Following are visualizations of data. Many are interactive and created using Tableau Public. In some cases I’ve recorded myself using the visualization to tell a story, and all you have to do is watch.
Wichita spending data presented as a summary, and as a list.
As part of an ongoing transparency project, I asked the City of Wichita for check register data. I’ve made the data available in a visualization using Tableau Public. This visualization is updated with data through August 13, 2019.
Of note, the city does not make this data available on its website.
To learn more about this data and use the visualization, click here.
A visualization of employment, labor force, and unemployment rate for metropolitan areas, now with data through May 2019.
How does the Wichita metropolitan area compare with others regarding employment, labor force, and unemployment rate? A nearby example shows data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor. Considering growth of employment since the start of the decade, the answer is Wichita has not performed well.
This illustration came from an interactive visualization I created from BLS data. Click here to learn more and use the visualization.
An interactive visualization of data over time from the National Transit Database. Now with data through 2017.
Do you wonder how much it costs to run your transit system? The National Transit Database holds data for transit systems in the U.S. I’ve gathered some key statistics and presented them in an interactive visualization.
In the case of Wichita, we see that “OpExp per PMT” for 2017 was $1.44. This is total operating expense per passenger mile traveled. It’s not the cost to move a bus a mile down the street. It’s the cost to move one passenger one mile. And, it is operating cost only, which means the costs of the buses are not included.
Some definitions used in the database:
Click here learn more about the data and to access the visualization.
After a trend of decline, coincident and leading economic indicators for Kansas are improving.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia calculates two indexes that track and forecast economic activity in the states and the country as a whole. Values are available through May 2019.
The coincident index is a measure of current and past economic activity for each state. The leading index predicts the six-month growth rate of the state’s coincident index. Positive values mean the coincident index is expected to rise in the future six months, while negative values mean it is expected to fall. (For more detail, see Visualization: Economic indicators in the states.)
For Kansas, the coincident index has been on a mostly downhill trend since May 2018. But for April and May of this year, the index has risen.
The leading index shows the same trend: A peak one year ago, then mostly down except rising for the last two months.
A nearby chart shows index values for the last two years for Kansas, some nearby states, and the United States. You can access the visualization and create your own charts here: Visualization: Economic indicators in the states.
Airport traffic data presented in an interactive visualization, updated through 2018.
This visualization holds data from TranStats, a service of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), which is the independent statistical agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). While monthly data is available, this visualization holds annual totals.
The nearby example shows data starting in 2010 for the nation (blue lines) and Wichita. The visualization holds data for all U.S. airports with scheduled flights.
A few observations regarding Wichita airport traffic as compared to the nation:
To view and use the interactive visualization, click here.
A visualization of the population of metropolitan statistical areas, now with annual data from 1969 through 2018.
For most types of economic and demographic analysis, metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) are preferred to cities proper. The Census Bureau notes: “The general concept of a metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area is that of a core area containing a substantial population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social integration with that core.” 1
Wichita officials usually recognize this and have started to emphasize the importance of the region (the MSA), not just the city. Many of our civic agencies have named or renamed themselves like these examples: Greater Wichita Partnership, Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce, Blueprint for Regional Economic Growth, Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, Wichita Area Planning Organization, Regional Economic Area Partnership of South Central Kansas, South Central Kansas Economic Development District.
Further, there is more economic data available at the MSA level (compared to the city level) from agencies like Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis. This data includes important measures like employment, labor force, unemployment rate, gross domestic product, and personal income.
This visualization has several different views of population data, from tables to charts showing relative growth. A new feature is a map. You can select a range of years, and as you point to a metropolitan area you’ll see the population change over that time.
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Notes
An interactive table and charts of populations in the states and regions, from 1929 through 2018.
How have the states grown in population since 1929? Growth varies widely. This visualization has several views that illustrate changes in state populations.
Click here to access this visualization.
Source of data is Bureau of Economic Analysis, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce.
An interactive table and charts of populations in the states and regions, starting in 1929.
How have the states grown in population since 1929? Growth varies greatly.
In the accompanying visualization, one chart of the growth of population uses a logarithmic scale. This better shows a wide range of values. On this scale, negative values can’t be shown. The example below highlights Kansas against the other states.
Another tab in this visualization displays a map of the states along with a slider to select a range of years. For each state, you can see the change in population over this range of time.
Click here to access this visualization.
Source of data is Bureau of Economic Analysis, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce.
Kansas personal income tax collections rose by $372 per person in 2018, an increase of 46.5 percent.
Each year the United States Census Bureau collects a summary of taxes collected by each state for 5 broad tax categories and up to 25 tax subcategories. 1 I’ve collected this data and made it available in an interactive visualization. Data is through 2018.
You may recall that Kansas raised personal income tax rates in 2017 and made the new rate retroactive to January 1, 2017. But that change doesn’t seem to have affected the data for fiscal year 2017. For 2016, Kansas collected $767 per person in individual income taxes, and for 2017, $800. Not much difference.
Now data for fiscal year 2018 is available, and it shows Kansas collecting $1,172 per person in individual income taxes, an increase of $372 or 46.5 percent over 2017.
(Here’s the reason for the 2017 data being relatively unaffected. For most states, including Kansas, this data is for the fiscal year, not the calendar year. 2 New withholding tax tables were not available until June 27, 2017, just three days before the end of fiscal year 2017. 3)
Considering all taxes, Kansas collected $3,279 per person in 2018, up from $2,808 in 2017, an increase of $471 or 16.8 percent.
Click here to access the visualization.
Click images for larger versions.
In the following chart showing total tax collections per person over time, Kansas now collects more than our surrounding states.
This chart shows for 2018, the total and the composition of taxes collected.
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Notes
An interactive visualization of GDP by state and industry, updated with annual data through 2018.
New figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, show gross domestic product in the states by industry.
BEA defines GDP as “the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production.” It is the value of the final goods and services produced. These values are real, meaning adjusted for inflation. The values for year 2018 are preliminary and subject to revision.
As shown in the accompanying illustration, Kansas has not kept up with most surrounding states.
In the interactive visualization, you may select a time period, one or more states, and one or more industries.
To learn more about the data and access the visualization, click here.
An interactive visualization of the civilian labor force, employment, and unemployment, for each state. Updated through March 2019.
As seen in the nearby example, Kansas continues its undistinguished record in job growth as compared to nearby states. In the visualization, you can easily choose states to compare, select a timeframe, and look at labor force, employment, and unemployment.
Click here to learn more about the data and access the interactive visualization.
Kansas hotel guest tax collections presented in an interactive visualization.
Updated with data through January 2019.
Cities and counties in Kansas may levy a transient guest tax collection on hotel guests. It is sometimes called a bed tax or guest tax. The tax is collected as a percentage of total room revenue, not the number of rooms or the rate charged for rooms. While the Kansas Department of Revenue collects the tax, the proceeds are returned to the cities or counties, except for a two percent processing fee. In Wichita the rate is six percent.
Of note, while Wichita is the largest city in Kansas, Overland Park collects the most hotel guest tax. Of the largest markets in Kansas, Wichita is usually one of the lowest-growth cities.
Click here to access the visualization.
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Notes
Kansas hotel guest tax collections presented in an interactive visualization.
Cities and counties in Kansas may levy a transient guest tax collection on hotel guests. It is sometimes called a bed tax or guest tax. The tax is collected as a percentage of total room revenue, not the number of rooms or the rate charged for rooms. While the Kansas Department of Revenue collects the tax, the proceeds are returned to the cities or counties, except for a two percent processing fee. In Wichita the rate is six percent.
In some cases, jurisdictions may levy additional taxes that may not be paid to the Kansas Department of Revenue. This is the case with the Wichita city tourism fee, which took effect on January 1, 2015. This tax of 2.75% is paid directly to the city1, so it doesn’t appear in KDOR figures.
Also, jurisdictions may change the tax rate. The Kansas Department of Revenue maintains a list of taxes charged. 2
The visualization has three views of data. One is a table of collections, including percent change from the previous year. A line chart shows the dollar amount of collections. A second line chart shows collections indexed to a common starting point. This is useful for comparing the relative change in guest tax collections. These line charts show data as the average of the previous 12 months.
Click here to access the visualization.
For more visualizations, click here.
Notes
An interactive visualization of labor force, employment, and unemployment rate for all metropolitan areas in the United States.
Updated with data through January 2019. Click here to learn more about the visualization and to access it.
Now updated with data through the third quarter of 2018, quarterly state and local government tax collections. Data is from the United States Census Bureau and groups data by tax category. Click here to access.
Data regarding State of Kansas agency spending presented in an interactive visualization.
The source of this data is KanView, the Kansas transparency portal, through its download center. Data from multiple years are combined into one database. Data starts with fiscal year 2011.
This visualization is experimental. I would appreciate feedback on views of this data that would be useful.
Click here to access the visualization.
Data regarding State of Kansas agency spending presented in an interactive visualization.
The source of this data is KanView, the Kansas transparency portal, through its download center. Data from multiple years are combined into one database. Data starts with fiscal year 2011.
Of this data, KanView advises: “Agency expenditure data is available by Agency Fund Type, Agency Primary Expenditure Accounts, and by Agency Program.” The various views of the visualization show this data arranged in these ways.
Regarding accounts, KanView offers this explanation:
State expenditures are classified at a primary, intermediate, and detail level account codes. These classifications facilitate the various levels of reporting detail required for budgetary, financial, management, or other reports.
Seven primary expenditure classifications are prescribed. Intermediate classifications are assigned within each primary classification. Within each intermediate classification is the detail classifications used to code accounting transactions.
The prescribed primary classifications are:
Contractual Services: Payments for communications, freight and express, printing and advertising, rentals, repairing and servicing, employee travel expense reimbursement, utilities, and professional or other services.
Commodities: Payments for consumable supplies, maintenance materials and parts, and other miscellaneous purchases.
Capital Outlay: Payments for machinery, equipment, land, vehicles, buildings and other major purchases.
Grants, Claims and Shared Revenue: Disbursements for grants, claims, shared revenue and other related disbursements where the disbursing agency does not receive a direct service or tangible asset.
Debt Service: Payments of principal, interest and service charges on borrowed money.
Non-Expense Items: Disbursements for refunds, advances, investments and other disbursements not properly classified as governmental expenditures.
Expense Transfers: Agency use of transfer account codes is generally only on interfund transactions between state agencies. Transfers move cash from one fund to another fund within the State Treasury.
Regarding functions:
The function view identifies expenditures for high-level activities and programs of the State, upon selecting a high-level function, specific programs within this function can then be displayed for a particular state agency.
Major State Functions include: General Administration, Human Resources, Education, Public Safety, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Highways and Other Transportation, Health and Environment, Economic Development, Lottery, and Universities.
For funds, KanView explains:
A “fund” is the fundamental unit of accounting designed to demonstrate legal compliance and to aid financial management by segregating transactions related to certain governmental functions or activities. Fund View initially displays the major fund types denoting the high-level purpose of the underlying funds as classified in the statewide accounting and reporting system. Upon selecting a major fund type, specific funds can then be displayed for a particular state agency. Each agency fund is further segregated by individual accounts (for budgetary or other legal requirements) which provides an additional level of classification.
Valid major fund types and descriptions are:
Special Revenue Funds: Funds established for specific purposes normally specified by state statutes, or in the case of federal grants, for purposes specified by the federal government. These funds are primarily supported by user fees or grants.
Capital Projects Funds: Funds established to account for the acquisition and construction of major capital facilities other than those financed by proprietary funds and trust funds.
Debt Service Funds: Funds established to account for the accumulation of resources and the payment of long term debt principal and interest.
Enterprise Funds: Funds established to account for activities that are generally of a business nature where goods or services a sold to the general public or similar customer groups.
Internal Service Funds: Funds established to account for goods and services provided to other state agencies or internal departments on a cost-reimbursement basis.
Trust and Agency Funds: Trust funds contain monies received, held, and disbursed by the State acting as a trustee, agent, or custodian. Agency funds contain monies collected by the State as an agent and disbursed to other governments, businesses or individuals.
Component Units Funds: Funds of component unit(s). A component unit is a legally separate organization for which the primary government is financially accountable.
This visualization is experimental. I would appreciate feedback on views of this data that would be useful.
Click here to access the visualization.
For more visualizations, click here.
Data regarding State of Kansas payments to vendors.
The source of this data is KanView, the Kansas transparency portal, through its download center. Data from multiple years are combined into one database. Data starts with July 1, 2010.
KanView says this data shows “payments made to vendors from all state agencies and include the following key data elements: fiscal year, agency (Business Unit), account description, funding, vendor name, document number, payment date and amount.”
This visualization is experimental. I would appreciate feedback on view of this data that would be useful. The visualization may be slow to respond, as it holds 7.3 million rows of data.
Click here to access the visualization.
For more visualizations, click here.
Kansas tax receipts by category, presented in an interactive visualization.
The Kansas Division of the Budget publishes monthly statistics regarding tax collections. I’ve gathered these and present them in an interactive visualization. Updated with data through October 2018.
Click here to learn more and access the visualization.
An interactive visualization of Kansas school salaries by district and category.
This visualization holds salaries of Kansas school superintendents, principals, and teachers. The visualization shows the average for each of these categories for each school district. The values are adjusted for inflation to the most current year values. Some data is presented on a per-pupil basis using full-time equivalent student counts.
The visualization includes both tables and charts. The source of the data is Kansas State Department of Education for salaries and enrollments, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for price levels, and author’s calculations.
Click here to access the visualization.
