Sources · Census ACS
U.S. Census ACS 5-year estimates
The American Community Survey is the U.S. Census Bureau's ongoing demographic survey. West Loop Vibe uses the ACS 5-year estimates — the most statistically stable ACS release at neighborhood scale — to populate the demographics blocks on /west-loop/at-a-glance.
What we pull
- Population — total residents, estimated for the West Loop tracts.
- Age distribution — by Census-standard age brackets.
- Income — median household income.
- Housing — owner-occupied vs renter-occupied units, median home value, median rent.
- Education — share of adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree or higher.
- Race and ethnicity — composition per Census categories.
- Commute — share working from home, primary commute mode.
Geographic scope
Census tracts don't align cleanly with neighborhood boundaries. The West Loop is covered by a small set of Cook County tracts that approximately match the neighborhood; the at-a-glance page aggregates those tracts and reports the combined estimates. Tract IDs and weighting are documented in the data file alongside each metric.
Vintage and refresh
The ACS releases new 5-year estimates each December, covering the previous five calendar years. West Loop Vibe pulls the most recent available vintage. Because 5-year estimates are rolling, individual values change slowly — significant year-over-year demographic shifts take multiple release cycles to surface fully.
Licensing
ACS estimates are produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and released into
the public domain as U.S. government work. West Loop Vibe cites the
dataset name, vintage, and Census Bureau as publisher in the
sources[] for each tract-level value rendered.