What We Do

CIDS has been funded by United Way of Oakland County (UWOC) for the purpose of providing access to demographic and related data. The data serve a wide variety of purposes, including grant applications, analysis of internal data with comparisons to census data, and program marketing.

Please Note: Services were provided without charge to UWOC funded agencies through June 30, 2003. Appropriate fees now apply to all data requests. We welcome inquiries from any person needing our services.

General Demographic and Related Services

The CIDS office houses a wide variety of data resources for use helping clients to answer their questions. These include:

• All 2000 census data currently released or accessible on the Internet. (Some data products are yet to come.)
• 1990 and earlier census data, back to 1930 for some categories of information. This includes all census publications for Michigan or the Detroit metropolitan area from 1940 forward, as well as data in electronic form.
• Population estimates and forecasts prepared by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).
• Economic Census data for the most recent economic census (1997), and older census publications back to 1967.
• Current and historic Census Tract Maps for southeast Michigan.
• Current and historic information on southeast Michigan employment and unemployment, as prepared by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Michigan Bureau of Research and Statistics (currently housed in the Department of Career Development).
• Building permit data for the City of Detroit and other southeast Michigan communities.
• Information on births and deaths in Detroit and southeast Michigan counties
• Other individual data sets as collected and developed, such as criminal offenses or welfare caseloads.
• Knowledge of and information about the methods used to collect and develop the data sources described above.

User needs for this information can be met in a variety of ways, including custom tabulations, maps, photocopying, and profiles.

Geocoding and Mapping

"Geocoding," short for geographic coding, is the process of assigning a geographic code to a record with an address. Most often, the geocoding process is used to assign a census tract [link to primer of geographic terminology], so that administrative data collected by an agency or organization can be aggregated and compared to census data.

CIDS offers geocoding services through two mechanisms:

• User-provided data with addresses can be geocoded by computer. The software, which is not available for distribution, permits geocoding to census tract, minor civil division [link], or ZIP code.
• Users may purchase the Census Tract Coding Guides, published by the Southeast Michigan Census Council, and assign the census tract codes at their own offices.

Mapping involves providing data in visual form, rather than just in tabulations. CIDS can map any data which have a standard geocode, such as a census tract, minor civil division, or ZIP code. Maps can be produced in black/white or in color, and in a variety of sizes.

Profiles

Profiles are standard presentations of census data, including the data items most useful to a wide variety of consumers. The 2000 Census Data Profile includes six pages of data. Profiles are available in two different modes:

• Profiles have been published for several different sets of geography: minor civil divisions in the 7 county SEMCOG region, ZIP code profiles for the same counties, and UWCS sub community profiles for the city of Detroit. These are available for sale, some will also be posted on this website. 
• Custom profiles can be created for unique geographic areas, such as school districts, police precincts, school attendance areas, neighborhoods, and agency service areas.

When the standard profile does not meet user needs, specialized profiles can be created and tabulated for distribution on paper or in electronic form.