The Dot Map of America

One of my all-time favorite interactive maps was created by Dustin Cable at the University of Virginia. Unfortunately, the Racial Dot Map of America was removed in 2022. This map used data from the 2010 Census to place a colored dot on a map for every American - all 308,745,538 of them. As the name suggests, the color of each dot was determined by race.

The UVA map, based on 2010 Census data, was taken down after the 2020 Census because it was no longer considered to provide an accurate depiction of the nation's population distribution and changing racial composition.

Saddened by the loss of the Racial Dot Map of America, Luke Loreti took it upon himself to create a new version using data from the 2020 Census. His Census Dots follows the exact same methodology as the original, using colored dots to visualize the racial composition of the USA.

By using over 330 million colored dots, the map effectively illustrates the often stark racial divides in many communities. For example, in St. Louis, MO, a clear north-south divide emerges, with a dense white population in the south and a strong Black American presence in the north. The so-called Delmar Divide -named after Delmar Boulevard - is particularly evident on the Census Dots map.

Another great feature of the map is its dynamic URL, allowing users to link directly to specific locations, such as the Delmar Divide. This also makes it easy to share direct links to other interesting places discovered on the map.

Other U.S. racial dot map are also available. These include CNN's Race and ethnicity across the nation and All of US, which incorporates data from both the 2010 & 2020 Censuses.