NOAA’s Coastal County Snapshots
If your county could take a 'selfie,' this is what it might look like.
A County Snapshot ... in a Snap
Have you ever wondered what your coastal county looks like in terms of jobs, flood risk, wetland resources, and other economic and environmental factors? Then check out Coastal County Snapshots, an online resource from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (OCM).
NOAA's Coastal County Snapshots is easy to use. First, choose your state and county in the pull-down menu. Next, decide which snapshot you want to view: “Flood Exposure,” “Ocean Jobs,” or “Wetland Benefits.” Clicking on the snapshot opens a printable web page that displays a wealth of county-level facts, charts, and maps. Here are examples for coastal Tillamook County, Oregon; Lake County, Indiana; Worcester County, Maryland; and Jackson County, Mississippi.
Coastal County Snapshot users can generate, save, and print documents including PDF reports, maps, and infographics. The tool’s ease of use makes it a practical learning tool for officials, citizens, and researchers interested in learning more about their own, nearby, or far-flung coastal counties.
“A wide variety of U.S. industries and communities depend on the resources of the oceans and Great Lakes,” says NOAA economist Jeffery Adkins. “Coastal County Snapshots can help communities stay vital and resilient by highlighting their strengths and vulnerabilities, including those that could be affected by ecosystem changes, extreme weather events, or sea level rise.”
Snapshots are currently available for most coastal counties in the contiguous United States and Hawaii. The data comes from many sources, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, NOAA’s Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP), and NOAA’s Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW).
For a recorded webinar on how to use the Coastal County Snapshots tool, click here.
The Coastal County Snapshots tool is part of the Digital Coast, a product of NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management.