GEOG 160 Project 5:
Census Thematic Mapping
Sean Swanepoel
Thematic Map
Percent of People 25 Years and Over Who Have Completed High School (Includes Equivalency): 2005
The above map was created by the American Community Survey in 2005 and shows the Percent of People 25 Years and Over Who Have Completed High School. The Features shown in this Thematic Map are major roads, streets, and streams/waterbodies. The map shows information for the Pennsylvania and surrounding areas and I chose to display the data by county level so the viewer is able to determine which counties within the state and surrounding states has the highest population of persons with a high school graduate. The data class method I used was Quantile, this displays an equal number of counties in each class.
The spatial pattern of the map shows how
different counties have higher or lower levels of education. The spatial divide
is interesting because the higher level of high school graduation is found
nearer to major cities such as Pittsburg and Philadelphia. Especially on the
east coast there is a higher level of academic proficiency.
Thematic Map
Males per 100 Females: 2000
Looking at the map and the Data classes we can see that there are more females than males in the majority of the areas covered. Along the East coast there appears to be more female as apposed to the more male dominant as we mover more in land and center country. This could potential do with location and profession, for example; in land is associated with agriculture and there for more of a male activity as apposed to the more developed East coast which allows for a more diverse range of employment.
Thematic Map
Percent of People Below Poverty Level in the Past 12 Months (For Whom Poverty Status is Determined): 2005
Again, this thematic map covers the same eastern part of
the country, which includes Pennsylvania and surrounding States. The data is
displayed by county as all the other thematic maps on this page so a comparison
and correlation can be made. The map's Data Set is form the 2005 American Community
Survey and the data classification scheme used was quantile, I used this
method because I wanted to have an equal number of counties in each class. The
features shown in the map are major roads, streets, and streams/waterbodies. The
data collected by the AMS covers the Population for whom poverty status is determined
and shows the Percent of People Below Poverty Level in the Past 12 Months
for 2005.
When looking and comparing two maps with different data sets a correlation can be seen. Taking the census map of Percent of People 25 Years and Over Who Have Completed High School and Percent of People Below Poverty Level in the Past 12 Months a definite pattern can be seen. The area with the most high school completion, which is along the East coast, matches with the lowest level off poverty. Along the East coast the average poverty levels are 1.2 - 8.2% (the lowest) and the average high school graduation is about 90% (the highest), showing that with a higher level of education comes higher income.
In center county the high school graduation is at the highest level, however; has the highest poverty level. This pattern does not follow my previous statement. I feel that there is a high level of education in the county but lack adequate job opportunities, therefore many students after college move to more prominent areas, such as the more developed East Coast.
Sources
United States Bureau of the Census (2002) American FactFinder. http://factfinder.census.gov Accessed April, 2006.