About the US Fish & Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile Tool

Map, filter, and explore data about the economics, demographics, land use, and other topics in the neighborhoods, cities, counties, and states near all US Fish & Wildlife Service units.

U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service (USFWS) Socioeconomic Profiles is a free, web-based tool created to help government agency land managers, economists, planners, outreach specialists, researchers, citizen/private sectors, and others explore socioeconomic conditions near USFWS units, including:

  • National Wildlife Refuges (NWR)
  • Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA)
  • National Fish Hatcheries (NFH)
  • Wetland Management Districts (WMD)
  • Coordination Areas (COORD)
  • Administrative Sites (AS)
  • Wildlife Management Areas (WMA)
  • Fisheries Research Stations (FR)
  • National Monuments (NM)
  • Conservation Areas (CA)
  • Fish Technology Centers (FTC)

Users can explore data on economics, demographics, land use, economic sectors, and other topics. Forty years of data provide context and reveal trends. Several geographical areas can be selected to aggregate or compare data. Reports can be downloaded as Excel or .pdf files.

USFWS Socioeconomic Profiles reports are based on credible public data sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Interior, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Data are updated continuously.

USFWS Socioeconomic Profiles was developed with funding, in part, from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What areas are included in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile tool?

The tool contains data for five types of places ranging from Census tracts to states. The specific types are:

  • Census Tracts
  • Census Places (cities/towns)
  • Counties
  • American Indian and Native Areas
  • States
What is the purpose of the tool?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile tool makes socioeconomic data accessible and useful for Service planning processes, NEPA baselines, stakeholder engagement, communication and outreach, and education. The tool is free and delivers socioeconomic indicators that are accurate, relevant, and reliable, and that establish appropriate context for monitoring Service contributions and impacts on surrounding communities.

Agency staff and others can use the tool to access socioeconomic data over time, and track changes on individual or multiple Service units.

What is the geographic scope?

The tool is available for most Service land units in the contiguous United States, Hawaii and Alaska. Users have the option to view socioeconomic data for Census tracts, communities, counties, American Indian areas, or states near U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service units. Users can identify their area of interest by clicking on a map, drawing a polygon, or selecting the area within a user-specified distance from the unit.

A primary advantage of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile tool is standardized analysis using continuously updated data. With the tool’s user interface, agency staff and other users can quickly reference their Service area(s) of interest and explore relevant data. The area for which data are reported is easy to modify, allowing users to add or remove places as needed.

How much does it cost to use the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile tool?

The tool is free to use. With the help of our partners (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, the Kresge Foundation, and the Kendeda Fund) Headwaters Economics’ tools are created to improve agency and public access to high-quality socioeconomic data.

How often is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile tool updated?

Headwaters Economics processes newly released data continuously. The latest available data are reflected in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile tool within a maximum of 90 days after publication by each individual data source. There are multiple data sources used in the tool, each with a different update schedule. This page shows the update frequency and timing per data source.

How should I cite data from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile tool reports?

Headwaters Economics recommends that you cite data from reports using the citations provided at the bottom of each page in the downloadable PDF or Excel files followed by a reference to the tool and when the report was retrieved. For example:

U.S. Department of Commerce. 2018. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office, Washington, D.C., as reported in Headwaters Economics’ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Socioeconomic Profile. Retrieved December 12, 2018 from https://headwaterseconomics.org/tools/usfws-profiles/.

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