This page will guide you through the ins and outs of using GeoLytics Planner's Package Plus to navigate, analyze and visualize U.S. Census data. If you are looking for other types of Census data, or if you need more information than is provided here, please check our LibGuide on the US Census or ask a librarian for assistance.

GeoLytics configures U.S. Census data in a way that makes it relatively easy to extract and allows users to create custom generated tables, maps, and GIS layers of census variables. The University of Illinois Library offers access to their browser-based 2000 Planner's Package Plus, which includes the following data sets.

• 2000 Long Form (SF3): The Census 2000 Long Form is the most complete source of detailed information about the people, housing, and economy of the United States. This dataset contains variables such as income, housing, employment, language spoken, ancestry, education, poverty, rent, mortgage, commute to work, etc. Also consult a complete list of Long Form variables. 

• 1990 Long Form in 2000 Boundaries: Based upon the long form (STF 3) questions answered by one in six households in the 1990 census, this allows users to access US Census data from 1990 and easily compare it with the 2000 Census data. It includes detailed demographic data about topics such as population, household structure, income, poverty, education level, employment, housing costs, immigration, and other variables.

• 1980 Long and Short Forms in 2000 Boundaries: Allows users to access US Census data from 1980 and easily compare it with the 2000 Census data, using both the 1980 Long Form (STF-3) and Short Form (STF-1) datasets. It also includes detailed demographic data about topics such as population, household structure, income, poverty, education level, employment, housing costs, immigration, and other variables. Having the 1980 and 1990 data normalized to the 2000 boundaries simplifies time series analysis.

• Neighborhood Change Database 1970-2000: Provides data from the 1970-2000 censuses at the census tract level. This dataset makes it easy to compare differences over time at the neighborhood, city, and state level. Demographic data includes information on population, education, poverty, race, income, employment, and other variables. This dataset allows users to compare any data from 1970-2000 in the 2000 census boundaries, making it one of the most effective for time series analysis.​

**Access Tips: The links above will navigate you to paid library access to this data. You will need to be connected to a University of Illinois server to access this content; either by connecting to campus WiFi or a VPN. To navigate to the data simply click "Databases" on the first page and this will lead you to a pre-populated login page. After logging in you should be directed to the page described in the links. 

• Census terms are not explicitly defined in Geolytics. See the Census Bureau's Glossary for an explanation of terms. 

• Geographies change over time. The U.S. Census Bureau provides a listing of Reference Resources for Understanding Census Bureau Geography.

Except where otherwise indicated, original content in this guide is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license. You are free to share, adopt, or adapt the materials. We encourage broad adoption of these materials for teaching and other professional development purposes, and invite you to customize them for your own needs.