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Map an Indicator
View County Indicators
Advanced Query
Print
Reset Map
Download
Navigation Tips

Map an Indicator (top left)

Create maps showing the variation in a single indicator across the U.S.; for example, variation in the prevalence of obesity or access to grocery stores across U.S. counties

Steps:

To view the list of indicators in a category, click on the + box next to the category name under the Map an Indicator heading.
To create a map showing variation in the indicator across counties, click in the empty box next to the indicator name.
To create a new map, click in the empty box next to a different indicator. The previous indicator will be automatically deselected.

View County Indicators

View all of the county-level indictors for a selected county, for example, the count of fast-food restaurants and the poverty rate for a county

Steps:

Move to the area of the map of interest by clicking on the north, south, east, west navigation arrows (upper left corner of the map).
To view county borders and names, enlarge the map by clicking on the + box (on map, upper left). The county borders will appear after 4 clicks of the enlargement button; the names after 5 clicks.
To select the county of interest, move your cursor over the county and click. A pop-up box will appear with the list of county-level indicators. Close the county-indicator pop-up box by clicking on the x (upper right corner of the box).
To see a different view of the complete listing of county indicators, click on Add to Results at the (bottom of the county pop-up box). Then, scroll to the bottom of the screen; click the + box next to the county name and the list will appear.
To select another county of interest, move your cursor over the county and click.
All counties that are listed at the bottom of the map and are selected via a check next to the county name (nonbold name, second level) are highlighted on the map.
To view all of the indicators for multiple selected counties, click Print Map (above map, center). A pop-up box will appear. Make sure that the specified results are those for the county(ies) of interest by checking the appropriate option(s) in the Print table of results section (center of Print Map pop-up box). Click Create Print Page. A page with the map locating the county(ies) and the row(s) of county indicators will appear. To reformat the row for easier viewing/printing, copy into an Excel spreadsheet. To view/print only the results rows and not the map, click Print results only option (left bottom of the print map pop-up box).
To remove a highlighted county from the map, check the box next to the county name to remove the check. To remove all highlighted counties, click Clear All (below the map at the top of the county list).

Advanced Query (top right)

Identify and map counties sharing the same degree of multiple indicators, for example, counties with both high poverty and high obesity rates

Steps:

Choose Advanced Query from the menu in the right corner above the map. A pop-up box will appear. The Data drop-down list (top of pop-up box) will contain the option “Food Environment Data” (the only data set available).
Choose an indicator for your query from the Indicator drop-down list (first selection under Specify in the pop-up query box).
Choose your identification criteria from the Criteria drop-down list (second selection under Specify in the pop-up query box). The criteria—Equal to; Not equal to; Less than or equal to; Less than; Greater than; Greater than or equal to; and Like—specify the matching rule for the query.
Click Get Sample Values (blue text in center of Specify section of pop-up query box) to create the list of indicator values for the Select Value drop down list (third selection under Specify in the pop-up query box). The Select Value drop-down list is a complete listing of all the values for the selected indicator.
Choose a value from the Select Value drop-down list or enter your own value in the Enter Value box (last selection in the Specify section in the pop-up query box).
Click Add to criteria list (the large grey button at bottom of Specify section) to add the expression you just created to the query expression box (under Expression in the query pop-up box).
To add another indicator/criterion, click one of the operators, AND, OR, or NOT (the grey buttons at the top of the Expression section in the query pop-up box) above the expression box. Choose AND if you would like to identify counties that share the specified characteristics. Choose OR if you would like to identify counties that have either of the specified characteristics. Choose NOT if you would like to identify counties that have only the first and not the second characteristic. Once you have chosen an operator, choose another indicator, criteria, and value. Click on Add to criteria list to add your new expression to the list in the expression box. You can specify up to 10 expressions.
To run the query and create a map and list of all the counties sharing the specified criteria, click Submit (the large grey button in the Run Query section at the bottom of the query pop-up box).
To run the query, click Submit (the large grey button under Run Query at the bottom of the query pop-up box). A map with a list of all the counties sharing the specified criteria will appear.
To view all of the county indicators for the counties identified in an Advanced Query, click on Print Map (above map, center). A pop-up box will appear. Click Print results only option (left bottom of the print map pop-up box). Make sure that the specified results are those for the query of interest by checking the appropriate option in the Print table of results section (center of Print Map pop-up box). Click Create Print Page. A page with the map with query results and a table with all of the specified county indicators will appear. To reformat the row for printing, copy into an Excel spreadsheet.
To clear the map and run another query, deselect the searches listed under the map by clicking in the checked boxes next to the search results heading.

Print

Print maps or lists of county-level indicators

To print a map created with Map an Indicator, click on Print Map (above map, center). A pop-up box offering the option of creating a title for the map will appear. Enter the title of your choice in the box (or leave blank) and then click Create Print Page. A page with the map and key will appear. Click on the print icon to print the map. Close the print page and the print pop-up box by clicking on the x (upper right corners). Note: The Print results only option (left bottom of the print map pop-up box) is not a valid option when printing a map created with Map an Indicator.
(Option 1) To print a complete list of county-level indicators for a specified county, select a county (by clicking on it). Click Add to Results (bottom of the county indicator pop-up box). Then, scroll to the bottom of the screen; click the + box next to the county name and the complete list of indicators will appear. Select the table of results (by clicking and dragging over the columns/rows of county names and data) and copy into an Excel spreadsheet for easy printing and reformatting.
(Option 2) To print a complete list of county-level indicators for a specified county or a number of specified counties, select a county (by clicking on it). Click Print Map (above map, center). A pop-up box will appear. Make sure that the specified results are those for the county(ies) of interest by checking the appropriate option(s) in the Print table of results section (center of Print Map pop-up box). Click Create Print Page. A page with the map locating the county(ies) and the row(s) of county indicators will appear. To reformat the row for printing, copy into an Excel spreadsheet. To print only the results rows and not the map, click Print results only option (left bottom of the print map pop-up box).
To print a map created with Advanced Query, click on Print Map (above map, center). A pop-up box offering the option of creating a title for the map will appear. Because the search criteria are not identified on the printed map, it is a good idea to enter a title identifying the search criteria used to generate the map. To make sure that the last criteria you built will be used to create the map, make sure the first option in the Print table of results section (center of Print Map pop-up box) is selected. This option is typically identified as Food Environment Data (# of counties identified in query). Click Create Print Page. A page with the map and key will appear. Click on the print icon to print the map. Close the print page and the print pop-up box by clicking on the x (upper right corners).
To print the indicator data for the counties identified in an Advance Query, click on Print Map (above map, center). A pop-up box offering the option of creating a title for the map will appear. Because the search criteria are not identified on the printed map, it is a good idea to enter a title identifying the search criteria used to generate the map. To make sure that the last criteria you built will be used to create the map, make sure the first option in the Print table of results section (center of Print Map pop-up box) is selected. This option is typically identified as Food Environment Data (# of counties identified in query). Click Print results only option (left bottom of the print map pop-up box). A page with a table with the indicator data for all of the identified counties will appear. To reformat the table for better printing, copy into an Excel spreadsheet. Close the print page and the print pop-up box by clicking on the x (upper right corners).

Reset/Clear Map

Reset map to original size or clear previous maps or queries

To reset map to original zoom view, click Reset Map button (above map, left of center).
To reset/clear after creating a map with Map an Indicator, deselect the selected indictor by clicking in the box next to an indicator name to “uncheck” it. o To reset after viewing county-level data and remove a highlighted county from the map, check the box next to the county name (below the map) to remove the check. To remove all highlighted counties, click Clear All (below the map at the top of the county list).
To reset/clear after creating a map with Advanced Query, check the box next to the query name (below the map) to remove the check. To remove all highlighted queries, click Clear All (below the map at the top of the county list).

Download

Download an Excel spreadsheet of all data in the Atlas

To download data, click Download Data (near top right corner of navigation bar). Instructions and a link to a downloadable table with the data will appear.

Navigation Tips:

For a centered view of a State of interest, choose the State from the drop down list next to Zoom to State (above left corner of map). Use this option to view Alaska and Hawaii.
Move to an area of the map by clicking on the north, south, east, west navigation arrows in the top left corner of the map.
To view county borders and names, enlarge the map size by clicking on the + box (on map, upper left). The county borders will appear after 4 clicks of the enlargement button; the names after 5 clicks.
To view a map including Alaska and Hawaii, reduce the map size by clicking on the – box (on map, upper left) until the State appears.

For more information about the Atlas, contact Vince Breneman (Breneman@ers.usda.gov) or Jessica Todd (jtodd@ers.usda.gov).