U.S POPULATION DATA

           This map illustrates the population in each county. The darker the shade of purple, the more people live in a given county. Contrastingly, the lighter shades of purple indicate areas with a small population. Areas in the Midwest, for the most part, seem to have significantly lower populations than counties along the West Coast and Upper East Coast. Large cities tend to have the largest populations.

           This map shows the percent change in the total population over a decade. The colors gradually change from orange to dark purple. Orange indicates a percent loss, as more people move out of those counties than into them, while dark purple indicates a percent gain as more people move into those counties than out of them. The counties highlighted indicate that places losing people are rural whereas purple counties are cities that people are moving to.

          This map indicates the population density of each county in the year 2000. The colors change from light green to dark blue, from low density to high density. The right half of the country appears to be more dense than the left, which more counties shaded darker green and dark blue. It is interesting to note that the counties become increasingly smaller as you move from the west coast to the east coast. This trend is rooted in history and the westward expansion that took place during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

           This map illustrates the change in population over a decade. It hints at migratory trends: the Midwest seems to have lost significant amounts of its population, as indicated by the bright pink. Meanwhile, the dark green indicates that Southern California, Arizona, and Florida have seen a huge increase in population. It suggests that people moved out of the rural areas and into the more urban places. In addition, this may be due to demographics: as the baby boomers age, more retire and move to states such as Florida.

           Though each map has a different focus, they all lead to similar conclusions. While accurate conclusions cannot be made without more information, the maps demonstrate that the U.S population is heavily concentrated around the coasts while the Midwest is losing portions of its population. The ability to visualize all this data helps convey the information in a much more appealing way, thanks to GIS. GIS maps help relate accurate information without the hassle of long spread sheets. Going through the Excel sheet, with the same information, is very intimidating and GIS helps to make it easier and understandable.