How to Make a US County Thematic Map Using Free Tools

This tutorial by Nathan Yau for Flowing Data provides step-by-step guidance for producing a choropleth map by using free online tools. Each step of the process is clearly explained and relevant examples are provided.  There are links to the different tools that are available for completing this process.

Contents

  • Step 1. Prepare county-specific data
  • Step 2. Get the blank map
  • Step 3. Open the SVG file in a text editor
  • Step 4. Create Python script
  • Step 5. Import necessary modules
  • Step 6. Read in unemployment data with Python
  • Step 7. Load county map
  • Step 8. Parse it with Beautiful Soup
  • Step 9. Find all the counties in the SVG
  • Step 10. Decide what colors to use for map
  • Step 11. Prepare style for paths
  • Step 12. Change color of counties
  • Step 13. Output modified map
  • Step 14. Run script and save new map
  • Where to Go From Here

Sources

Yau, N., (2009), How to Make a US County Thematic Map Using Free Tools, Flowing Data. Retrieved from: http://flowingdata.com/2009/11/12/how-to-make-a-us-county-thematic-map-using-free-tools/

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