The Demographics of Brooklyn, New York

Introduction

This in-depth look at Brooklyn, New York visualizes many of the borough’s demographics to

display general trends within the borough and allow data comparison between other NYC

boroughs. A small variety of data have been displayed to provide an insight as to what visualizing

the rest of the boroughs’ demographic data accomplish in providing various working sectors within

the city with valuable information. This demographic analysis of Brooklyn is not meant to create a

certain viewpoint but to simply display data to allow easy access and understanding of borough

demographics. Parties interested in acquiring this data may include, but are not limited to, regional,

private, non-profit; and public sector agents seeking specific information for real estate or business

investments; entrepreneurial activities; public facility and public transportation placement and

construction, observing income inequalities; allowing for observing what income levels have access

to affordable, healthy food; etc. Data is also made available for international or non-regional

investors, students and professors working on research reports, etc., and information may be used to

compare New York City to other cities’ demographics. The final map provides one example of what

the availability of this data can do in observing borough and city-wide trends in comparison to

public facility locations.

Geographic Definitions

Census Tracts: These are statistical subdivisions with populations usually around 4,000 but that

may also range between 1,200 to 8,000 people,. Their purpose is to provide a relatively stable and

more precise geographic unit (as compared to a county, M.S.A., state, etc…) to display and compare

statistical data between each census. These units are “relatively stable” because borders may change

as a result of population growth or decline (U.S. Census Bureau: Geographic Terms and Concepts).

Census tracts were used in this analysis of Brooklyn because their relatively small geographic area

allows for a more precise display of data as compared to a borough, metropolitan area, or state.

Park: As defined in this study, these units include playgrounds, bike paths, beaches, hiking trails,

pedestrian malls, and other publicly maintained recreational facilities. These units do not include

greenspace in road medians, alongside expressways, or empty land adjacent to development.

Borough: New York City is divided into five boroughs – Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Staten

Island, and Manhattan. Each borough has its own president and board that advises the mayor in

policy decision making to contribute to the respective borough’s improvement (i.e. needed policies,

tax fund allocations for public projects, etc…) (NYU Furman).

Maps

Three map groups are observed in the following section: 1.) Household demographics, 2.) economic

values, and 3.) park location in regards to households with families.

The first set of maps displays the location of median family sizes, median household sizes, and the

percentage of households with children. Median values were used to display general trends within

Brooklyn and other boroughs. These maps can provide valuable information to real estate agents

seeking investment opportunities based on the type and size of housing stock demands. It also

provides possible entrepreneurs data on what type of start-up business could be needed in specific

neighborhoods.

All three maps show the

tendency that as median

household size increases,

median family size and the

percentage of households

with children also increase. It

can also be noted that the

census tracts displaying this

data are concentrated in

specific areas of Brooklyn.

For instance, the median

family size is largest in areas

south of Prospect Park and

in the northern part of the

borough by the east river.

These trends are clearly

visible on the other two

maps implying that larger

families with around three to

four children could live in

these areas of the borough.

However, the map displaying

the percentage of

households with children

shows a large concentration of high percentages of households with children in eastern Brooklyn.

This could therefore imply smaller sized families of one to two children or more single-parent

households. These findings could therefore dictate where a mass-quantity food retailer like Costco

builds its next store. Since larger families need more food, a Costco in areas concentrated with these

families will have higher revenues than in areas with smaller families. Also, since Costco provides

lower prices for mass quantities of food, the company would probably also look at median

household income, viewed in the following set of maps, to determine its new location.

The second set of maps displays different economic activities such as median home value and

median household income. The maps display a correlation between the two data sets that if not

would’ve had to been calculated if

not visibly displayed. One can see

that households with higher

incomes in Brooklyn tend to be

located in the northwestern side

of the borough where there also

tend to be a higher median home

values. This tendency is visible in

surrounding boroughs as well.

The above correlation gives a base

for further research, by interested

individuals, into the correlation.

The map, however, also shows a discrepancy in this correlation in Brooklyn in the area just

southwest of Prospect Park. Here, the median household income is rather low while the median

home values are on the higher side. The first set of maps can help readers better understand this

variation in the data for one of the maps shows that this area is heavily concentrated with larger

families and households. This could therefore imply larger square footage per home which could

lead to higher home values in general. Independently these maps do allow for visualization of

borough data, but since the report has all of the maps together it helps readers have a more

comprehensive understanding of Brooklyn and of New York City in general from which they can

jumpstart other research.

The third map set provides one example of what combining borough-wide trends with the location

of any facility (public or private) can do in furthering an understanding of an area. The below map

shows where Brooklyn households with children live in comparison to parks. The darker tracts,

which signify a greater concentration of families with children, combined with the location of parks

throughout the borough give meaning as to the correlation of these data sets. In combining the

census tract data with a ¼ mile distance from parks one sees that 98.3% of Brooklyn households

with children live ¼ mile from parks.

This map can help public officials in knowing where a new park or playground should be placed

because it shows areas that are underserviced by parks – this may include the absence of a park and

the size of a park relative to its surrounding population. Public officials can then investigate if

parks in areas with a greater number of families are to or above capacity or if they are well

maintained. In this one of many possible uses of this map, the data combination creates a more

efficient way in which to allocate tax funds for community development.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Demographics of Brooklyn, New York

Technical Notes

Data Sources

All data within the demographics report are derived from the American Community Survey’s 2010-

2014 5-year estimates to provide the most recent demographic data available. The Census Tracts

used in the maps are the most recent files that are compatible with the data since they are taken

from the Census Bureau’s 2014 TIGER files.

American Community Survey

A continuous survey of American demographics headed by the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey

provides a range of valuable data from household income to business employment percentages. The

survey is originally used to determine the most efficient public policy implements or allocation of tax

funds for public projects, etc… The data is then made public to allow other public sector

organizations as well as private and non-profit sector entities to make educated decisions to further

improve American’s lives. For more information on the survey visit

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/about.html , “About the Survey”.

TIGER Files

Files, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, and ranging from a variety of geographic units from

census tracts to counties to M.S.A.’s, allow for the visualization of data provided by the U.S. Census

Bureau and other data services entities. For more information go to

https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger.html , “TIGER Products”.

Bytes of the Big Apple

A data base and geographic base that provides data and geographic unit files specific to New York

City (a combination of the ACS and TIGER files catered to the city). The information, provided by

the NYC Department of City Planning, is collected and used by the city and published for

availability to the city’s private and non-profit sectors. For more information visit

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/bytes/applbyte.shtml , Bytes of the Big Apple.

Technical Notes

Sampling

All data derived from the ACS are estimates, not exact counts, because the survey itself is a sample

survey. “The ACS sample includes … about 66,000 [housing units] in New York City,” (NYU

Furman). Users of this document should take caution to rely on this data as estimates and not actual

values (NYU Furman).

Economic Activity Measurment

All economic activity is measured in U.S. dollars. Maps further mention if findings are displayed in

specific units (i.e. percentage, specific numbers, etc.)

Limitations

Distance to parks isn’t calculated as cost distance (i.e. pedestrian rights-of-way) but rather by

Euclidian distance, the shortest distance from one point to another. Therefore the percentage on

the map on Brooklyn families that live ¼ mile from parks is possibly an overestimate. Also,

accuracy of this map is further diminished by its ability to pinpoint the exact location of families

within census tracts and what parks are actually practical for families with children 18 and under (i.e.

park maintenance, crime rate around the park, etc.)

“Parks” in this map do not include greenspace alongside expressways, roadway medians, and empty

land adjacent to development has been removed to explicitly display public parks.

The use of median values to display data on these maps can be considered a limitation depending on

the needs of those using the maps. Median values show the middle value, not necessarily the

average, and are not drastically affected by outliers as the mean values are. Therefore these maps

display general trends within boroughs and may not be specific enough for sectors catering to a

specific groups within income level, family size, religion, ethnicity, etc…

Technical Issues

Some data for certain census tracts were not available and therefore not displayed. Therefore some

maps do not give a complete reading of the of the individual boroughs. Data from some of these

tracts cannot be extracted because there are no or very few inhabitants within the tracts. These

tracts include parks (such as Central Park or Prospect Park) or airports.

Data Dictionary

Families: Defined as anyone living together through civil union. This can mean married couples

with or without children, single parents and children, etc…

Children: Those who are 18 years and under.

Household: The number of people living in one housing unit.

Report Bibliography

State of New York City's Housing & Neighborhoods in 2013. Working paper. New York: NYU Furman

Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, 2013. Print.

United States of America. U.S. Census Bureau. Geographic Terms and Concepts - Census Tract. United

States Government, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

*This does not include data sources or shapefile sources. It only includes added sources used for the

report or technical notes. All data sources are stated on the maps.