In addition to looking at pre-defined locations including Cities, ZIP Codes, Census Tracts, and Block Groups, you can define custom locations or give existing locations more descriptive names. There are two types of custom locations: radius locations and combination locations. This page will show how to create each type of location as well as provide information on identifying a specific location in the Map view and on renaming a given location.

Custom locations are particularly useful when you want to see a variable's value for areas that don't fall into a pre-defined geographic area. When looking at the State College area, for example, you may not want to look at all of Centre County or at a single ZIP code. Custom locations to consider may include:

• a 5-mile radius around the University Park campus
• a combination of Census tracts and block groups in areas that you know have a lot of student-occupied houses and apartments

To find the name used to label a given location in the Map view: 

1. Click on the Information symbol under the zoom tool on the map
2. Click on a spot on the Map. The location that point falls in based on the geographic level (Cities, ZIP codes) you're looking at will be highlighted and a menu will appear near your cursor
3. The menu will display the Location Name
4. Hover over Alternate Locations to view the other geographic areas the location falls in

To create a radius location:

1. Following steps 1 & 2 under Identifying Locations, click on the location you'd like to be the center of the radius location
2. In the menu that appears, click on Add to Favorites. This will make the location easier to find
3. Under Locations and then Custom Locations (you may need to click on Show if the custom locations menu isn't visible), click on Create new radius location
4. In the Location Search box, click on the star symbol to display your favorited locations. Select the location you'd like to be the center of the radius location
5. Use the Radius field to specify the size of the radius in miles, kilometers, feet, or meters. For example, if you enter 5 miles, the radius will encompass everything within 5 miles of the location you specified as the radius's center
6. In the Location name field, enter a descriptive name that will help you identify what the radius encompasses

To combine two or more locations:

1. Following steps 1 & 2 under Identifying Locations, click a location you'd like to be part of the combined location
2. In the menu that appears, click on Add to Favorites. This will make the location easier to find. Repeat for each location you'd like to include in the combined location
3. Under Locations and then Custom Locations (you may need to click on Show if the custom locations menu isn't visible), click on Create new combination location
4. In the Name your combination location field, enter a descriptive name that will help you identify the combined location
5. In the Select one or more locations box, click on the star symbol to display your favorited locations. Select the locations you'd like to be part of the combined location

If you plan to generate any Views other than the Map view, you may want to rename locations to make them easier to identify. Block groups and census tracts are labeled using an alphanumeric code (e.g. CT012200) that make them difficult to identify at a glance. To give a block group or census tract a more descriptive name:

1. Following steps 1 & 2 under Identifying Locations, click on the location you'd like to rename while viewing the map by block groups or census tracts
2. Click on Add Alias Location Name
3. In the Alias field, enter the name you would like to use for that location