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Easily See Average Income, Education, Racial Makeup Of Your Neighborhood

NYTimes census map

The New York Times has produced this map that plots data from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey on a map. It lets you see the results of your neighborhood down to the census tract, providing a fascinatingly high level of granularity.

You can probably find interesting ways to learn more about your community and the city around you with this map. One simple example is the relationship between income and education.

The map shows the median income in Census Tract 1401, the western portion of Travis Heights, to be $66,000. Sixty-one percent of the population has a bachelor's degree or higher.

Compare that to Census Tract 2316 off east Riverside Drive, which has a median household income of about $27,000 and only 8 percent of the population has a bachelor's degree or higher.

You could also look at a change in income levels over time to see how gentrification is shifting the demographic makeup of some neighborhoods. For example, Census Tract 1 -- the downtown east Austin neighborhood bordered by I-35 to the west, Cesar Chavez St. to the north, and Lady Bird Lake to the south -- has seen a 38 percent increase in median income since 2000.

You can find the map here. Let us know of any interesting discoveries you find about Austin's demographic makeup in the comments section below.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.