Read the story headlined
"Old labels just don't stick in 21st century" in USA Today about demographics for background. Especially this:
For businesses of all kinds, detailed information about potential customers is pure gold. Why send direct mail to households not likely to buy certain products or services? Why advertise in newspapers that go to thousands of households when the goal is to reach only families that have kids under 12? Why should a Lexus dealership blanket thousands of households in a ZIP code with fliers if only a hundred are likely to buy luxury cars?
"What retailers are doing now is microretailing their stores specifically to the demographics," says Patrick Dunne, marketing and retailing professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Retailers use the information to determine what merchandise to put in their stores — a rural Wal-Mart, for example, may have more shovels in its aisles than a suburban Wal-Mart.
What would you expect to see in the aisles in Springfield? Then go on the PRIZM
zip code lookup page – compare the Zip codes in Springfield in terms of income, diversity, age, and other demographics
• 62701
• 62702
• 62703
• 62704
• 62707
• 62711
• 62712
And any other Zip code you want to look up. Just get a feel for the categories.
Your assignment: Look up your own zip code. (I'll post an example, on my home town in East Tennessee.) Read the profiles. Do they reflect reality as you know it? Post your findings as comments to this blog post.
7 comments:
62707--Springfield, IL
*Country Casuals: Upscale, Older without children. Laid back atmosphere; collection of older, upscale households. Most households boast two earners with well-paying management jobs or own small businesses. Median HH income = $73,115. Ethnic Diversity = White. Age Ranges = 45-64.
*Mayberry-ville: Upper-Mid, Middle Age without children. Live in an old fashioned way of life. Consist of small towns with upper-middle-class couples who enjoy hunting and fishing. They also enjoy "toys" such as boats, campers, motorcycles, etc. Have lucrative blue-collar jobs. Median HH income = $55,272. Ethnic Diversity = White. Age Range = <55.
*New Homesteaders: Upper-Mid, Younger with children. Seek to escape suburban sprawl. Collection of small rustic townships fill this area. White and Blue-collar industry. Median HH Income = $57,898. Ethnic Diversity = White.
Age Ranges = 25-44.
*Red, White & Blues: Lower-mid, Middle Age without children. Typically moving from urban areas, to the suburbs where chains of restaurants and Wal-Marts are opening. These people are making a transition from blue-collar to the service industry. Median HH income = $44,428. Ethnic Diversity = White, Black, Mix. Age Ranges = <55.
*Traditional Times: Upper-Mid, Older without children. Small town couples are nearing retirement and beginning to enjoy the first of the empty nest years. Typically 50 or 60 years of age. At this age, they become big travelers. Median HH income = $56,748. Ethnic Diversity = White. Age Ranges = 55+.
~Everything I found, seems to be pretty true to the zip code that I live in. Very interesting!
Upper-Mid, Younger w/ Kids
Scattered in placid towns across the American heartland, Big Sky Families is a segment of younger rural families who have turned high school educations and blue-collar jobs into busy, upper-middle-class lifestyles. Residents enjoy baseball, basketball, and volleyball, as well as fishing, hunting, and horseback riding. To entertain their sprawling families, they buy virtually every piece of sporting equipment on the market
Blue Highways-Lower-Mid, Middle Age w/o Kids
On maps, blue highways are often two-lane roads that wind through remote stretches of the American landscape. Among lifestyles, Blue Highways is the standout for lower-middle-class residents who live in isolated towns and farmsteads. Here, Boomer men like to hunt and fish; the women enjoy sewing and crafts, and everyone looks forward to going out to a country music concert
Mayberry-ville-Upper-Mid, Middle Age w/o Kids
Like the old Andy Griffith Show set in a quaint picturesque berg,
Mayberry-ville harks back to an old-fashioned way of life. In these small towns, upper-middle-class couples like to fish and hunt during the day, and stay home and watch TV at night. With lucrative blue-collar jobs and moderately priced housing, residents use their discretionary cash to purchase boats, campers, motorcycles, and pickup trucks.
Shotguns & Pickups-Lower-Mid, Younger w/ Kids
The segment known as Shotguns & Pickups came by its moniker honestly: it scores near the top of all lifestyles for owning hunting rifles and pickup trucks. These Americans tend to be young, working-class couples with large families, living in small homes and manufactured housing. Nearly a third of residents live in mobile homes, more than anywhere else in the nation.
Traditional Times-Upper-Mid, Older w/o Kids
Traditional Times is the kind of lifestyle where small-town couples nearing retirement are beginning to enjoy their first empty-nest years. Typically in their fifties and sixties, these upper-middle-class Americans pursue a kind of granola-and-grits lifestyle. On their coffee tables are magazines with titles like Country Living and Country Home. But they're big travelers, especially in recreational vehicles and campers.
All the different groups are right on! Especially the shotguns and pickups and blue highways. All of my guy friends compete for the biggest truck and everyone hunts :)
62613
People living in the same neighborhoods tend to have similar lifestyles, proving the old adage that "birds of a feather flock together" still holds true. To a large extent, you are where you live!
62704- Springfield, IL
BOOM TOWN SINGLES
Lower-Mid, Middle Age w/o Kids
Affordable housing, abundant entry-level jobs, and a thriving singles scene--all have given rise to the Boomtown Singles segment in fast-growing satellite cities. Single, and working-class, these residents pursue active lifestyles amid sprawling apartment complexes, bars, convenience stores, and laundromats.
Demographics Traits:
Urbanicity: Second City
Income: Lower-Mid
Income Producing Assets: Below Avg.
Age Ranges: <55
Presence of Kids: HH w/o Kids
Homeownership: Mix, Renters
Employment Levels: WC, Service, Mix
Education Levels: Some College
Ethnic Diversity: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic
CITY START UPS
Low Income, Younger w/o Kids
In City Startups, young, multi-ethnic singles have settled in neighborhoods filled with cheap apartments and a commercial base of cafés, bars, laundromats, and clubs that cater to twentysomethings. One of the youngest segments in America--with ten times as many college students as the national average--these neighborhoods feature low incomes and high concentrations of African-Americans.
Demographics Traits:
Urbanicity: Second City
Income: Low Income
Income Producing Assets: Low
Age Ranges: <35
Presence of Kids: HH w/o Kids
Homeownership: Mix, Renters
Employment Levels: WC, Service, Mix
Education Levels: Some College
Ethnic Diversity: White, Black, Mix
MIDDLEBURG MANAGERS
Upper-Mid, Older w/o Kids
Middleburg Managers arose when empty-nesters settled in satellite communities, which offered a lower cost of living and more relaxed pace. Today, segment residents tend to be middle-class with solid white-collar jobs or comfortable retirements. In their older homes, they enjoy reading, playing musical instruments, indoor gardening, and refinishing furniture.
Demographics Traits:
Urbanicity: Second City
Income: Upper-Mid
Income Producing Assets: Above Avg.
Age Ranges: 45-64
Presence of Kids: HH w/o Kids
Homeownership: Mostly Owners
Employment Levels: White Collar, Mix
Education Levels: College Grad
Ethnic Diversity: White, Black, Mix
All of these seem on-point with the zip code that i live in.
This is accurate to a degree with a few exceptions such as my parents obviously have kids and they are not so much hunters. I like how under lifestyle traits it just assumes we all go hunting with guns and read Bassmaster. Also my parents and I hate NASCAR! But I guess this is somewhat accurate overall.
Upper-Mid, Middle Age w/o Kids
Like the old Andy Griffith Show set in a quaint picturesque berg, Mayberry-ville harks back to an old-fashioned way of life. In these small towns, upper-middle-class couples like to fish and hunt during the day, and stay home and watch TV at night. With lucrative blue-collar jobs and moderately priced housing, residents use their discretionary cash to purchase boats, campers, motorcycles, and pickup trucks.
Social Group: Country Comfort
Lifestage Group: Midlife Success
2009 Statistics:
US Households: 2,780,296 (2.41%)
Median HH Income: $55,272
Lifestyle Traits
• Shop at Sherwin-Williams
• Go hunting with a gun
• Read Bassmaster
• Watch Daytona 500
• GMC Sierra Diesel
Demographics Traits:
Urbanicity: Town/Rural
Income: Upper-Mid
Income Producing Assets: Above Avg.
Age Ranges: <55
Presence of Kids: HH w/o Kids
Homeownership: Mostly Owners
Employment Levels: BC, Service, Mix
Education Levels: Some College
Ethnic Diversity: White
My neighborhood
*Family thrifts: Lower-Mid, Younger w/ Kids
The small-city cousins of inner-city districts, Family Thrifts contain young, ethnically diverse parents who have lots of children and work entry-level service jobs. In these apartment-filled neighborhoods, visitors find the streets jam-packed with babies and toddlers, tricycles and basketball hoops, Suzukis and Kias.
*Hometown Retired: Downscale, Mature Mostly w/o Kids
With three-quarters of all residents over 65 years old, Hometown Retired is one of the oldest segments. These racially diverse seniors tend to live in aging homes--half were built before 1958--and typically get by on social security and pensions. Because most never made it beyond high school and spent their working lives at blue-collar jobs, their retirements are extremely modest.
*Mobility Blues: Downscale, Younger w/o Kids
Mobility Blues is a segment of younger singles in working-class neighborhoods in America's satellite cities. Ethnically diverse, these transient Americans tend to have modest lifestyles due to their lower-income jobs. Surveys show they excel in going to movies, playing basketball, and shooting pool.
*Suburban Pioneers:
Downscale, Middle Age Family Mix
Suburban Pioneers represents one of the nation's eclectic lifestyles, a mix of singles, recent divorcees, and single parents who have moved into older, inner-ring suburbs. They live in aging homes and garden-style apartment buildings, where the jobs are scarce and the money is tight. But what unites these residents--a diverse mix of whites, Asians, Hispanics, and African-Americans--is a working-class sensibility and an appreciation for their off-the-beaten-track neighborhoods
*Sunset City Blues:
Lower-Mid, Older Mostly w/o Kids
Scattered throughout the older neighborhoods of small cities, Sunset City Blues is a segment of lower-middle-class singles and couples who have retired or are getting close to it. These empty-nesters tend to own their homes but have modest educations and incomes. They maintain a low-key lifestyle filled with newspapers and television by day, and family-style restaurants at night.
This seems about right. My neighborhood contains many young families with two or more children which would make up the family thrifts. I would think that my roommate and I fall under mobility blues. We work low-income jobs and do not have children. There seems to be a lot of others in this group in my area.
62561- Riverton, IL
Age range for riverton is higher in males but the higher percentage of population are the ages of 15-18age range. 98% of the population is whire and 2% is other. Not that this is relevent but there are 5 registered sex offenders in this zip code. the median household income is around $59,636. The percentage of family households is 73.2% and to unmarried house holds is 4.9% This zip code is a quiet low key area.
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