Just a few weeks ago the Bentley Library added DemographicsNow to our collection of databases. DemographicsNow provides demographic, business and consumer data from the U.S. Census and other public and private sources.
Although U.S. Census data is freely available via their American Factfinder database, DemographicsNow has a more intuitive interface and built-in reporting features that gives it an edge over the Census’ site. DemographicsNow also provides information on 23 million businesses and 206 million people/135 million households. This combination of data and business intelligence makes DemographicsNow an important resource for anyone needing to analyze the demographic and market potential of a geographic area.
There are three main components to the database: Demographics, Businesses and People. A mapping function is also available, allowing users to create custom thematic maps.
Demographics
This is the most impressive of the three components. Use it to access U.S. Census data from 1980-2010, view current year estimates, and get 5-year projections for any U.S. geographic area. A custom area can also be created using radius or drive time (minutes). Users can choose from three report types – summary, comparison and rank – each of which can be downloaded in Microsoft Word, Excel, PDF and HTML formats.
This will be a “must-use” database for anyone developing a business or marketing plan (this means you, GB320 students!). Marketers, sociologists, economists, and political scientists alike will find many uses for this data and will appreciate its easy retrieval. Data includes:
- income
- housing
- race
- age
- education
- retail spending
- consumer expenditures (CEX)
- businesses
- MOSAIC segmentation (MOSAIC is a consumer segmentation that describes/classifies American consumers in 71 types and 12 groupings that share similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics)
Businesses
Search for information on a specific company or perform a custom search to compile a list of businesses that meet certain criteria, such as size, industry, location and ownership type. The database even includes out-of-business listings back to the year 2000. This component of DemographicsNow is especially useful to entrepreneurs, job-seekers and others who want to create a customized list of businesses.
People
Search for information on a specific person or perform a custom search to compile a list of contacts that meet specific criteria, such as address, area code or U.S. Census neighborhood data averages (household income, family size, median age, number of vehicles, etc). Small business owners or salespeople may use this database to create targeted customer mailing lists.
Mapping
The mapping tool allows users to map their results, create custom geographies and view demographic variables in thematic coloring scales.
Connect to this Database
Please visit DemographicsNow to explore this valuable database further. A series of brief, informative tutorials may be accessed using the “Help & Info” link in the top right corner of the DemographicsNow database. You may also access library databases via our Databases by Subject and Databases A-Z pages.
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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.
