MIT's You Are Here mapping and data visualization project has produced a map of income levels, as tracked by the routes of the Metro subway system in Washington D.C.
Ana Swanson shares news of a new mapping project by MIT's You Are Here that uses the subway system of Washington D.C. to map to create a visualization of median household incomes. "The graphic draws on census data on earnings within a radius of half a mile around subway stations. It graphs both the median household income for each stop and the overall average for the line," according to Swanson.
After breaking down the details of each station's income levels, Swanson provides the following analysis: "Looking at the graphs [of individual lines], you can see that these higher average incomes result because of a sharp discrepancy in income between Washington’s eastern and western halves."
The original You Are Here post explains that the project was inspired by the "Inequality and New York's Subway" feature by The New Yorker.
Swanson reports that You Are Here is reaching into new territory with the project: "This is the first project from You Are Here’s new open-source library, which allows census data for any city to be visualized over a transit network."
Read the full story: How median income varies by subway line in Washington, D.C.
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