The other day I was playing around with the voter registration data for all ~8 million registered voters in North Carolina (yes – this guy knows how to have fun!), and I got to wondering what last names were the most common. I summarized the data by co…
Tag: Maps
Mapping the clans of Scotland
I attended the Scottish Highland Games this past weekend … nearby in Scotland County, North Carolina! They put on a great event, with kilt-wearing Scotsmen throwing things, bands playing bagpipes, kids dancing, and clans sharing their family history….
River flooding in North Carolina from Hurricane Florence
Here in North Carolina, a hurricane recently moved very slowly across our state, causing major flooding, and even closing miles of interstate highways for longer than a week. There is data available online for gauges along the river (or gages, as they …
Hurricane Florence: rainfall totals in the Carolinas
“We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin’ rain, and big ol’ fat rain, rain that flew in sideways, and sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath.” Was that a quote from the Forrest Gump movie, or something …
How much land does the government own in each US state?
Many of the most beautiful areas in the US are owned by the government, to preserve them and allow access for everyone to enjoy them. And most US schools are traditionally closed during the summer, which provides families a great opportunity to go visi…
Which keyboard keys do you use most frequently?
If you’re good at games like Wheel of Fortune, Scrabble, or Words with Friends, you’ve probably figured out that certain letters appear more often than others. But do you have a cool way to figure out which letters appear most & least frequently? H…
The most disproportionately popular job in each state
Showing the most popular jobs in each state is interesting (as I showed in my previous two blogs 1, 2) … but not that interesting. How about something a little more quirky?!? … Let’s determine the most disproportionately popular job in each state! …
Most common jobs in the US – a small multiples comparison
Using small multiples is a neat way to display a lot of information in a small amount of space. But depending on how deeply you want to analyze and scrutinize the data, you need to be careful in choosing just how small you make your small multiples. Le…