Pop Count Data Files

Pop Count Data Files

Q: What files should I use for my HDMapper™ population counts?

A: You can use any point-type file in the ESRI Shapefile format to perform data summations, including population counts with HDMapper.

The default field for population counts in HDMapper is the “POP100” field used in most US Census Block Centroid files.

(TAP 6.0.2435 and later has the ability to select different data file columns from the files, such as "number of households.")

TAP 5 with HDMapper includes 1990 census files for US States in files named xx_block_population in the SHAPEFILES\USA\xx folder, where xx is the two-letter state abbreviation.

Updated population data files are available from other sources.

For example, suppose you have a coverage contour computed with TAP and drawn in HDMapper:

You can use the Add Layer button to add the population data layer:

You can select the population file(s) you want to show on the map:

The new layer will be added to the map, and you can use the Data Summation or Pop Count functions to get the 1990 population contained in the coverage contour:

You can also purchase Block Centroid files for the 2000 US Census from SoftWright.

These files follow the naming convention xx_2000_BlockCentroid_point.shp and can be added in the same way:

The 2000 census information will be added to the map:

The 2000 census layer can also be used in population counts.

You can select the layer(s) you want to add as a default to every new coverage map using the Default Layers function.

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