Using SimplyMap to Identify Relationships Between Variables
Inspired by a recent help desk ticket, we wanted to discuss how users may utilize SimplyMap to identify relationships between unique variables. For example, does having a college degree significantly impact the median income of areas? And how does median income effect spending on eating out? Let’s take a look at ZIP Codes within the state of North Carolina.
To quickly analyze a larger area by its smaller geographies, a Location Analysis Report is ideal.
Click on New Tabular Report > Location Analysis:
Choose the state of North Carolina, and navigate to the variables you would like to see compared and analyzed. In this example, we’ll use:
Household Inc, Median
% Education, College, Master's or Doctorate Degree, 2015
% Education, High School
Food away from home (Household Average)
# Households (HHs)
Once you’ve selected your variables, close out the Variables Panel and your report will be created. Be sure to select ZIP Codes from the Analyze Data By option that appears towards the top, shown below.
The last step is to choose a variable (column header) and Sort Descending. For example, if you sort descending for Median HH Income, you will get a ranked list (from high to low) of income by Zip Code. Scan the other columns to get a sense of education levels in these locations, and how much they tend to spend eating out.
Sort Descending Income Results:
Conclusion: The results yield that higher median income areas tends to also have a higher percentage of residents who have at least a college degree. The money spent eating out was somewhat surprising as results did not vary significantly in lower median income areas (although it did go down and especially in the very low income areas).
Note: You may also want to look at # Households or Population Totals in these areas as the averages and percentages would be impacted by those figures.
These results seem to verify a relationship that’s already well known and somewhat intuitive, however, with more than 60,000 variables in SimplyMap you could study relationships between Median Income and Whiskey Drinking, or Pet Ownership, or Yoga Participation, Transportation to work... the possibilities are endless. We’ll be sure to revisit this same topic in the near future!
More from SimplyAnalytics
Posted on Sep 10, 2010 by Admin
SimplyMap Canada is now available at several Canadian institutions, including York University and Ryerson University, in Toronto. SimplyMap Canada has all of the great features included i...
Posted on Sep 18, 2015 by Admin
With tens of thousands of variables available in SimplyMap, it’s common for users to wonder whether or not a particular variable they have in mind is available in SimplyMap. This is where...
Posted on Mar 02, 2018 by Admin
In this week’s blog we’ll take a look at how to enter an address in SimplyAnalytics to find the Census Block Group or Census Tract. Let’s get started! Use Case: You want to analyze the ar...
Posted on Nov 03, 2017 by Admin
This week we’ll talk about one of our favorite features in SimplyAnalytics - the custom combination location. This feature is a simple and effective means to create custom geographies whe...
Posted on Oct 07, 2024 by Admin
We're headed to Charleston! Come visit the SimplyAnalytics team on November 12th at the Gaillard Center at booth 41. We'll be doing live demonstrations of the database, answering question...
Posted on Oct 12, 2010 by Admin
NC LIVE, a member-driven library service organization dedicated to providing online information services that support education, enhance statewide economic development, and increase qu...
Posted on Sep 08, 2016 by Admin
One of our favorite uses of SimplyMap is to find data that validates our general assumptions and observations. For example, in a previous blog we wrote about the growth of tablet ownershi...
Posted on Nov 22, 2016 by Admin
We will be exhibiting at ALA Midwinter in Atlanta, Georgia in January. You can find the GRI team at Booth 1155, where we will be catching up with customers old and new, and sharing some e...
Posted on May 08, 2018 by Admin
We will be exhibiting at the SLA conference in Baltimore, MD this June. Stop by booth #912 and say hello - we look forward to demonstrating SimplyAnalytics, answering your questions, and ...
Posted on Jul 09, 2015 by Admin
In this week’s SimplyMap report, we set out to find which cities have the highest percentages of people who use their bike as their mode of transportation to work in the US. Let’s get sta...



