settled and moved over the years.

According to the first census in 1790, there were 11,139 Irish residents in the young nation, representing just 1.5% of the total population, which was mostly British.  During the peak immigration years in the early part of the 20th century, Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian and German were the largest groups of new immigrants with over a million foreign born residents for each residing in the US in 1920.

Map of Irish Foreign Born in the US (1920 Census)

You can see concentrations of Irish immigrants in the Northeast and the West

In 1980, the Census Bureau started tracking detailed ancestry information.  Today, the 22,479,693 residents of Irish ancestry make up 7.5% of the population, and an additional 14 million identify as part Irish, bringing that up to over one tenth of the population.  But on St. Patrick’s Day, perhaps everyone is a little Irish.

Map of Irish Ancestry in the US (American Community Survey 2005-09)

Click the maps to explore more.  In honor of the holiday, you can also color your maps in a festive green with our custom color sets.

New Yorkers and Knicks fans are celebrating the arrival of basketball phenom Carmelo Anthony.  For Anthony, it’s also a Brooklyn homecoming.  While some look at his debut game stats, Social Explorer is looking to score some data points.

Since Anthony was born in 1984, we’ll focus on the 1980 census data.  Locating his Brooklyn block using the find tool, we can create reports to learn more about his neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Anthony grew up in the Red Hook housing projects—one of the largest public housing complexes in the US.  In 1990, LIFE Magazine named the neighborhood one of the worst in the US and dubbed it the “crack capital of America.”  Today, it is also home to an IKEA furniture store and a Fairway grocery.

Much like the Knicks franchise, the neighborhood has changed substantially in many respects, but not in others.  The data show that the once 71.9% African American neighborhood is now 47.8%.  (Anthony, who is African American and Puerto Rican, would have been part of the 8.5% Hispanic/black category, which has since decreased to 3.2%.)

The median income (adjusted for inflation to 2009 dollars) decreased from $18,117 to $14,321 between 1980 and now, with the poverty rate for the area increasing from 38.2% to 62.6%.  Meanwhile, the nationwide median income increased from $49,879 to $51,425.

In 1980, single female-headed households made up 39.4% of the neighborhood. This was nearly twice the borough average and four times the national average. (When Anthony’s father passed away, his home would have been in this category.)  Now, nearly half of family households are headed by a single female (49.8%).

The unemployment rate for men was 12.4% in 1980–nearly twice the national rate of 6.5%.  Today, it has increased to 32.2%–over four times the national rate of 7.3%.

Whether playing in the NCAA or not, residents who attended at least one year of college in the neighborhood increased from 9.4% of the neighborhood population in 1980 to 23.2% today.  Though still lagging behind the national rate (55.2%), the local increase outpaced the national rise.

To learn more about change in Red Hook or other neighborhoods, check out Social Explorer’s maps and reports.

The controversy over union benefits in Wisconsin has brought great attention to the public service sector there and across the nation.  Social Explorer can help you learn about the different sectors of the workforce and how they have changed over time.

The Census tracks data on employment, including sector (such as private, public, self-employed, nonprofit and unpaid home workers).  Using Social Explorer we can track public sector workers in Wisconsin and nationwide.

A 2005-09 American Community Survey map shows details of where public service reside.

The following tables based on Social Explorer reports provide the number of people in the public service sector across the decades.

For instance, the US has added over 8 million public service employees to the workforce since 1970.  But, overall, the public service sector shrank 1.5% over the past forty years and now represents 14.6% of the labor force according to the 2005-09 American Community Survey.

In Wisconsin, public service workers make up 12.2% of the state’s labor force, a decline of 1.9% during the same time period.  You can explore this data and more with Social Explorer’s maps and reports.

If you’re looking for a Valentine, let Social Explorer help you map your way to love.  Cupid crunches the numbers to make the most of his arrows, and you should too.

You can look up nationwide information on the 55.6 million available men and 63.5 million available women, or take a lesson from “The Situation,” and analyze the ratio of single women to single men to plan your next night out.

You can use tables like the 2005-09 American Community Survey’s “Sex By Marital Status By Age For The Population 15 Years And Over” to hone in on where your future honey may (or may not) dwell.

Check out Social Explorer’s maps and reports for more information on singles.  It’s not just a coincidence that “data” is just one letter away from “date.”  And you will be sure to impress with a demographics-related pickup line.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Social Explorer!

As candidates, voters and pundits continue to celebrate, mourn and scrutinize this week’s election, Social Explorer can add context to the discussion.

For example, data reveal a spectrum of economic indicators in districts that Republican candidates picked up this year.   Social Explorer lets users investigate American Community Survey (ACS) data by congressional district to learn more about the places where these changes occurred.

Four congressional districts in Florida changed from Democratic to Republican control this election:

• District 2 (eastern panhandle): Republican Steven Southerland beat incumbent Democrat Allen Boyd.
• District 8 (central, Orlando-area): Republican Daniel Webster beat incumbent Democrat Alan Grayson.
• District 22 (southeast coast): Republican Allen B. West beat incumbent Democrat Ron Klein.
• District 24 (east of Orlando) : Republican Sandy Adams beat incumbent Democrat Suzanne Kosmas

According to the ACS data, Florida as a whole saw larger increases in the unemployment rate and decreases in income and home values.  These figures vary by district, as shown in the table below.

2009 Economic Indicators in Florida and the US (including change since 2006)

Table contains 2009 ACS data and inflation-adjusted 2006 ACS data.

Whether or not the economy or ideology drove the election results, data from Social Explorer provides background for discussions of the state of the US.  Subscribers can investigate their own districts using the report tool.

Now that the trapped Chilean miners have all been safely rescued, Social Explorer takes a look at the mining industry here in the US.

With detailed maps and reports, Social Explorer can help trace mining over time. According to the 2000 Census, there were 496,370 miners in the US, representing just 0.4% of the over 16 employed civilian population. By comparison, the largest industries were manufacturing (14.1%), retail trade (11.7%) and health case and social assistance (11.2%).

Small in numbers nationwide, miners are heavily concentrated in certain regions of the US. In these areas, the swings in the mining population have been large. These maps show the distribution of miners in the US in 1970 and 1990—the most recent year that mining can be mapped as a separate industry (separate from agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting).

1970 United States Mining Industry

1990 United States Mining Industry

The mining industry has grown in central Nevada, while it has receded and all but disappeared in other areas of the country, such as parts of northern Michigan and Minnesota. Reports provide more detail about these shifts.  For instance, a Social Explorer report confirms that between 1990 and 2000, the mining industry in West Virginia dropped from 5.4% to 2.8% of employed residents.

Mine the data for yourself by clicking on either of the maps, or visiting the reports section of the site.

And for more on Chileans in the US, check out Social Explorer’s recent blog post in honor of Chilean Independence Day.

Two days after Mexicans declared independence from Spain, Chileans began their battle for independence.  September 18th, 2010, marks the 200th birthday of the Republic of Chile.

Social Explorer helps you learn where Chileans live in the US.  As of the 2000 Census, 68,849 Chileans resided across the US, including at least one famous Chilean-born star in Marlborough, New York.

Census 2000: Number of Chileans (each dot represents 10 people)

Social Explorer also lets you examine the Spaniard population, and at 100,135, Spaniards outnumber Chileans in the US.

Census 2000: Number of Spaniards (each dot represents 10 people)

Click on either map to explore more, or click here to create your own.

On Sept. 16, 1810, Mexican insurgents began the fight for independence from Spanish loyalists, and 11 years later, they won it.  Today marks the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence Day.

With Social Explorer, you can examine where Mexicans are now.  Maps offer portraits of where the US’s 20,640,711 Mexicans live.

Census 2000: Number of Mexicans (each dot represents 10 people)

And, Social Explorer can illustrate what percentage of the population is Mexican.

With some areas of the country nearly as Mexican as Mexico.

Census 2000: Percentage Mexicans in the Southwest

Click on any of the maps to explore more, or click here to create your own.

Viva Mexico!  Viva data!

Born in Staten Island, NY, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino spent his formative tanning and toning years in Manalapan, NJ.  Last summer, he joined the cast of MTV’s The Jersey Shore.

From flashing his abs to regaling housemates with dating strategies, “The Situation” likes to put it out there, but Social Explorer can teach you even more.  For this installment of The Jersey Shore Data Hookup, we’ll use reports to help you learn what’s behind the your favorite shirtless Jersey Shore cast member.

Median household income in Manalapan, NJ, is twice the national average, but at $82,876, it would afford only a couple of appearance fees with “The Situation.”   He is reported to earn over $5 million this year for the Jersey Shore, Dancing with the Stars, product endorsements and events.

Social Explorer created one table you’d think Mike might have designed himself—“Single Males to Females Ratio By Age Group.”  And looking at the data, a young, single Manalapan man might want to move.  There are 23% more single men than single women among 20-29 year olds (7% higher than nationwide) in his old stomping ground.  Seaside Heights, NJ, has a more favorable ratio for the single guy, but Miami Beach has even more single 20-29 year old men than women (35%).  (At least he’ll have more in common with fellow Miami Beach residents, where men are five times more likely to be in arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations than in Manalapan.)

From Manalapan to Seaside Heights to Miami Beach, “The Situation” needs a little luck and a little data to improve his game.