In an earlier post I linked New York City 311 data with American Community Survey (ACS) poverty statistics for the same year and created static charts. As a follow-up I’ve built an interactive map that allows you to isolate poverty statistics for children, the elderly, and families.

The story is especially heartbreaking when you look at the data for children. In the poorest communities, more than half of all children live in poverty. Roughly a quarter of all complaints to 311 from these communities are for inadequate heating. Other complaints that top the list reveal problems with plumbing, paint/plaster and electricity. In other words, basic human needs.

Where few people live in poverty the data reveal a different class of problems such as noise, broken muni meters, and taxi complaints. Heating calls are received in these areas too, but as a much lower proportion of all complaints from the same area.

What a million calls to 311 reveal about New York
Choose a population:


Data sources:
NYC OpenData
Reformatted ACS poverty data
Zip code-to-PUMA ID mapping