What It Does
SocialMapper is a geospatial analysis toolkit that generates travel-time isochrones, discovers community resources from OpenStreetMap, and retrieves Census demographic data -- helping researchers understand how well communities can access essential services.
Whether you're studying food deserts, healthcare access, transit equity, or rural community definitions, SocialMapper provides the spatial and demographic building blocks in a single, cohesive package.
Key Features
Travel-Time Isochrones
Generate drive travel-time polygons from any location, showing reachable areas within specified minutes. Walking and biking modes are in development.
Find Places
Discover community resources from OpenStreetMap or use street address geocoding to find libraries, hospitals, grocery stores, and more.
Census Demographics
Access population, income, and age data within accessibility areas from the US Census Bureau.
Custom Locations
Analyze accessibility from your organization's facilities or any custom addresses with built-in caching for fast results.
Quick Start
pip install socialmapperfrom socialmapper import create_isochrone, get_census_data
# Generate a 15-minute driving isochrone
isochrone = create_isochrone(
location=(35.7796, -78.6382),
travel_time=15,
travel_mode="drive"
)
# Get demographic data within the isochrone
census_data = get_census_data(
location=isochrone,
variables=["population", "median_income"]
)
total_pop = sum(d.get('population', 0) for d in census_data.values())Use Cases
- Transit equity analysis to assess how well public services reach underserved communities
- Food desert research identifying areas with limited access to grocery stores
- Healthcare access studies measuring travel time to hospitals and clinics
- Urban planning and policy research combining demographic and spatial data
Get Started
Check out the documentation for tutorials, API reference, and examples.