Listed below are common questions about Esri Location Data. As noted, these questions may apply to Esri Demographics and ArcGIS Places.
General
- How is data calculated for user-created areas?
- What are the sources for Esri Location Data?
- For which countries does Esri offer Esri Location Data?
- How can I find out what data variables are offered by Esri?
- Can I download Esri Location Data?
- Which Esri products include Esri Location Data?
- How frequently is Esri Location Data updated?
ArcGIS Places
Esri Demographics
- What are standard demographics and advanced demographics?
- On what time period or date are Esri Demographics based?
- What demographic topics are covered by Esri Demographics?
- What is the data source for standard demographics?
- Is spending data in Canada reported as Canadian dollars or U.S. dollars?
- What is the difference between income (constant) and income (current) in Canada?
- What currency does income and spending data represent?
U.S. data
- Why are Esri projections for five years?
- How accurate is the Esri Updated Demographics data for the United States, and what distinguishes it from other vendors?
- Why do Esri’s U.S. demographic update figures sometimes differ from recent census numbers?
- How is Esri's Diversity Index different from the Census Bureau's Diversity Index?
- Does Daytime Population represent population counts for the workweek only, or does it also include the weekend population?
- How are the percentages of White Collar, Blue Collar, and Services employment categories defined and calculated?
- What type of occupations are included in the Population by Industry and Occupation table?
- What is ACS data and why is it labeled with a five-year range?
- How are college students and military barracks accounted for in households?
- Do Household Income, Income by Age, Disposable Income, Net Worth, or Per Capita Income include the income of people living in group quarters?
- Is Hispanic Population included in the Total Population estimates and forecasts?
- Are centroids located at the geographic center or are they weighted?
- How can I learn more about certain Consumer Spending items?
- What do the three different Consumer Spending measures with each item mean?
- What do the Market Potential values represent—people or households?
- Why does Esri’s U.S. unemployment rate differ from other sources of unemployment?
- Why does Esri Updated Demographics not include margins of error (MOE) like those included in ACS data?
- Why are the total number of ZIP codes available from USPS different from the total number of ZIP codes in Esri Updated Demographics?
U.S. data—Esri Tapestry Segmentation
General
Data summarization provides estimates in areas that don't match up exactly to common geographic areas, such as census block groups in the United States. User-created areas of interest—such as rings, drive times, hand-drawn polygons, or imported shapefiles—frequently cut through typical geographic boundaries. To account for population that may not be evenly distributed geographically in user-created regions, the application identifies where the population is distributed using the smallest geographic level (such as a block level in the United States), and uses this information to summarize the data more accurately. Read more about the data allocation method in Data enrichment.
Esri Demographics and ArcGIS Places data are supplied by a variety of data source providers:
- The Esri standard demographics datasets are sourced from data supplied by Michael Bauer Research GmbH.
- The Esri advanced demographics datasets are supplied by a variety of demographic data source providers. See the Esri Location Data vintages topic for a list of the data sources for each country.
- The ArcGIS Places datasets are supplied by a variety of location data sources. See the Introduction to ArcGIS Places for a list of the data sources for each country or region.
Esri offers Esri Demographics and ArcGIS Places data for the more than 170 countries listed below:
- Africa—Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Asia—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
- Europe—Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus (Greek part), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova (without Transnistria), Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom
- North America—Anguilla, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands
- Oceania—Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
- South America—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
The levels of detail and number of attributes or locations vary by region.
Each Esri Demographics country or region topic has a Related links section containing a variable list itemizing the available dataset for that country. Countries or regions with advanced demographics or ArcGIS Places may have more than one variable list. You can also explore the data categories and individual variables available for each country using the data browser.
For information about purchasing Esri datasets as stand-alone content, contact datasales@esri.com. For information about purchasing reports, see Esri Reports.
See Where to find Esri Location Data for information about using Esri Demographics and ArcGIS Places in various ArcGIS products.
Esri Location Data is updated at various times:
- Standard demographics sourced from data supplied by Michael Bauer Research GmbH are updated approximately once a year for Europe and once every two years for Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania, and South America.
- Advanced demographics are updated approximately every two years, but this varies by data source.
- ArcGIS Places are updated at various intervals. See Introduction to ArcGIS Places for more details.
ArcGIS Places
Places, also known as points of interest or POIs, are businesses and geographic locations that you can discover around the world. The level of detail available for a place can vary by place type, region, and the data source that supplied the place details.
Places or points of interest are typically destinations, such as shopping centers, hotels, banks and ATMs, gas stations, beaches, parks, and more. The kind of data you can get about the place typically includes the name, location address, business category information, and related public details. Different data sources provide different levels of detail.
Not all places have comparable levels of detail available. For example, a place may not include a postal code if it is in a country that does not use postal codes. An address may be missing if the source of the information didn't provide the address. In other cases, a feature may not be associated with a street address—examples include natural features, such as a pond or a forest; built features, such as bridges or statues; or nonpermanent places, such as weekend street markets.
See Introduction to ArcGIS Places and Where to find Esri Location Data to learn about the Esri products where you can find ArcGIS Places data.
Esri Demographics
Standard demographics is a basic set of comparable variables for each country, sourced from data supplied by Michael Bauer Research GmbH (MB-Research). MB-Research is a globally recognized developer of demographic data and boundaries at small scales for more than 170 countries or regions and has been in operation since 2004.
Advanced demographics are available for select countries. These provide a more detailed set of demographic variables and, in some cases, a more detailed level of geography. Data sources vary by country or region.
Vintages vary by country or region. See the Esri Location Data vintages topic for a list of the vintages for each country or region.
Current date information is provided for Canada and the United States:
- Canada
- Demographic Statistics are current as of March 31 of the applicable year.
- Household Spending are current as of June 30 of the applicable year.
- CensusPlus are current as of March 31 of the applicable year.
- United States
- Updated Demographics are current as of July 1 of the applicable year. For example, 2024 U.S. estimates are current as of July 1, 2024.
- 2020 Census are current as of April 1 of the census year.
- U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) data uses a continuous measurement, or rolling sample, in which a small percent of the population is sampled every month. The ACS data is updated and released more frequently than the decennial census—every year instead of every 10 years. For example, a five-year range for Esri’s ACS data is 2018-2022. See What is ACS data and why is it labeled with a five-year range? in the U.S. FAQ.
The attributes and variables available for each country vary; however, the following data categories are generally available for the 170+ countries or regions for which Esri provides standard demographics: Population counts, Population by Gender counts, Population by 15-year Age bands, Household counts, Households by Income Quintiles, Households by Type, Educational Attainment, Marital Status, Unemployed Population, Purchasing Power, and Consumer Spending.
Advanced demographics datasets include a broader range of data categories in addition to those included with standard demographics. These include more granular details within the data categories, such as Population by Religious Affiliation or by Generational Cohort. There are also a number of data categories that are available only with advanced demographics, such as Housing, Health, Business, Race or Ethnicity, Retail and Centrality, Behaviors and opinions, Psychographics, Poverty-metrics, Language-Immigration, Market Segmentation, At Risk, Retail Demand, Supply and Demand, data that impacts government Policy, and Crime data.
Standard demographics are sourced from data supplied by Michael Bauer Research GmbH, a globally recognized developer of demographic data and boundaries at small scales for more than 170 countries that has been in operation since 2004.
All dollar amounts in the Household Spending dataset from Environics Analytics are in Canadian dollars.
Income (constant) reports values in a constant-year price. Current income reports values in the current-year price. For example, Median Household Income (Constant Year 2024 $) reports the median in 2024 dollars, whereas Median Household Income (Current Year $) reports the median in current-year dollars.
Income and spending data is displayed in the local currency. This information is available for each country and is shown in the Release notes.
U.S. data
Esri uses a five-year projection interval to ensure that projected data remains applicable to multiple use cases. The further into the future a projection goes, the more uncertain it becomes. Esri's projection methodology has three main components. First, past and present trends are used to predict future trends. Second, a cohort component approach is used to model expected population change based on demographic characteristics. Third, pipeline data for future residential construction, as well as building plans for developments currently under construction, give Esri a unique view of the future landscape. Variability of all three input components increases as the projection horizon lengthens. For these reasons, a five-year projection horizon reduces uncertainty while maximizing the data's usability.
How accurate is the Esri Updated Demographics data for the United States, and what distinguishes it from other vendors?
Esri has a team of demographers, statisticians, and economists who use a variety of public and private data sources to develop Esri Updated Demographics. It is an accurate and detailed representation of local population, economic, housing, and business characteristics in the United States. Using GIS tools and demographic estimating experience, Esri captures the effects of significant events that occur between decennial censuses.
Esri uses the decennial census to evaluate the accuracy of their annual demographic estimates compared to census results. In 2011, Esri commissioned an independent study of their data accuracy compared to other major data vendors and the United States 2010 Census at four geography levels. The panel included credentialed researchers and experts in small-area forecasts and measures of forecast accuracy. The resulting 2010 Vendor Accuracy Study provides some insight into Esri's ongoing commitment to data accuracy.
For the 2020 Census, Esri refined estimate and forecast accuracy between decades, particularly at lower levels of geography. Esri's 2020 estimates were also assessed using comparisons to five-year estimates from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey (ACS) data, resulting in closer data representations of ground truth. The Census 2020 Accuracy Analysis provides an assessment of how accurately Esri's data compares to the latest decennial census.
Esri provides demographic updates annually, representing July 1 of the current year.
Census numbers can refer to a variety of counts, estimates, and projections from the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Counts—Census counts refer to the data reported from a decennial census of the U.S. population. The most recent census count was in 2020.
- Estimates—In addition to the census count, the Census Bureau provides both independent estimates based on demographic analysis and survey-based estimates. The timing for each estimate type the U.S. Census provides varies.
- The latest independent county estimates from the Census Bureau usually run a year behind Esri’s current-year estimates, and these estimates are released after Esri’s updates are completed.
- The annual time series of estimates from the Census Bureau are also subject to revision annually. Survey-based estimates, such as the American Community Survey (ACS), predate Esri’s current-year updates.
In addition, the ACS data for all areas is a five-year average, while Esri’s updates are point data estimates, representing July 1 of the reference year.
Race and ethnicity are separate concepts. For this reason, race and ethnicity questions are asked separately by the decennial census. Everyone counted by the decennial census falls into one of seven race groups (White, Black, American Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, Some Other Race, or Multiple Race) and one of two ethnicities (Hispanic or Non-Hispanic). By treating race and ethnicity as two independent variables, Esri's Diversity Index compounds racial diversity with ethnic diversity to provide a more inclusive understanding of both race and ethnicity. The Census Bureau's Diversity Index does not account for racial diversity within the Hispanic population. For these reasons the Esri Diversity Index is often slightly higher than the Census Bureau Diversity Index. However, the two measures are highly correlated (r=0.95 at the county level).
Does Daytime Population represent population counts for the workweek only, or does it also include the weekend population?
Esri’s Daytime Population is an estimate of the population that covers both residents and workers during the day. Esri’s data source for calculating daytime population does not distinguish if workers are in an area predominantly between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. or during some other time of the day. However, while there is no way to identify specific workday hours, workday activities typically occur Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., unless the data user knows otherwise and takes that into account in their analysis. To learn more about Esri’s Daytime Population methodology, see Esri Updated Demographics.
The occupations described in the Population by Industry and Occupation table are defined by the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). See the 2018 SOC System for more information.
ACS, or the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, is the replacement for sample data from the decennial census. The 2010 Census replaced the long form that previously provided data about income and poverty status, school enrollment, journey to work, household type and relationships, languages spoken, migration, citizenship, disability, health insurance, ancestry, military service, or housing characteristics with rolling surveys from the ACS. ACS data uses a continuous measurement, or rolling sample, in which a small percent of the population is sampled every month. The data is reported as a 60-month average. The ACS dataset is updated and released more frequently than the decennial census—every year instead of every 10 years. To learn more about ACS data, see the American Community Survey topic.
Yes. Total Population is the sum of Hispanic Population and Non-Hispanic Population.
Note:
Total Population is not the sum of all Races and Hispanic Population added together.
The U.S. Census Bureau considers race and ethnicity to be two separate and distinct concepts. Hispanic Origin/Population refers to ethnicity, not race, and is viewed as the heritage, nationality, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before arriving in the United States. Persons are either Hispanic or Non-Hispanic. Those persons that identify as Hispanic may be of any race.
To learn how Total Population is calculated, see the example pie charts below. The first pie chart represents the percentage of people who are non-Hispanic, while the third pie chart represents the percentage of people who are Hispanic. Each of these when summed separately sums to a total for non-Hispanic population and a total for Hispanic population. The result, the middle pie chart, shows that each of these two totals summed together (Non-Hispanic Pop + Hispanic Pop) equals Total Population by Ethnicity (or Total Population).
Total Population is also defined as the population by race. Race is reported as White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, Some Other Race, and Multiple Races. To learn how Total Population by Race is calculated, see the example pie chart below. Each pie segment represents the percentage of the population comprising one of the seven races. The population by race segments, when summed together, equal Total Population by Race (or Total Population). 
The following scenarios show how to accurately calculate race and ethnicity percentages:
- Scenario 1—Percentage of Race
compared to Total Population
- Example: (Black/African American Race) / Population by Race Base
- (2,500) / (5,000) = 50%
- Scenario 2—Percentage of Hispanic
Population by Race compared to Total Hispanic Population
- Example: (White Hispanics / Hispanic Population)
- (1,258/6,500) = 19.4%
- Scenario 3—Percentage of White
Hispanics compared to Total Population
- Example: [Hispanic White Population / (Sum of Hispanic Pop + Non-Hispanic Pop)]
-
(3,000/40,000) = 7.5%
Note:
You can also use the Population of Race base to calculate this percentage.
In the data browser, hover over the U.S. Spending information button 
while browsing the available data. The Consumer Spending variables include descriptions about what is included in the value.
Total Spending | The total amount spent by all households in this region annually on the product or service. |
Average Spending | The average amount spent by all households in this region annually on the product or service. |
Index | A comparison of average annual regional spending on the product or service to average national spending. The national index value is 100. An SPI of 115 indicates that local consumers spend 15 percent more per year on this product or service than the national average; an SPI of 85 indicates that local consumers spend 15 percent less than average. |
A letter h in the 10-character variable name indicates that the variable is household based. In the Total Tapestry Households (THHBASE) data, for example, MP01001h_B Household owns/leases any vehicle is a household-based variable.
A letter a in the variable name indicates that the variable is adult based. In the Total Tapestry Adults (TADULTBASE) data, for example, MP01066a_B Member of auto club/roadside assistance program is an adult-based variable.
Esri’s U.S. labor force estimates can differ from unemployment data published by the Current Population Survey (CPS) program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the following reasons:
- Small area data source—Esri’s labor force updates use American Community Survey data for its forecast base because it is the only source available by block group for this socioeconomic information. While ACS uses the same labor force definitions (for example, how working-aged persons are classified as employed, unemployed, not in labor force, and so on), their rates of unemployed persons will differ (and often run higher) than the CPS—the source often quoted in the news. Ultimately, ACS and CPS differ because the surveys deploy different questions, samples, and data collection methods. More detail can be found in the Comparison of ACS and CPS Data on Employment Status working paper.
- Data vintage—Esri’s labor force data is current as of July 1 of the release year. Data from the BLS (for example, CPS and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) programs) is more current monthly time series.
- Seasonal adjustment—Esri’s labor force data is not seasonally adjusted. CPS produces two sets of national unemployment estimates that are seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted. The unemployment rate often quoted in the headlines is typically a seasonally adjusted estimate.
Additional information is available in the Labor Force Data section of Esri’s U.S. Updated Demographics methodology.
Why does Esri Updated Demographics not include margins of error (MOE) like those included in ACS data?
MOEs can only be calculated from a survey of an entire population. MOEs describe how close a survey value can be expected to be to the true value. Esri Updated Demographics data is not a survey and therefore MOEs cannot be calculated. Esri Updated Demographics values are forecasted estimates created by statistical modeling.
Why are the total number of ZIP codes available from USPS different from the total number of ZIP codes in Esri Updated Demographics?
Esri provides residential ZIP codes with land area and excludes point-level ZIP codes. This ensures that residential-based demographic and socioeconomic data are not erroneously appended to a point. Point ZIP codes include PO boxes, and other unique organizations including military and government buildings. Enclosing ZIP codes that surround and include the points are included in Esri's ZIP code inventory.
U.S. data—Esri Tapestry Segmentation
For example, ZIP code 19553 (Leesport, PA within Berks County) is a postal delivery area located northwest of Philadelphia. The 2022 dominant Tapestry Segment is 6A Green Acres (from LifeMode Group 6: Cozy Country Living). However, the dominant LifeMode Group is 5: GenXurban. How can this be?
The determination of a dominant value, whether for a Tapestry Segment or a LifeMode Group, is computed independent of one another. To illustrate this, consider the following three-segment Tapestry distribution for ZIP code 19553. Total households are the primary input used to determine a dominant Tapestry Segment or LifeMode Group. Hence, the dominant Tapestry Segment is 6A: Green Acres because most households belong to that residential market.
However, that does not imply the dominant Esri Tapestry Segmentation LifeMode Group for this area is 6: Cozy Country Living. Instead, the dominant LifeMode Group is 5: GenXurban, since the total number of households from this group (436 + 1,051 = 1,487) exceeds the total number of households in LifeMode Group 6 (1,198).
