What geographies can I view the data at?
Los Angeles County is by far the most populous county in the nation, covering 4,000 square miles. The way we interact with our environment, our communities, and our elected officials impacts the way we see the county.
Census Tracts
A census tract is a small, statistical subdivision of a county denoted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Census tracts are an optimum size of 4,000 people. Census tracts ideally will stay constant over a long time for statistical continuity, but boundaries may be redrawn every 10 years if there are drastic changes in population. There are just under 2,500 census tracts in LA County.
Neighborhoods
The 272 neighborhoods on the NDSC platform are adapted from The Los Angeles Times “Mapping L.A.” project. This process began in 2009 with an initial map that was iteratively redrawn with the community input of how residents perceived their neighborhoods.
Cities
The 88 cities on the NDSC platform are the official jurisdictions in Los Angeles County with independent municipal governments in charge of their residents’ local laws, taxes, and public services. The cities in Los Angeles County do not spatially cover all of the land – some communities are “unincorporated” into these cities, and instead fall under the direct jurisdiction of Los Angeles County.
If you are interested in viewing data at a geographic level other than the census tract, neighborhood, or city, please explore our Geography Library.
