Indiana County of Pennsylvania

The American state of Pennsylvania is where Indiana County is located. The county is 834 square miles in size. Indiana City is the county seat and the county capital. The region is home to 88880 people, according to the 2010 national census (Shrader, 2015). Its land area is 827 square miles, and its water area is 7.6 square miles. In comparison to the average growth rate of the state, the county has a much lower growth rate. The region has a relatively low possibility of earthquake and tornado occurrence. The tornado index stands at 97.33 which is below the Pennsylvania’s average of 109.77 and consequently far much below the national index of the united states of 136.45. Earthquake index is 0.01 while the state's average is 0.17 and the national average of 1.81. The volcano index is 0.00. Therefore, the county of Indiana is a safe and a friendly place to live (Derrien & Stokowski, 2014). Such factors explain why the average income growth is higher at 49.4% with respect to the state’s growth of 32.44% and the national mean income growth of 27.63%.

Philadelphia County of Pennsylvania

The distinct of Philadelphia is situated in the east part of Pennsylvania. It has an area of 143 square miles, 134.10 square miles of land and 8.61 square miles of water bodies. As of 2010, the county had a population of 1.54692 million residents. The county is the most populated county in the entire state of Pennsylvania. Although the population growth rate is lower than both the states and the national average, the population density is thousands higher than the national density which stands at 10,839.81 per square miles against the national one at 82.73 per square mile. It is the most cosmopolitan county in the state and one of the most cosmopolitan regarding people of different racial origin who reside here (Yoo & Zippay, 2012). Racial diversity is inclusive of whites, blacks, Hispanic, Asians and natives. The natives are Indian-American, Alaska native and Hawaiian natives. As of the 2010 census, it is of notable importance that the percentage of black Americans in the county is higher than the whites. The blacks constitute 43.04% while the whites are 41.56%. This fact could be mainly attributed to the historical patterns of immigrants of African origin from the very early times of slavery to modern immigration to the American states. Both the national per capita income and the states are higher than the county’s average (Byoun, 2013). It might be mostly attributed to the large numbers of the foreign born citizen who migrate in such of jobs and opportunities.

Comparison of the population of Indiana and Philadelphia

The population of Indiana is approximately 14.2 times larger that of Philadelphia. Also, Indiana is approximately 5.83 times the land size of Philadelphia. Several factors have contributed to this unusual phenomenon. The county of Philadelphia is located to the east of the Atlantic Ocean and therefore a port county that is a gateway to the entire state (Jaffee, 2015). Immigrants would easily settle at a coastal county rather than go inland to find the same experience. Moreover, the immigrants of African origin would prefer to settle in Philadelphia than Indiana where other blacks reside.

Foreign born residents in Indiana are 1.8% of the population while in Philadelphia County the foreign born population is 16.2% of the total population. The number of non-whites in Indiana is 5.1 while that of blacks alone in Philadelphia is 43.04% of the county's population and also part of this black and Hispanic populace is immigrants born in other regions of the world. In Indiana however not much in the sparsely populated county attracts these immigrants and the thus low population of foreign born.

Even though the two counties have differences in population, racial patterns and education of the resident, they still have unbiased similarities that cannot be ignored. The distribution of population concerning sex is very similar to both female population in both counties is higher than the male population. The difference between males and females in the two counties is also similar ranging between 2-3%. 57.4% of the residents aged 16 and above are employed in Indiana. This is similar to 59.7% in various occupations in Philadelphia. Figures for the percentage of persons who have occupied same houses for a past year are very similar in highs of 81.3% in Indiana and 85.8% in Philadelphia.

Information about gender participation and number of women sitting in boards of managements and other crucial data of the economies of the counties was not covered in the census reports. A question about the inclusion of the different races in Philadelphia in all matters concerning the county activities and the methods used could be of great importance. What is the fate of the approximately 55,000 undocumented immigrants in the county of Philadelphia?

In conclusion, the treatment and analysis of census data by use of tables prove to be a useful method of grasping quantitative literacy.

References

Byoun, S. J. (2013). The impact of human capital and social capital on employment conditions of immigrants in the United States: an examination of gender and racial/ethnic differences. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Derrien, M. M., & Stokowski, P. A. (2014). Sense of place as a learning process: Examples from the narratives of Bosnian immigrants in Vermont. Leisure Sciences, 36(2), 107-125.

Jaffee, D. (2015). ‘A deeper channel floats all boats’: the port economy as urban growth engine. Environment and Planning A, 47(4), 783-800.

Shrader, N. R. (2015). Pennsylvania public school boards: An analysis of politics, policy, and public servants. Temple University.

Yoo, J. A., & Zippay, A. (2012). Social networks among lower income Korean elderly immigrants in the US. Journal of Aging Studies, 26(3), 368-376.