Read a web report

Open the report

In Report Builder, go to Your reports and select View beside a report. Organization accounts use Organization reports for that same table. View appears only when a web report is available.

The web report is a reading screen in the browser. It is separate from the PDF. To download the PDF, use Download in the reports table.

Section titles come from the report you opened. Use the headings on the page in front of you. The blocks below are the kinds of material a report can include.

Start with the cover

The cover introduces the report and its location. Check that you opened the report for the place you meant to review before you compare it with another location.

Read the summary numbers

The summary brings key figures together. Read each figure with its label and its unit. A count of people, a count of households, and an income value describe different things.

Demographic figures describe the people and households in an area. Provider figures describe the providers included in the report. A provider count is not a count of potential patients.

Read the written sections

Written sections explain the findings. Use them to understand the patterns, then use the tables and maps for the detail.

A description of an area's population or providers is context for evaluating a location. It is not a prediction of how a practice will perform.

Compare the tables

Tables put the detailed values in rows and columns. Check the measure, the unit, and the area named in the headings before you compare values.

Keep the meaning of each measure in mind. A household is a group of people living together, so a household count and a population count are not interchangeable. An unavailable value is not zero.

Interpret the rankings

Some reports include a ranking. Read the measure shown with it so you know what the order means.

A high position on one measure does not mean the location is the best choice for your practice. Read it next to the other figures.

Read the maps

Maps show where the report's locations or patterns appear. Use the map's title, labels, and legend to see what the symbols and colors mean.

Read the map next to the matching table or summary. The map adds geographic context. A color by itself does not say how large a difference is.

Some maps offer 3D density and Points. Those buttons switch the view of the same map.

Understand where the numbers come from

Census-based demographic figures use estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). They describe an area's population and households. They are not a live count of every person living there.

Provider figures come from the provider data used for the report and the specialties you chose when you generated it. They describe that data, not Census survey responses.

Some maps name FEMA USA Structures in the source line when the map is drawn from that inventory. Read the source line on the map you are looking at.

Census estimates have uncertainty. Margin of error is the Census way of saying how sure an estimate is. A small difference between two estimates may not be a meaningful difference between areas. The report may not show a margin of error beside each number.

For Census areas, geographic summaries, and margin of error in Atlas, see The Analysis Panel. Those Atlas controls apply to Atlas. Use that guide's data explanations as background when you read a report.