News Release

September 24, 2020 (Salt Lake City) – The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute released a data mining tool to provide Utahns easy access to the Household Pulse Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey provides a rolling view of COVID-19’s impact on households in Utah. While the Census Bureau provides a basic interactive tool to work with the data at the state level, the new data tool developed by the Gardner Institute allows users to easily access and compare 12 weeks of Utah-specific data by age, household income, and race and ethnicity.

“The Census Bureau is providing a large amount of data through this survey. We wanted to dig deeper into the Utah results and provide an easier way to view how COVID-19 is impacting” said Mallory Bateman and Emily Harris, the Gardner Institute researchers who collaborated on the development of the data tool. “We hope this will be a useful tool for community leaders, decision-makers, and interested citizens as we continue to navigate the impacts of the pandemic.”

The capabilities of the new data tool include the following:

• A selection of survey questions covering employment, housing, educational technology, mental health, and food stability. The responses are available by age groups, household income groups, and race and ethnicity groups.
• Data is presented in two-week intervals.
• The data tool utilizes the summary files shared by the U.S. Census Bureau. Full data sets are available each week from the Census Bureau website.

The new data tool is now available online from the Gardner Institute. Questions on accessibility can be directed to Mallory Bateman, senior research analyst and Utah State Data Center coordinator: mallory.bateman@utah.edu.