AAPI Data launches Community Data Explorer

AAPI Data has launched AANHPI Community Data Explorer, an in-depth and innovative platform designed to empower data-driven insights on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities across the country.

The innovative tool was developed in collaboration with January Advisors, a data science and technology consulting firm, with consultations and user feedback from dozens of community partners, according to a press release from the national research and policy organization of the community.

The Data Explorer, which pulls data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), offers a user friendly interface to examine disaggregated data of AANHPI communities across a wide array of indicators — including citizenship and nativity, language, income, poverty, educational attainment, health insurance, internet access, and home ownership.

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By enabling users to explore these data across geographic areas such as states, counties, and metropolitan areas, the platform empowers stakeholders to gain deeper understandings of the diverse needs and disparities among AANHPI communities.

The platform also offers users the ability to produce one-click PDF products in the form of Community Snapshots (topline reports with styled infographics and graphs) and Community Deep Dives (in-depth community data in tabular format), allowing for customized products aligned to specific use cases and needs.

“The AA and NHPI Community Data Explorer represents a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to disseminate accurate and comprehensive data of AANHPI communities to effect positive change,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data. “By putting reliable and actionable data into the hands of policymakers, journalists, advocates, and community leaders, the platform serves as a catalyst for informed dialogue and meaningful change.”

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The AANHPI Community Data Explorer is part of the ongoing Power In Numbers campaign, a national community-led effort aimed at driving lasting policy change and investments in civic engagement to ensure AANHPI communities are respected, recognized, and prioritized, according to the release.

Importantly, the Community Data Explorer showcases the need for disaggregated data by Asian American and NHPI ethnicities across all major federal data collections. Most of the disaggregated indicators from the US Census Bureau’s ACS are unavailable in other federal agency data collections, including surveys and forms deployed by the departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education, and Justice.

In March 2024, the Office of Management and Budget updated its Statistical Policy Directive 15 (SPD 15) on federal agency race and ethnicity standards, mandating improvements in detailed ethnicity data across federal agencies.

“The AANHPI Community Data Explorer shows us what is possible — and what is essential — with respect to federal race and ethnicity data collections,” said Akil Vohra, director of policy at AAPI Data. “The data disaggregation pillar of SPD 15 makes us keenly aware that we need timely progress on detailed data collections across all federal agencies, so that we better understand which AANHPI communities continue to face barriers and lack of service.”

The AANHPI Community Data Explorer can be viewed at: explore.aapidata.com