The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Employment and Training Institute provides comparison data on purchasing power, business activity and workforce density for all residential
ZIP codes and the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S. The profiles are designed to
help cities, businesses, developers, and organizations assess the advantages of
urban density for underserved city neighborhoods.it is a pretty simple process to type in your zip code and then get a nice summary of all three of these aspects of any given zip code. The main problem with this data at the moment is it has NOT been updated to the most recent census data - it was created largely using the Census 2000 information.
While this is a drawback, the site nonetheless is unique and provides quite a bit of insight to an area's economic strengths. For example, here is a print out of just one of the tables that they provide, in this case for the Herkimer zip code (13350).
As you can see it provides annual expenditures on purchases as well as expenditures per square mile within the zip code area for a list of 16 different types of purchases. These 16 are defined as follows:
- FOOD AT HOME
- includes expenditures for food purchased at grocery stores and convenience stores, and food prepared at home for out-of-town trips.
- FOOD AWAY FROM HOME
- includes expenditures for meals at restaurants, carry-out orders, food purchased on out-of-town trips, school lunches, and meals as pay.
- APPAREL AND RELATED SERVICES
- includes expenditures clothing (suits, coats, sweaters, shirts, skirts, nightware, undergarments, hosiery, uniforms, costumes, etc.), accessories, footwear, material for making clothes, watches, jewelry, shoe repair, laundry and dry cleaning costs, and clothing storage.
- TELEVISION EQUIPMENT, TAPES AND DISCS
- includes expenditures for TVs, VCRs and video disc players; video cassettes, tapes and discs; video game hardware and software; cable and satellite service; repairs of TVs, radio and sound equipment; and rental of televisions.
- AUDIO EQUIPMENT, CDs, AND TAPES
- includes expenditures for radios; tape recorders and players; sound components and component systems; records, CDs, audio tapes, and needles; record, tape, CD and video mail order clubs; musical instruments; accessories and other sound equipment; satellite dishes; and rental of above equipment.
- HOUSEHOLD TEXTILES
- includes expenditures for bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and dining room linens; curtains and draperies; slipcovers and decorative pillows; sewing materials for the home.
- FURNITURE
- includes expenditures for mattresses and springs; sofas; living room tables and chairs; kitchen and dining room furniture; infants' furniture; outdoor furniture; wall units, cabinets and other occasional furniture.
- FLOOR COVERINGS
- includes expenditures for wall-to-wall carpeting (for renters and homeowners) and non-permanent floor coverings.
- MAJOR APPLIANCES
- includes expenditures for dishwashers, garbage disposals, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, clothes dryers, cooking stoves, microwave ovens, air conditioners; floor cleaning equipment, and sewing machines.
- SMALL APPLIANCES AND HOUSEWARES
- includes expenditures for china, dinnerware, flatware, glassware, serving pieces, small electric kitchen appliances, and portable heating and cooling equipment.
- COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
- includes expenditures for computers, computer hardware, computer software and accessories, for nonbusiness use.
- MISCELLANEOUS HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENT
- includes expenditures for window coverings, infants' equipment, outdoor equipment, clocks, lamps and lighting fixtures; other household decorative items; telephones and accessories; lawn and garden equipment; power tools; hand tools; plants and fresh flowers; closet and storage items; rental of furniture; and luggage.
- NON-PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AND SUPPLIES
- includes expenditures for non- prescription drugs, non-prescription vitamins, eyeglasses and contact lenses, topicals and dressings, medical equipment for general use, supportive and convalescent medical equipment, and rental and repair of medical equipment.
- HOUSEKEEPING SUPPLIES
- includes expenditures for laundry and cleaning supplies, cleansing and toilet tissue, paper towels and napkins, miscellaneous household products, and lawn and garden supplies.
- PERSONAL PRODUCTS
- includes expenditures for hair care products, nonelectric articles for the hair, wigs and hairpieces, oral hygiene products and articles, shaving needs, cosmetics, perfume, bath preparation products, deodorants, feminine hygiene articles, and miscellaneous personal care items.
- HOME REPAIR COMMODITIES
- includes expenditures for paints; wallpapers; electrical supplies for heating and cooling equipment; materials for hard surface flooring, repair and replacement; materials and equipment for roof and gutters; materials for plastering, paneling, siding, windows, doors, screens, awnings; materials for patios, walks, fences, driveways, brick, masonry and stucco work; materials for landscaping maintenance; materials to finish basements, remodel rooms, or build patios, walks, etc.
A visit to their methodology page is worth it if you want to fully understand not only how they defined these purchases but also how they then measured purchasing power, etc. In the meantime, feel free to visit the site and punch in your local zip code and see how it compares to others in your surrounding area - just remember that these are OLD data sets. If new ones become available I will be sure to post about it !
