Data Story

The City of Newport News, Virginia is using the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) to secure funding and drive strategic projects. Through the city’s GeoHub, residents, decision-makers and partners can explore maps, dashboards and interactive apps that make data accessible. The GeoHub application integrates a wide range of ACS data and is built on the ArcGIS Hub platform. This allows the GeoHub to easily pull annually updated data from the ACS to paint a neighborhood-by-neighborhood portrait of the city.

The Newport News Fire Department uses internal GeoHub applications to overlay ACS data with fire district boundaries. These data support accreditation and strengthen grant applications for new equipment and prevention programs by showing exactly where aging or vulnerable populations are located. Fire officials can see where populations are growing or aging, anticipate shifts in service demand, and spot signs of community change such as new migration patterns or economic shifts. The GeoHub also highlights neighborhoods where residents may face added risks during an emergency, like seniors living alone, households without vehicles, families with limited income, or people with disabilities. These insights make it possible for city officials to plan targeted evacuation strategies, wellness checks and outreach programs that truly meet people where they are. 

The same data strengthen grant applications, providing credible, standardized statistics that demonstrate community need. And when shared across departments — from planning to public works to parks — it allows the city to coordinate projects that address infrastructure and public safety together. The city used the GeoHub to secure and manage funding for several projects, including the Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI). The CNI, managed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), gives grants to local communities to transform neighborhoods by rebuilding distressed public housing and assisted housing, improving and expanding services, expanding learning opportunities, creating pathways to jobs, and strengthening families. 

Outcomes 

The City of Newport News leveraged its GeoHub to demonstrate need for the Marshall‑Ridley neighborhood, located in the Southeast Community of the city. This data‑driven approach played a pivotal role in securing a $30 million Implementation Grant from HUD in 2019, which has since attracted more than $50 million in additional public and private investment. To help communicate the Marshall‑Ridley Transformation Plan to both HUD and the community, the city developed the Newport News Demographic Analysis StoryMap (integrated with GIS data from the GeoHub) to provide a detailed narrative of the city. It includes city and census tract level data from the ACS and other supporting datasets.   

The city's sophisticated use of the GeoHub to track these outcomes contributed to its January 2026 Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Certification. This certification program is the international standard of data excellence in city governance and specifically recognizes cities that use data to allocate funding and inform policy decisions. This certification highlights that the city's data infrastructure anchored by the GeoHub is high-quality enough to be used for complex financial and operational decision-making and makes it even easier for the city to win future federal grants.   

Location

Newport News, VA 

ACS Topics Used 

Age, sex, race, ethnicity, median household income, poverty, occupancy status (renter and owner), vacancy status, median home value, health insurance coverage, household composition, educational attainment, geographic mobility.  

This story was adapted from the story originally published by the National League of Cities, which can be found at: 
https://www.nlc.org/article/2025/09/03/from-data-to-decisions-how-newport-news-turns-acs-data-into-life-saving-action/