Press Releases
09/12/2024
CTData Collaborative and DPH launches innovative population estimates dashboard for Connecticut
CTData Collaborative, in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), is launching a groundbreaking Connecticut Population Estimates Dashboard, a powerful new online tool that offers unparalleled access to Connecticut's population estimates data at the state, planning region, and town levels.
The newly inaugurated dashboard, now live, marks a significant step forward in making vital demographic information easily accessible to the public, researchers, and policymakers.
Developed in partnership with DPH, the extensive online dashboard addresses a critical need for centralized, user-friendly access to detailed population estimates. This innovative tool allows users to:
• quickly and easily locate and visualize data by town;
• explore population estimates at the municipal level, including migration patterns;
• assess the impact of migration on planning region population estimates; and
• access the only comprehensive source for new housing unit data by town.
With this tool, Connecticut decision-makers can better understand population changes over time at the town and planning region level, visualizing the data with charts to enhance understanding of the data. Also available are data on new housing units by town over time -data not available in a user-friendly format anywhere else.
Michelle Riordan-Nold, Executive Director of CTData, emphasized the dashboard's importance: "This dashboard will provide a first-of-its-kind look at population estimates at the municipal level. This will ensure that municipal planners and leaders have information about population changes and changes in the number of housing units over time, so they can better plan for the future of their communities."
“This dashboard provides insight into how our communities are evolving and makes population data easier to understand for all residents of Connecticut,” said DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD. “Having a better understanding of our population trends also will enable state and local leaders to better allocate resources, identify emerging needs, align policies with the realities of our communities, and more effectively deliver the services that residents rely on.”
The Population Estimates Dashboard integrates data from multiple authoritative sources, including:
• the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program (PEP)
• official population estimates certified by the state Department of Public Health
• the Census Bureau's Building Permit Survey
The collaboration between CTData and the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which began in 2022, aims to make population data more accessible to the Connecticut public and help citizens understand available data, including recent changes to race and ethnicity data collection methods.
CTData works to advance equity in Connecticut by democratizing access to public data and building data literacy skills, assisting state residents, nonprofits, policymakers, and funders in using data to drive policy, program, and service improvements. To explore the dashboard and access this wealth of information, visit
https://www.ctdata.org/popestdashboard
Throughout its various initiatives, CTData strives to promote and engage data users in implementing equitable data practices across the state. The dashboard is the latest addition to CTData's ongoing efforts to increase access to useful public data to enhance decision-making.
CTData operates the CTData Academy, which offers an array of workshops for state residents to learn more about evaluating data quality, becoming a critical consumer and creator of data, improving data work, creating impactful visualizations using data, and more. In addition, CTData offers a data “helpline” for assisting data users with obtaining, displaying, interpreting, and using data; and Data Strategic Planning for organizations to improve internal data processes to increase data storytelling, impact measurement, and promote efficiency.
CTData is a member of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, and published Town Profiles of each of Connecticut’s 169 cities and towns earlier this year in partnership with AdvanceCT. All can be seen on the website www.ctdata.org.