Data Dog

American Demographics, Dec, 1998 by Robert P. Libbon

I assume you're looking for something a little more helpful than "put your chiropractice between a bowling alley and a martial arts school," so here are a few helpful jumping-off points on the Net.

Start with the Mother of All Demographic Data: the U.S. Census Bureau. A clickable map of the United States at http://www.census.gov/ datamap/www/ gives you access to the general profile of any county in the country. For example, the "1996 USA Counties General Profile" reveals that the per-capita income in Monroe County, Michigan, was $19,022, while in Wayne County it was $19,912; in Lenawee County, $18,035. What's the difference? Depends on how much you charge for an office visit, I guess.

The Census Bureau's County and City Data Books (1994 is the latest edition) have a lot of useful info, but you'll have to drop by the University of Virginia's Geospatial and Statistical Data Center (http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/) to actually look at them online. (You can order a print version at the Census Web site). Never mind that the Center sounds like one of those Star Trek outposts that Romulans just love to destroy-it has info on all 50 states. Here you can take your choice of Michigan counties, and pick from an irritatingly long list of studies to pull up relevant information. Just a few of the topics you can find include "Serious Crimes Known to Police, Violent 1991"; and "Average Travel Time to Work 1990." (One study I'd like to see that isn't on the list: "Average Travel Time for Police to the Scene of Serious Crimes.")

Not to be outdone by Virginia for information about Michigan, the Wolverine State itself has some pretty good info of its own, at the Michigan Information Center Web site (http://www.state.mi.us/dmb/mic/source/). Here, again, is a heap of info organized by county-this time via clickable maps of the state. You can check out "1990 Employment as Fabricators/Operators/Laborers by City and Township," to get some indication of the number of manual laborers-hence, a clue as to the number of possible back problems. On the other hand, the study is eight years old, which might mean that, by now, a lot of these people need more than chiropractors. "November 1996 ZIP Codes in Southeastern Lower Michigan" has nothing significant to say unless you're into numerology, in which case, you might as well forget the demographic information and get your professional guidance from tea leaves.

But "1995 County Business Patterns" (found at http://www.state.mi.us/dmb/mic/source/) does have some interesting material. For instance, have a look at the number of chiropractic employees in the three southeasternmost Michigan counties-Monroe: 46; Wayne: 536; Lenawee: 48.

Sort of makes you wonder what's going on in Wayne County, doesn't it? A good guess: Detroit. Imagine how many strained backs result from hurling dead octopi onto the ice during Red Wings play-off games. A better guess: According to estimates at the same site, the population of Wayne County is more than nine times that of Monroe and Lenawee combined.

Another helpful source is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (of which the National Weather Service is a branch), which compiles climatic data at their Web site (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ climate.shtml). You can select information from one of six regional climatic centers and then zero in on a particular state. This is where you can look up historical snowfall averages in cities such as Detroit and elsewhere in southeastern Michigan, the better to calculate the number of back injuries sustained while shoveling driveways.

And if you get bored with all this statistical stuff, stop by the University of Michigan's "Cicadas of Michigan" Web site at http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/Michigan_Cicadas/FullIndex.html. You can preview the cicada sounds you'll be hearing outside your office window, between spine-crackings.