PCensus ™
Features
Easy-to-use
Data
- Demographic Databases
- Refresh Projects with New Data
- Create Custom Variables
- Fast Data Retrieval
- Use Your Own Data
- Census Block Precision
Defining Study Areas
- Define your own Circle, Polygon or Drive-time Areas
- Standard Study Areas
- Complex Study Areas
- "Data-Fit" Circles and Drive-times
- Batch Site Processing
Profile Reports
Easy-to-Use
Study Area Wizard
The Study Area Wizard guides the user through all of the steps required to define Profile reports, Lifestyle Target reports, Thematic Maps or Point files.
On-Line Help
Context sensitive help is available for all screens and dialog boxes via Help buttons or F1 key. The Help system also provides background information program operation and on the Census geography of the United States and Canada.
Data
Demographic Databases
Choose from a number of databases including demographics, consumer spending, workplace population, market segments, etc. Variables from these databases can be combined together in reports; e.g. household demographics with consumer spending.
United States
Canada
Refresh Projects with New Data
You can open a saved project that was created with an obsolete database, and regenerate its predefined or mapped study areas using up-to-date data.
Create Custom Variables
You can easily create new data variables by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing other variables (e.g. children per family, population age 10 to 24 years). You can also create:
- Median Variables
Dynamically calculate medians on the basis of distributions (for example households by income), allowing display of accurate median values even in study areas that aggregate data from multiple database records. - Dominant Variables
- Benchmark Variables
Fast Data Retrieval
PCensus QUICKLY retrieves demographics for a study area profile or target areas. The map display shows the location of the records as they are found. This visual check confirms that data has been retrieved in the study area you defined.
Use Your Own Data
User's data records (e.g. client data with their address or zip code) can be imported and linked to PCensus databases. This allows comparison of your data with demographics for further analysis; e.g. market penetration studies.
Census Block Precision
PCensus can retrieve demographics with census block precision. Using a block retrieval process substantially enhances the resolution of data retrieval for circles, polygons and drive time areas. A method of data prorating census blocks “on-the-fly” keeps database sizes to a reasonable level.
| County | Basic Geographic Unit | Number of Blocks | Improvement of Precision | |
| Name | Number | |||
| United States | Block Group | 208,648 | 8,262,363 | 40 times |
| Canada | Dissemination Area (DA) | 52,993 | 478,707 | 10 times |
Block Groups or DAs
Blocks in the same area
Defining Study Areas
Define your own Circle, Polygon or Drive-time Areas
You can create custom study areas using circles, drive-time polygons or any user-defined polygons to retrieve demographic profiles and find target areas.
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| Circular Areas e.g. 1, 3, 5 mile radius |
Polygons e.g. Sales territory, TV region |
Drive-time Area e.g. 8 minute drive-time |
Standard Study Areas
Retrieve Demographic profiles or find Target Areas in Standard Census and Postal Areas:
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| United States/Puerto Rico | Canada |
| State | Province |
| County/Municipio | Census Division (CD) |
| Place | Census Subdivision (CSD) |
| CBSA | Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) |
| Census Tract | Census Tract (CT) |
| Block Group | Dissemination Area (DA) |
| Postal 5-Digit Zip Code | Postal Forward Sortation Area (FSA) |
Standard census areas or postal areas are easily selected from a list to retrieve their demographics. Standard areas can be combined to crate a new area; e.g. several counties or Zip codes can be added together to make a new territory.
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Complex Study Areas
Study areas can be complex with multiple and
overlapping circles and polygons; e.g.
the area could be that part of a circle that is also within a
polygon. Profiles can be for areas that are either
within (the usual situation) or outside of the defined study area.
"Data Fit" Circles and Drive-times
Data-fit allows you to define a circle or polygon study area based on a demographic characteristic.
For example, we can fit a circular area with a population of 10,000, or a drive time area containing 1000 homes built before 1970.
Batch Site Processing
PCensus lets you analyze many locations at once. Create a set of profile reports based on circles or drive time areas around a set of your locations (e.g. retail outlets, restaurants, hospitals, etc).
With batch site processing, you can also display individual site results row-by-row in a PCensus Target List report, to allow quick comparison of their demographic characteristics.
Profile Reports
Profiling tells all about the population in the study area you define.
PCensus profile reports include categories of demographic variables grouped together on single pages; e.g. income data. You can customize reports and their layout to include specific demographic variables, calculate percentages, display a dominant variable in a group (e.g. the dominant "income category"), add comments, format columns and line spacing.
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Profiles for different locations are displayed side-by-side for easy comparison. This lets you answer questions such as "Which area has the most potential consumers?" There is no limit to the number of study areas (e.g. franchise locations) you can compare in a project.
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Columns can be reordered and sized by dragging. - Text can be highlighted using color, bolding or italics.
- True indentation allows better organization of complex reports, including indentation of long, wrapping lines.
- “Find” control is useful for finding a specific data item in a large database, for example to locate lines containing the words “Average Income”.
- Dominant Group now lists the Top “n” in a group, instead of listing only the dominant entry.
Benchmarking and Indexing
Designate a study area column as a Benchmark (for example All of U.S.) and compute indexes for variables in another column (study area; for example California)
Multi-column Reports
PCensus profiles can now contain multiple data columns, allowing side-by-side display of data components; for example data for different years can be compared directly in a spread-sheet format.
Executive Summary Reports
The Executive Summary feature displays an attractive narrative report summarizing selected aspects of a study area.
Customized Report Contents
Customize reports to include the categories and variables that you require; for example, Household Income and Marital Status on the same page.
Graphing Study Area Profiles
Demographics of study area profiles can be displayed as 3D charts and graphs.
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"On-the-Fly" Report Editor
Report template editing is integrated with the PCensus browser so that reports can be modified “on the fly”. Some of the features of the template editor include:
- Cut, copy and paste a report line or group of report lines from one category to another.
- Edit Line Properties: Change indentation, bolding etc.
- Modify report line formulae.
- Support for multiple selection to set indentation etc. for a group of lines.
- Use drag and drop to reorder lines.
- Undo changes.
Targeting Market Areas
Targeting finds all the areas that contain people or households that match a Lifestyle you define.
Defining Lifestyles
The user-defined Lifestyle lets you specify the variables that define target areas to be found. The Lifestyle is composed of Dimensions which are based on demographic variables; e.g. "average age" of the population. A Lifestyle can have any number of dimensions. These dimensions can be based on variables from several databases; e.g. demographics and consumer spending. There is no limit to the number of dimensions of a lifestyle.
Use Filters to place limits on the value of a dimension; e.g. the average age in an area must be "> 30 years" or it is rejected as a target area.
For example, the Lifestyle "Friends of Elvis" describes households where the head-of-household is:
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- Age 45 to 55
- Blue collar occupation
- Completed high school
- Purchases large amounts of peanut butter & bananas (his favorite food).
PCensus finds and ranks all the target areas (e.g. places, counties, census tracts, etc) that have households matching this Lifestyle - sorry Memphis but you did not make the list!
Target Reports
PCensus target reports list the target areas (those that match the Lifestyle definition; e.g. well-off pet owners) ranked in descending/ascending order based on values of one of the Lifestyle dimensions; e.g. sort target areas in descending order of "average household income."
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Non-target areas (those that did not match the Lifestyle definition) can also be displayed.
The complete demographic profile for any individual target area can also be displayed.
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Target Properties
You can see the properties of a particular area in the target list with the Target Information dialog.
The Contained Geographies tab shows the component target geographies into which the selected target can be divided. For example, Whatcom County contains County, Place, ZIP code, blockgroup and block targets. The Create ... Target List button creates a target list at the selected level, using Whatcom County as the study area. This operation is called "drilling down".
The Containing Geographies tab lists the larger geographies of which the selected target is part; for example Whatcom County is located in the Bellingham MSA and in the State of Washington. The Profile ... button creates a profile column for the selected geography. This operation is called "drilling up".
Graphing Target Areas
Demographics of target areas can be displayed as 3D charts and graphs.
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Integrated Mapping
Seamless Integration with GIS Mapping
PCensus seamlessly integrates the industry's leading mapping software. We have versions of PCensus to work with:
MapPoint Functionality with MapInfo
PCensus for MapInfo users who also have Microsoft MapPoint installed on their computers can access a number of useful MapPoint features, including:
- Seamless display of the MapPoint map layer, integrated with the installed MapInfo layers
- MapPoint address searching and geocoding (does not require the presence of MapInfo street layers.
- MapPoint drive time polygon generation (does not require the Freeway drive time generator).
An important benefit of this combination is that MapInfo-generated thematic maps can be displayed in the context of the MapPoint street layer.
Thematic Mapping
Demographics can be used to create thematic maps that depict ranges of values (e.g. household incomes) using colored boundary areas (e.g. census tracts, Zip codes), the size and/or color of symbols, pie charts, and dot density maps.
Key Features:
- Multiple thematic maps can be created in a project; for example one study area with a boundary thematic can be overlain by a second point thematic.
- Color schemes are defined by “ramps”, with preferred selections remembered from session to session.
- Assignment of data to map boundaries are intuitive; for example ZIP code level data will be automatically assigned to an open ZIP code map layer.
- “Dominant” variables as automatically mapped as unique values.
On-the-fly Geocoding
PCensus provides the option to geocode imported data in the Batch Site Processing and Create PCensus Database features.
Map Imported Data
The Data Import feature contains a new Wizard to import geographically referenced data to create a point map from your own database table. The imported data will be included as a MapInfo "tab" layer, or as a MapPoint pushpin map.
Save your Results
Export Data
Total values of demographic variables for study area profiles can be exported as Comma Delimited ASCII (.csv), ASCII Text (.txt) and HTML (.htm) files.
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Values of demographic variables for every record that is inside the study area being profiled (e.g. block group, zip code, etc.) can be exported as a Microsoft Access (.mdb), Microsoft Excel (.xls), dBase (.dbf) or a Comma Delimited ASCII (.csv) file.
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Values of demographic variables for each target area can be exported as dBase (.dbf), ASCII Text (.txt) and HTML (.htm) files. The exported HTML files can be read by Excel and saved as spreadsheet (.xls) files.
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Save Reports as HTML Files for the Internet
Study Area Profiles can be saved as HTML files (.html) for display in a web browser. HTML files can also be read by Excel and saved as spreadsheet files (.xls).
Save Reports & Maps to Microsoft Word
A one-button control creates a Microsoft Word document containing all the elements of a project, including Profiles, Target lists, Graphs and Maps. The document can be printed or used as a basis for embedding text and graphics in other Office applications.
Site Location Analysis
SiteScan
The SiteScan feature allows you to search for potentially favorable sites (for retail outlets or other businesses or public services that require a local user base). SiteScan quickly analyses a large number of sites to find the locations that best meet specific criteria (e.g. a minimum population or sufficient households with a specified income level, education, children or dwelling types) within a specified distance or drive time.
To see an example of SiteScan, click here.
