One of the best ways to absorb differences between regions that are far apart is to pull data regarding their population. Understanding trends in population, demographics, and the decisions this population makes can help to determine what can make two regions different and even consider what those regions could contribute to creating a more well-rounded community if desired. In particular, understanding the differences between the Southern states and the Northern states has always been engaging for Americans in the United States. We associate stereotypes with each Northern or Southern region, whether this is conscious or subconscious. At its core, how different can a small Southern town and a bustling Northern metropolis be? One would think they were drastically different, but U.S. Census Bureau data may prove otherwise. We’ll be looking into the primary differences in development levels between two cities–DeRidder, Louisiana (LA) and Seattle, Washington (WA)–to determine if there are any drastic differences between northern folk and southern charm after all.

A city’s population can distinguish the most basic of differences between two regions. Using total population change over time can help to distinguish any details in the development of an area and help determine what factors retain people in each city. When analyzing the difference between DeRidder and Seattle’s populations over time, it appears that observing a large city and a small town can create issues in data presentation. Thankfully, this can be deterred by analyzing each piece of data separately.

While analyzing these plots, a shocking downward trajectory was observed in a relatively persistent growth pattern in DeRidder. After making further inquiries, it seems that Louisiana’s population has been decreasing statewide ever since 2020. While large amounts of the population in DeRidder are disappearing over the last few years, further research may need to be done to determine which of these are deaths and which ones are people moving out of the region. Additionally, understanding why mass populations are potentially moving away from Louisiana can be understood with further research.

On the other hand, Seattle has seen near-consistent growth aside from a small dip in 2021. This is anticipated for the large city, as Seattle is considered a major urban area in Washington and, more often than not, developed areas are seeing consistent growth countrywide. Let’s look at some further statistics in DeRidder and Seattle to see what other demographics make up these populations.

Understanding the educational attainment of local populations can be based on multiple factors, like the kind of experience required for work in the area and even the average income of a region. Now we’ll observe the differences between the educational attainment of individuals 25 and over in both DeRidder and Seattle.

Aside from the above-presented data, another statistic can help represent an idea of how developed a region is–marital status. While marital status may not play much into the local population at first, the state of marriage of many of the people in a region can help to give context of the cultural beliefs of the population or even provide context to some financial factors, like shared bills, payments, and whether a couple can afford to marry. All of these factors can increase or decrease the average income of families and married couples in a region, which plays a part in the development of an area. Observe the differences between the two pie charts of the marital status of individuals above the age of 15 between DeRidder and Seattle, displayed below.

These two pie charts present a relative similarity in data between both DeRidder and Seattle. However, one key difference is that there is a larger amount of people who have never married in Seattle, almost making up half of the population. Speculation on this difference can include an assumption that being married in Seattle could be more financially demanding, so there are fewer married individuals. A comfortable assumption to make could be that the average age is lower in Seattle. Though, when analyzing the data further, it is found that the average age in DeRidder is 38.1 (2022) and the average age in Seattle is 35.4 (2022), only a small decrease. This could provide context about which populations choose to move to Seattle. For example, using our educational attainment data, perhaps the high unmarried population in Seattle accounts for individuals currently in higher-level education or prioritize their higher-level education work field compared to marriage. Bringing in the concept of marital status can pose engaging and deeper-level questions to further enlighten us on the development levels of these areas.

Throughout observing these data sets, many questions can come to mind–more than the number of questions asked to obtain the data in the first place. What could be the relation of childbirth to marital status and education? What are the migration rates of each region? What is the average income of each area, due to Seattle’s higher-level education and DeRidder’s lack thereof? Being able to obtain this basic data and use it as a springboard to propose new questions, solutions, and concepts concerning the core differences between a small town and an urban city is a fascinating feat. While it seems that the development levels of DeRidder are lower with an equivocally shrinking population, this does not make its population any less valid than that in Seattle. Because, as we can see, comparing these two unexpected cities gives deeper insight into what can make a little town in the South and a massive, bustling tech city in the North more similar than we might think.