Since geographic boundaries change over time, data from earlier census releases might not be available in current boundaries. Selecting a historical census geographic year allows you to access data and locations that are in older census geographic units by filtering the data and locations available in the tabs on the left side of the screen. Right now, SimplyAnalytics defaults to the 2020 Census boundaries.

Let's look at an example. Below you can see that the 2000 and 2010 Decennial Census datasets are greyed out.

This is because the default is 2020 boundaries, and those older datasets were in their respective historical boundaries - they are not in 2020 boundaries.

If you want to access the 2010 Decennial Census, you will need to turn on Historical Mode.

To Access Historical Data:

To activate Historical Mode, click on Project Settings and toggle On the Historical Views option:

With Historical Views now activated, you may create a new view with historical boundaries by selecting New View and checking the available check box for "Create a historical view for geographic years: 2010-2019":

Click on the underlined years you see to toggle between historical boundaries:

When you have chosen a census geographic year, feel free to create any view that you see available, and your year options available for data variables will be present based on your chosen geographic year. For example,

Census Geographic Year 2010-2019 will have data for: 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010-2022, 2024-2027

Census Geographic Year 2000-2009 will have data for: 2000, 2003, 2007-2012

Census Geographic Year 1990-1999 will have data for: 1990, 1992-1999

Note: You may not have all of the options in the image above as some of the historical geographic years are for specialized datasets that your institution may not subscribe to.

See the image below - notice the years available are present based on switching to 2010-2019 geographic boundaries. You can now select the Year 2010 to view the 2010 Decennial Census dataset:

Notice, a 2010 Decennial Census variable has been added to the report now. SimplyAnalytics will always indicate if a view is in historical mode by providing some badges for you on the left. The top of the screen will also specify if you are currently in historical mode. If there are no badges/no indication at the top, you can assume you are in the latest geographies.