U.S. Commuting Zones for 2000

Charles Tolbert, Baylor University
Troy Blanchard, Mississippi State University
Alex Trouteaud, Baylor University

This poster provides an overview of research that identified U.S. commuting zones with journey-to-work data from the 2000 Census. The poster includes a large-scale map. This research replicates previous delineations of 1980 and 1990 commuting zones. County to county flows of commuters were analyzed with a hierarchical cluster algorithm. The results of the cluster analysis were used to identify commuting zones (i.e., groups of counties with strong commuting ties). More than 600 commuting zones were delineated for all U.S. counties and county equivalents. These commuting zones are intended for use as spatial measures of local labor markets. We also present analysis that compares these commuting-based county groups to the Public-Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) used in Bureau of the Census Public-Use Microdata Samples (PUMS). This analysis shows the extent to which variance in spatial statistical assessments is reduced by use of commuting zones in the analysis of decennial Census household data.