wru (version 3.0.3)

get_census_data: Multilevel Census data download function.

Description

get_census_data returns county-, tract-, and block-level Census data for specified state(s). Using this function to download Census data in advance can save considerable time when running predict_race and census_helper.

Usage

get_census_data(
  key = Sys.getenv("CENSUS_API_KEY"),
  states,
  age = FALSE,
  sex = FALSE,
  year = "2020",
  census.geo = c("tract", "block", "block_group", "county", "place", "zcta"),
  retry = 3,
  county.list = NULL
)

Value

Output will be an object of class list indexed by state. Output will contain a subset of the following elements: state, age, sex, county, tract, block_group, block, and place.

Arguments

key

A character string containing a valid Census API key, which can be requested from the U.S. Census API key signup page.

By default, attempts to find a census key stored in an environment variable named CENSUS_API_KEY.

states

which states to extract Census data for, e.g., c("NJ", "NY").

age

A TRUE/FALSE object indicating whether to condition on age or not. If FALSE (default), function will return Pr(Geolocation | Race). If TRUE, function will return Pr(Geolocation, Age | Race). If sex is also TRUE, function will return Pr(Geolocation, Age, Sex | Race).

sex

A TRUE/FALSE object indicating whether to condition on sex or not. If FALSE (default), function will return Pr(Geolocation | Race). If TRUE, function will return Pr(Geolocation, Sex | Race). If age is also TRUE, function will return Pr(Geolocation, Age, Sex | Race).

year

A character object specifying the year of U.S. Census data to be downloaded. Use "2010", or "2020". Default is "2020". Warning: 2020 U.S. Census data is downloaded only when age and sex are both FALSE.

census.geo

An optional character vector specifying what level of geography to use to merge in U.S. Census 2010 geographic data. Currently "county", "tract", "block", and "place" are supported.

retry

The number of retries at the census website if network interruption occurs.

county.list

A named list of character vectors of counties present in your voter.file, per state.

Examples

if (FALSE) get_census_data(states = c("NJ", "NY"), age = TRUE, sex = FALSE)
if (FALSE) get_census_data(states = "MN", age = FALSE, sex = FALSE, year = "2020")