Most measures in the Databook use percent as their unit. Percentages are calculated from a numerator – the number of people that fit the measure’s description – and a denominator – the total number of people in the population being measured. On the Databook, the denominator is always determined by your filter settings.

For example, in 2024, we asked survey respondents if they were worried or concerned about not having stable housing in the next two months (question 3). If the respondent answered yes, we asked them for the reason for their concern (question 3a). One reason for concern was the loss of a job. Under Basic necessities in the Databook, you can find the measure Concerned about stable housing due to loss of income, which in 2024 was 1.51% for Chatham County, calculated from questions 3 and 3a. This means that, out of every 100 residents in Chatham County, we believe around 2 were concerned about having stable housing in the next two months because they had lost their job in 2024.

In 2024, we also asked survey respondents about the primary reasons for their stress (question 29), and one reason was children and childcare, which you can find under Mental health, Causes of stress: children. You can compare this measure by age, selecting the younger or older halves of Chatham County. For the younger half of Chatham’s population, the value was 23.65%. This means that, out of every 100 residents under 60 in Chatham County, we believe about 24 experienced stress caused by childcare. Because you are viewing a subpopulation (Age: younger 50%), only that subpopulation is included in the denominator.

Similarly, for figures per population (e.g. individuals per 10,000 population), the denominator population reflects your filter settings.

Our survey methods are carefully designed so we can accurately measure Chatham County by surveying just a fraction of Chatham’s population. However, even with the best methods, random chance creates error in measurements. We can measure how large or small the range of potential error is and make decisions about what we can and can’t determine with confidence from our data.

When we calculate a measure in a subpopulation, we are working with an even smaller group of respondents within our survey sample. Because the group is smaller, the range of potential error gets larger, so we are less confident in the value. When ranges for different subpopulations have a lot of overlap, we can no longer be confident that the two values are meaningfully different from each other, even when they appear to be.

When the error range for a measure in a subpopulation is large or overlaps substantially with other subpopulations, we exclude it from the Databook. This limits the risk of seeing differences where none exist and highlights actual differences in the data. However, because error can change from year to year, some historical data will have overlaps even when the most recent survey does not.

Our Chatham County Community Survey results use mean-centered age categories, meaning that we find the average age of our sample and split the population in half at the average to make comparisons by age group. This keeps our age groups large so that statistical comparisons are meaningful. The average age changes each year as the population shifts and our participants vary. These are the average ages used for each Community Survey:
- 2021: 59 years
- 2022: 62 years
- 2023: 64 years
- 2024: 60 years

Yes! Fill out this form to send a data request to the Population Health Data Scientist. It may take some time to collect, analyze, and interpret data for you, so please send your request early and be patient with our team.

Primary sources include surveys and other reporting tools that CCPHD uses to collect data about Chatham County directly or through partnerships. For more data from these sources, please contact CCPHD’s Population Health Data Scientist directly.

Chatham County Community Survey (CCCS)

The CCCS has been conducted annually since 2018 using a structured protocol approved by CCPHD and the Scientific Advisory Committee. The protocol is based on CDC’s CASPER methodology and systematically chooses households in randomly-selected neighborhoods to be surveyed. The survey sample is structured and weighted so that the results represent Chatham County as closely as possible. Much of the information in the Databook comes from past CCCS surveys.

NC DETECT

NC DETECT is a system that anonymously tracks hospital emergency department admissions and other sources. CCPHD monitors this system for information about current health trends and reports some annual data in the Databook. More information can be found at the NC DETECT website.

Youth Risk Behavior SURVEY (YRBS)

The YRBS is administered to students in Chatham County Schools and provides detailed information on a range of topics related to the health and safety of middle and high school students. More information can be found at the NC Healthy Schools website. Limited YRBS data will be available in the Databook in future updates.

Our secondary sources include a variety of tools that are implemented by other organizations and are publicly accessible. CCPHD includes select data from other sources in the Databook for fast access. Each source is linked below and can be found in pop-up boxes in the Databook itself.

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare Enrollment Dashboard
• NC Department of Health and Human Services, Communicable Disease Data Dashboard
• NC Department of Health and Human Services, NC Medicaid Enrollment Dashboard
• NC State Center for Health Statistics, various tables
• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

These resources are not used in the Databook dashboard, but are reliable, regularly-updated resources that we recommend for further information about Chatham County.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Center

This resource includes information, both by state and county, on demographics and health indicators among children. Indicators cover topics including economic well-being, education, and behavior.

myFutureNC Dashboard

myFutureNC covers education and economic opportunity information at the county level in North Carolina. Indicators include academic readiness, various levels of educational attainment, and workforce participation.

NC DHHS, Environmental Health Data Dashboard

This dashboard includes county-level information about environmental causes of various health problems and the effects of environmental health issues. Indicators include diagnoses, healthcare interactions, and direct measures of the environment.

NC Environmental Justice Advisory Council, Environmental Justice Hub

The Environmental Justice dashboard displays environmental health and safety data mapped across North Carolina. Indicators include climate change-related disaster risk areas, areas with various environmental hazards, and related health outcomes.

Sheps Health Workforce NC, Interactive Visualizations

From the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services at UNC Chapel Hill, these interactive visualizations provide information about health professionals in North Carolina, statewide and by county. Indicators include counts of health professionals, their per capita distribution by county, and demographic breakdowns of various health professions.

United for ALICE, ALICE Economic Viability Dashboard

This tool provides information about Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed people (ALICE), or the group of people living just above the federal poverty line. This group is often ineligible for public benefits but does not make enough money to meet some basic needs. Indicators include employment, housing, and community resources relative to other counties or states.

North Carolina Data Portal

A resource from the North Carolina Division of Public Health that compiles key data from various state, federal, and non-governmental sources for public query. Indicators cover a range of population-wide, fundamental metrics including demography, behavior, outcomes, and social determinants. New indicators are added regularly, and historical data is available.