Design Kit: Word Art

COMMUNITY DATA CHALLENGE

Make an infogram for a city that says: "1 in 8 households in {city} rely on SNAP" and replace "1 in 8" with the correct proportion for your selected city.

🗺️ The Plan

What are the steps for successfully completing the challenge?

STEP 1. Query city-level data from 📊 U.S. Census Bureau.

STEP 2. Prep the spreadsheet with fractions ("12%" > "1/8").

STEP 3. Put new numbers into design template for infogram.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the challenge, participants will have practiced:

• Querying city-level data from data.census.gov

• Transforming data from a percent (ex. 12%) into a fraction (ex. "1/8") within a spreadsheet

• Visualizing data as word art using Canva design templates

  
  

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INVENTORY

What will we need?

• 🧭 Basics:

  • 👥 Team: 1 person

  • ⏰ Time: 20 - 40 minutes

  • 💰 Cash: $0, FREE

• 🧰 ⚒️ Tools:

  • 📊 Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S2201, retrieved from data.census.gov

  • 📈 Data Tools: any spreadsheet program (ex. Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers for Mac, Airtable, etc.)

  • 🎨 Design Templates: canva.com

  
  

• 🧠 Knowledge:

  • Key Terms:

    • "SNAP" is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called the Food Stamp Program

    • "Places" in Census data include cities, villages, towns, and CDP (i.e. Census Designated Places)

  • How-To:

    • How to open csv files in a spreadsheet

    • How to filter data in spreadsheets

    • How to format cells in spreadsheets

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STEP 1. Query city-level data from 📊 U.S. Census Bureau.

Query and download the data

• Go to data.census.gov > search "SNAP" > see: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S2201 > Note most recent year available for 5-Year Estimates.

• To find data for your geography: Top navigation > "Geos" > Search for your geography > ☑️ Check Option.

  • Note: Not all geographies are available for all data tables. If your region does not have data available, select a larger geography.

• See variable estimate: "Percent households receiving food stamps/SNAP"

• Click: "Download" (button may be under "More Tools") to export full csv

STEP 2. Prep the spreadsheet with fractions ("12%" > "1/8")

• Open new csv spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers for Mac, Airtable)

• In the downloaded csv, the variable name is:

  • S2201_C03_001E

  • Estimate!!Households receiving food stamps/SNAP!!Households

• Reformat percent to fraction

  • Format cells: Format > Number > Custom number format > "#/#" (alternative options: "#/10" or "#/5")

  • Note: May need to first divide the number by 100 if it is not already formatted as a percent.

STEP 3. Put new numbers into design template for infogram.

• Go to infogram template: https://www.canva.com/design/DAG38PiOqqY/tAYDkR5ZSK2-kUPYJxtCBQ/view?utm_content=DAG38PiOqqY&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview

• Click: Edit Template

• Log in to Canva or sign up for a free account

• Select a design

• Replace the numbers and geography (ex. a "1/8" fraction becomes "1 in 8")

• Reformat as needed (adjust word size, check citation, recolor, add animation, etc.)

• Export

Note: Designer attribution is provided.

Data Caveats & Limitations

The American Community Survey 5-Year estimates are publicly available data and are reported with a multi-year time delay. Data are only estimates. Estimates become more uncertain in geographies with fewer number of households and results in these regions should be interpreted with caution. Households receiving SNAP is a self-reported survey question. Due to various factors such as local eligibility requirements and program accessibility, the variable "Percent of Households Receiving SNAP" may underestimate rates of food insecurity and hunger [1]. Food insecurity is a predictor of many health outcomes such as depression, heart disease, and diabetes [2].

REFERENCES:

[1] Feeding America (2025). Food Insecurity Report Brief. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/map-the-meal-gap/overall-executive-summary.

[2] NYU Langone Health (2025). Why do we measure Food Insecurity? Congressional District Health Dashboard. Retrieved from https://www.congressionaldistricthealthdashboard.org/metric/food-insecurity