2c:null 2d:["$","title",null,{"children":"Educational Attainment by Census Tract and Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) | Blake Decker | Observable"}] 32:T90c,## Executive Summary - There were an estimated 5,494,039 adults (25 and older) in Texas that were "Some College, No Bachelors Degree" in the 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) estimates. - **Out of those 5.5 million adults, almost 1.1 million (1,093,728) adults (25 or older) were classified as "Some College, No Bachelors Degree" who lived in "Rural" or "Small Town Core" Census Tracts.** - This means that 19.9 percent of the total number of "Some College, No Bachelors Degree" adults in Texas live in areas considered "Rural" or "Small Towns" by the USDA. #### Determining Rural Status: Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) - According to 2023 RUCA data, there were 1,235 "Rural" and 139 "Small town core" Census Tracts. - This total of 1,374 "Rural/Small Town" Census Tracts represents almost 20% of the total number of 6,883 Census Tracts across Texas. - This finding should not be confused with other data publicly available that show approximately 16% of the total population in Texas living in rural areas (Exhibit 1, https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/archive/2023/aug/rural.php). #### Educational Attainment: Some College, No Bachelors - There were an estimated 19,717,474 adults (25 and older) in Texas in the 2024 ACS 5-year estimates. - There were an estimated 5,494,039 adults (25 and older) in Texas that were "Some College, No Bachelors Degree", which was created from the following educational attainment groups in the ACS data: - Some College, Less than 1 Year: 1,289,297 - Some College, 1 or More Years, No Degree: 2,677,491 - Associate's Degree: 1,527,251 #### Rural/Small Town Focus - Across "Rural" and "Small town core" Census Tracts, there were an estimated 3,583,773 adults (25 and older) in the 2024 ACS 5-year estimates. - Across "Rural" and "Small town core" Census Tracts, there were an estimated **1,093,728 adults (25 and older) who were considered "Some College, No Bachelors Degree" adults** in the 2024 ACS 5-year estimates. - This means that **30.5 percent of adults (25 and older) living in "Rural" and "Small town core" Census Tracts have "Some College, No Bachelors Degree".** - By comparison, 27.3 percent of adults (25 and older) living in "Metro" and "Micro" urban areas in Texas were considered "Some College, No Bachelors Degree" adults.33:T2b1a,map = { // const container = // yield htl.html`

const container = yield htl.html`

`; // Wait for container to be fully rendered await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100)); // const map = L.map(container, { zoomSnap: 0.5 }); const map = L.map(container, { zoomSnap: 0.5, preferCanvas: false // Better performance }); // EXPLICITLY configure pane z-indexes map.createPane("tilePane").style.zIndex = 200; map.createPane("overlayPane").style.zIndex = 400; map.attributionControl.setPrefix( 'Leaflet' ); // map.fitBounds([ // [25.8, -106.7], // [36.5, -93.5] // ]); // Add tiles to the tilePane L.tileLayer("https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", { attribution: "© OpenStreetMap contributors", maxZoom: 19, pane: "tilePane" }).addTo(map); const colorScale = { Rural: "#762a83", "Small town core": "#c2a5cf", "Micro core": "#a6dba0", "Metro core": "#1b7837", Water: "#f7f7f7" }; // Store original bounds for reset const originalBounds = L.geoJSON(ruca_data).getBounds(); // Define the order of urban core types for the filter const urbanCoreOptions = [ "Rural", "Small town core", "Micro core", "Metro core" ]; // Store original bounds for reset // const originalBounds = L.geoJSON(ruca_data).getBounds(); // Track current filter selections (start with all selected) let selectedUrbanCoreTypes = new Set(urbanCoreOptions); function style(feature) { return { fillColor: colorScale[feature.properties.urban_core_type] || "#999999", weight: 1, opacity: 1, color: "white", fillOpacity: 0.7 }; } function highlightFeature(e) { const layer = e.target; layer.setStyle({ weight: 3, color: "#666", fillOpacity: 0.9 }); layer.bringToFront(); } function resetHighlight(e) { geojsonLayer.resetStyle(e.target); } function onEachFeature(feature, layer) { const props = feature.properties; layer.bindTooltip( ` ${props.tract_name20}
${props.urban_core_type} `, { sticky: true } ); layer.bindPopup(`

${props.tract_name20}

County:	${props.county_name23}
Type:	${props.urban_core_type}
Population 25 and Older:	${( props.total_pop_25plusE ?? 0 ).toLocaleString()}
Some College, No Bachelors:	${( props.some_college_no_bachelors ?? 0 ).toLocaleString()}

`); layer.on({ mouseover: highlightFeature, mouseout: resetHighlight }); } // Filter function - checks if type is in the selected set function filterByUrbanCore(feature) { const type = feature.properties.urban_core_type; // Always show Water, filter others based on selection if (type === "Water") return true; return selectedUrbanCoreTypes.has(type); } console.log("ruca_data available?", typeof ruca_data !== "undefined"); console.log("ruca_data feature count:", ruca_data?.features?.length || 0); // // Add tiles FIRST // L.tileLayer("https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", { // attribution: // "© OpenStreetMap contributors", // maxZoom: 19 // }).addTo(map); // Create the GeoJSON layer // let geojsonLayer = L.geoJSON(ruca_data, { // style: style, // onEachFeature: onEachFeature, // filter: filterByUrbanCore // }).addTo(map); // console.log( // "GeoJSON layer created with", // geojsonLayer.getLayers().length, // "features" // ); // // FIT BOUNDS AFTER LAYER IS ADDED // map.fitBounds(originalBounds, { maxZoom: 9 }); // Create GeoJSON with explicit pane and enhanced styling let geojsonLayer = L.geoJSON(ruca_data, { style: function (feature) { return { fillColor: colorScale[feature.properties.urban_core_type] || "#999999", weight: 2, // Increased from 1 opacity: 1, color: "white", fillOpacity: 0.85 // Increased from 0.7 }; }, onEachFeature: onEachFeature, filter: filterByUrbanCore, pane: "overlayPane" }).addTo(map); console.log( "GeoJSON added to overlayPane with", geojsonLayer.getLayers().length, "features" ); // Fit bounds after everything is added map.fitBounds(originalBounds, { maxZoom: 9 }); // Force invalidation after a delay to ensure rendering setTimeout(() => { map.invalidateSize(); geojsonLayer.bringToFront(); // Force GeoJSON to top console.log("Layer brought to front"); }, 200); // Function to update the layer with new filter function updateLayer() { map.removeLayer(geojsonLayer); geojsonLayer = L.geoJSON(ruca_data, { style: style, onEachFeature: onEachFeature, filter: filterByUrbanCore }).addTo(map); } // Add Urban Core Type Filter Control with Checkboxes const filterControl = L.control({ position: "topright" }); filterControl.onAdd = function (map) { const div = L.DomUtil.create("div", "filter-control"); div.style.cssText = ` background: white; padding: 10px 14px; border-radius: 5px; box-shadow: 0 0 15px rgba(0,0,0,0.2); font-size: 12px; `; let checkboxHtml = ` Rural-Urban Commuting Area

`; for (const type of urbanCoreOptions) { const color = colorScale[type]; checkboxHtml += ` ${type} `; } checkboxHtml += `

`; div.innerHTML = checkboxHtml; // Prevent map interactions when using the checkboxes L.DomEvent.disableClickPropagation(div); L.DomEvent.disableScrollPropagation(div); return div; }; filterControl.addTo(map); // Add Reset Button Control const resetControl = L.control({ position: "topleft" }); resetControl.onAdd = function (map) { const div = L.DomUtil.create("div", "reset-control"); div.innerHTML = ` `; L.DomEvent.disableClickPropagation(div); return div; }; resetControl.addTo(map); // Add event listeners after controls are added to the map setTimeout(() => { // Checkbox change events const checkboxes = document.querySelectorAll(".urban-core-checkbox"); checkboxes.forEach((checkbox) => { checkbox.addEventListener("change", function (e) { if (e.target.checked) { selectedUrbanCoreTypes.add(e.target.value); } else { selectedUrbanCoreTypes.delete(e.target.value); } updateLayer(); }); }); // Select All button document .getElementById("select-all-btn") .addEventListener("click", function () { checkboxes.forEach((checkbox) => { checkbox.checked = true; selectedUrbanCoreTypes.add(checkbox.value); }); updateLayer(); }); // Clear All button document .getElementById("clear-all-btn") .addEventListener("click", function () { checkboxes.forEach((checkbox) => { checkbox.checked = false; selectedUrbanCoreTypes.delete(checkbox.value); }); updateLayer(); }); // Reset button click event document.getElementById("reset-btn").addEventListener("click", function () { // Reset all checkboxes to checked checkboxes.forEach((checkbox) => { checkbox.checked = true; selectedUrbanCoreTypes.add(checkbox.value); }); updateLayer(); // Reset map bounds map.fitBounds(originalBounds, { maxZoom: 9 }); }); }, 0); map.fitBounds(originalBounds, { maxZoom: 9 }); // L.tileLayer("https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", { // attribution: // "© OpenStreetMap contributors" // }).addTo(map); // WITH THIS: // L.tileLayer("https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png", { // attribution: // "© OpenStreetMap contributors", // maxZoom: 19, // errorTileUrl: // "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAYAAAAfFcSJAAAADUlEQVR42mNkYPhfDwAChwGA60e6kgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" // }) // .on("tileerror", function (error, tile) { // console.error("Tile loading error:", error); // console.error("Failed tile:", tile); // }) // .on("tileload", function () { // console.log("Tile loaded successfully"); // }) // .addTo(map); // Also add map size invalidation after a delay setTimeout(() => { map.invalidateSize(); console.log("Map size invalidated"); }, 100); }34:T4cf,## Data Sources & Methodology - Educational Attainment data from American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates (2020-2024) from Table B15003 (https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B15003?g=040XX00US48$1400000) - To determine the number of "Some College, No Bachelors" adults (25 and older) in Texas, I used counts from the following variables for each of the 6,883 Census Tracts in Texas: - "B15003_019" = "Some College, Less than 1 Year" - "B15003_020" = "Some College, 1 or More Years, No Degree" - "B15003_021" = "Earned Associates Degree" - Those three variables were aggregated to create the "Some College, No Bachelors" count for each Census Tract. - RUCA data from https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-commuting-area-codes - Census Tracts are identified in an Urban Core Type variable as one of four urban area values: - Rural: Tract outside of an urban area - Small town core: Tract within an urban area of 9,999 or fewer people - Micro core: Tract within an urban area of 10,000 to 49,999 people - Metro core: Tract within an urban area of 50,000 or more people - Joined ACS and RUCA data by Census Tract to be able to aggregate by Rural-Urban Commuting Area group.35:[{"id":"9edf01ef1021ced81cdc7976ed2739c17ca83821de6d01977a0643c9b6daad3cf7c089a7d32931474bf407d56614a8d1165de17fcfc4e3926a0abd1985c29170","href":"https://static.observableusercontent.com/files/9edf01ef1021ced81cdc7976ed2739c17ca83821de6d01977a0643c9b6daad3cf7c089a7d32931474bf407d56614a8d1165de17fcfc4e3926a0abd1985c29170","name":"ruca_tract_ed_attain.geojson","type":"application/geo+json","lastModified":1771432263420.887,"size":22579918}] 30:{"id":"5cb4683a7446137c","slug":"educational-attainment-by-census-tract-rural-areas","title":"Educational Attainment by Census Tract and Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA)","thumbnail":"f5f924349a19e12a41cf8f8a67dd439f6aa6d62987e83dad42581bacab12982e","access_level":"public","create_time":"$D2026-02-18T16:27:42.710Z","update_time":"$D2026-03-26T16:21:33.479Z","view_time":null,"first_public_time":"$D2026-03-26T14:52:20.578Z","fork":true,"stars":0,"starred":false,"owner":{"type":"team","id":"a4d93e32a3f0a839","login":"blakedecker","name":"Blake Decker","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/6765bb9bd0113b6d723d2e8122808acc253081bb8fd2cf4a90340dee30eba4e1","tier":"pro_2024"},"version":1390,"publish_version":null,"role":null,"authored":false,"authors":[{"type":"individual","id":"c1f922eb3cd6779c","login":"blakedecker","name":"Blake Decker","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/60efd26cf292b90fb8c1b109c1cb8e4d6c04d3f4f0712c1e9d1a3b9ac5ad87da","tier":null}],"members":[{"type":"individual","id":"c1f922eb3cd6779c","login":"blakedecker","name":"Blake Decker","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/60efd26cf292b90fb8c1b109c1cb8e4d6c04d3f4f0712c1e9d1a3b9ac5ad87da","tier":null,"role":"editor"},{"type":"team","id":"a4d93e32a3f0a839","login":"blakedecker","name":"Blake Decker","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/6765bb9bd0113b6d723d2e8122808acc253081bb8fd2cf4a90340dee30eba4e1","tier":"pro_2024","role":"viewer"}],"comments":[],"custom_thumbnail":false,"trashed":false,"subscribed":null,"forks":1,"collection":null,"type":"notebook","body":{"title":"Educational Attainment by Census Tract and Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA)","cells":[{"id":0,"value":"# Educational Attainment by Census Tract and Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1309,"value":"$32","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1356,"value":"## Map of Census Tracts with Rural-Urban Commuting Area Status","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1358,"value":"**NOTE**: Clicking on a specific Census Tract will show several variables of interest in a pop-up tooltip. You can also filter by RUCA status using the legend in the top-right corner of the map.","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1262,"value":"$33","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1255,"value":"$34","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":98,"value":"## Data and Implementation","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1260,"value":"ruca_data = FileAttachment(\"ruca_tract_ed_attain.geojson\").json()","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1263,"value":"[...new Set(ruca_data.features.map((f) => f.properties.urban_core_type))]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1192,"value":"L = require(\"leaflet@1.9\")","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1194,"value":"// Replace your CSS cell with this — inlines the critical sizing rule\nhtml`\n `","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1206,"value":"// Cell 3: load topojson in its own cell\ntopojson = require(\"topojson-client@3\")","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":144,"value":"function round(value, precision) {\n var multiplier = Math.pow(10, precision || 0);\n return Math.round(value * multiplier) / multiplier;\n}","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":65,"value":"Okabe_Ito = [\n \"#E69F00\",\n \"#56B4E9\",\n \"#009E73\",\n \"#F0E442\",\n \"#0072B2\",\n \"#D55E00\",\n \"#CC79A7\",\n \"#000000\"\n]","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":1177,"value":"d3 = require(\"d3@7\")","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":68,"value":"import { caption } from \"bae7cbe100f70aa1\"","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":81,"value":"import { html, svg } from \"@observablehq/htl\"","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":84,"value":"import { Plot } from \"@mkfreeman/plot-tooltip\"","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":87,"value":"import { addTooltips } from \"@mkfreeman/plot-tooltip\"","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":92,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":95,"value":"html``","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"}],"files":"$W35","stdlib":"1","titling":"auto"}} 31:"$30:body"