August 2021
2020 Census Redistricting Data Weeks Away

“By August 16.” The U.S. Census Bureau’s timeline for release of the 2020 Public Law 94-171 Redistricting Data Summary files hasn’t wavered in months. Now we only await word on the exact timing of the first sub-county 2020 Census data release.
Here’s a quick primer on what will be released and how communities can prepare to use the new numbers that follow the state-level apportionment counts released in April.

What will be released?
Population counts including race, Hispanic Ethnicity and voting age residents within each county, municipality, political district, census tract and other areas. Counts of housing units, as well as housing occupancy/vacancy, are included.


Where do I obtain the files?
Redistricting Data, technical documentation and related geographic files will be available for FTP download from the Redistricting Data Office website:


In what format are the data released and how are they processed?
The “Legacy” format data files are pipe-delimited text files that must be processed prior to use. By September 30, 2020, data will be made available in more user-friendly formats, including viewing on data.census.gov. A number of support materials including documentation, table shells and processing scripts have been make available.


What should data users know about the new data?
The new data will closely resemble redistricting releases from the prior decade, but under the hood processing changes to protect respondent confidentially could affect how the information looks for small areas. In some cases, the Bureau noted that data for a single census block may appear “fuzzy” and outlined the importance aggregating block to larger areas.


Need more help?
After processing the initial 2020 Census Data, the State Data Center will post CSV files and downloadable shapefiles. Please contact the State Data Center if your community encounters a special situation or circumstance that requires additional assistance. Watch our website for more information after August 16th.
2020 ACS 1-Year Data, Microdata Release Cancelled

If you were looking forward to the September release of the 1-Year 2020 American Community Survey (ACS) data for geographies larger than 65,000 people, a July 29th Census Bureau announcement will come as a disappointment.

The ACS is distributed to more than 3.5 million addresses annually and disruptions to the survey process and follow-up at non-responding households resulted in a 33% drop in completed surveys collected in 2020. The announcement noted that bias among the non-respondents introduced substantial data quality errors that would have rendered the resulting statistics unreliable. The 2020 ACS Public Use Microdata Samples also are impacted.

In their place, an experimental 1-year product will be released with limited tables and for limited geographies.

Even with those cancellations, the December release of 2016-2020 5-Year ACS for all geographies remains on schedule.
Toplines
78,659
births were reported in Tennessee in 2020. The National Vital Statistics Surveillance Report preliminarily showed a drop of 1,791 births compared to 2019, representing a 2.2 percent decline and the fewest since 2002. Early data show births and natality could decline even more rapidly in 2021.
19.4
percent of Tennessee workers substituted telework for in-person work during the period June 23-July 5, according to week 33 results from the Household Pulse Survey; that’s down from 29.4 percent about the same time last year. The next bi-weekly update comes on August 11.
Tennessee Economic Indicators
rate ▼
(06/2021)
TN: 4.9% | US: 5.9%
-4.4 points since
June 2020
(06/2021)
TN: 347,100 employees
+6.3% since
June 2020
(Q1 2021)
TN: $326,545,900,000
0.0% since Q1 2020
(Q1 2021)
TN: $58,087
US: $66,062
+17.5% since Q1 2020
View interactive data on our FRED Dashboard.
Around the State
Population Projections for Incorporated Areas in Tennessee

Every two years, the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research—where the State Data Center is housed—releases population projections for the state and its 95 counties.

But what about the future population of the state’s 345 cities and towns? Incorporated areas across the state need projections for a wide variety of planning needs so this is one of the most common questions we’re asked. Because the input data used for our projections are compiled at the county-level, it’s not possible to directly project population at the sub-county level.

In response to these requests, we’ve developed a new resource to help communities create a short- or long-term projection of total population. This includes a new web page describing the process and a sample worksheet.
Contact us if you need help getting started or have questions about the process.
Southeast U.S. Counties “Year of Maximum Population” Dashboard
UT Knoxville students in the Geography 420 Class (GIS in the Community) used their semester of service-learning to examine how periods of population growth varied by county across Tennessee and seven bordering states.

Using U.S. Census Bureau population estimate data from 1970 to 2019, the class visualized patterns of population change in an interactive dashboard focused on the year population peaked in each county.

In Tennessee, 60 counties are at their current population high. Fifteen counties reached their maximum during the 2000s and five rural counties saw their totals peak before 1990.
Short Takes
OMB MSA Proposal Withdrawn

A July 16 Federal Register notice announced the withdrawal of a January OMB proposal to increase the minimum population of Metropolitan Statistical Areas from 50,000 to 100,000. It was a lopsided loss with 721 comments opposing to 21 favoring. The TNSDC submitted comments supporting a deferral of any changes to the current standard.
Economic Indicators Suspended

The recent stability in the state’s economy meant that the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research suspended updates to its weekly economic indicators. One legacy of the project is a dashboard and data repository chronicling the county-level historic peaks in unemployment claims from March 2020 through July 2021.
APDU Award Winners

Need some Data Viz inspiration? Check out the Association of Public Data Users 2021 Data Viz Award Winners. Winning agencies will receive their awards at an August 31st webinar.
About the Tennessee State Data Center Network
The State Data Center Program is a cooperative program of the State of Tennessee, The University of Tennessee and the U.S. Census Bureau. Data Centers in each state assist the Bureau by disseminating Census data, other federal data sets and information.
Data Center Affiliates

Each center has an internal statewide affiliate network to further assist in disseminating data to local users. These affiliates also have local information and expertise to offer. Visit tnsdc.utk.edu for a full listing of affiliates.
Tennessee State Data Center | 865-974-6070 | tnsdc@utk.edu
916 Volunteer Blvd. | 713 Stokely Management Center
Knoxville, TN 37996