Benton-Franklin Trends Newsletter – June 2023

Trending News

Mapping Home Price Changes

Mapping Home Price Changes

Home price changes over time
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a data visualization on home price changes from 2003 to 2023 for the entire United States. The visualization map animates month-by-month percent changes in home prices by county to illustrate changes in the United States housing...
Read More
United States Migration Patterns

United States Migration Patterns

Net migration from county to county

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has published an interactive map detailing United States migration patterns by county using net migration statistics from the US Census. The map offers 10-year period datasets with the most recent data featuring the 2000s (2000-2010). Selecting a county...
Read More
The Worldview Upgrader by Gapminder

The Worldview Upgrader by Gapminder

Fighting misconceptions though data

The Worldview Upgrader is fun educational tool that wants to tell you what you are probably wrong about. It was created by Gapminder, a well-known Swedish organization with no political, religious, or economic affiliation. Their mission is to fight global misconceptions through the use of reliable...
Read More

Trends In Action

Regional Price Parities

The Tri Cities is No Longer a Screaming Buy

It is this writer’s hunch that the self-image of the greater Tri Cities includes a family-friendly culture. Good wages, too. And a low cost of living. The first two attributes seem uncontestable. The third not so much. Living in Benton and Franklin Counties now isn’t any cheaper than the U.S. metropolitan average. Trends indicator 3.2.9 Regional Price Parity (RPP) make this clear. For 2021...
Read More

Poverty

Poverty Has Recently Declined, but Is It Low Enough?

“The poor will always be with us,” runs a well-known verse in the Bible. But most Americans would likely agree that we would like the number of poor to be as low as possible. Since 2014, the number in the greater Tri Cities is moving in that direction. Trends indicator 3.5.1 Total & Share of the Population Living in Poverty generally shows the path of these residents over the past...
Read More

Violent Crime

Despite Slight Uptick, Violent Crime Rate Stays Below the State Average

Violent crimes, by their very nature, are much more likely to garner attention in the news than property crimes, possibly resulting in public perception that there is more crime in a given area than the data purport. This is understandable because violence is scary. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it can scare people out of participating in neighborhood activities, limit business growth...
Read More

Welcome Our New Student Interns!

Image

Liliya Kostenko

Hometown: Spokane, WA

Major: Accounting

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2024

Post-graduation plans:

I plan to join an accounting firm to expand my knowledge and skills. My goal is to take and pass the CPA exam to become a certified accountant.


After some time working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:

I think it is incredible how much information we have at hand, and how little we know about our hometown. Every time I update the data, I learn a lot of new things that I could potentially use to help me in my future career.

Image

Laura Velazquez

Hometown: Duluth, GA

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2024

Post-graduation plans:

I plan on joining the workforce right away, ideally working in the private sector. I am interested in renewable energy and other topics in engineering which serve the greater good.

After some time working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far:

It is interesting to see how much important data it is out there and how it offers a better understanding of the community it came from. This is truly important work.