Interactive Workforce Atlas
An interactive D3 atlas comparing U.S. state labor-market patterns from January 2020 through August 2026.
Why it matters
Linked maps and trends let readers compare labor-market patterns across states and time. Consistent color scales, count-based national rates, and visible data gaps help readers interpret those comparisons.
My contribution
I built linked geographic and tile-grid maps, trend charts, time controls, and shareable state profiles from a BLS snapshot. Fixed color scales preserve comparison across months; national rates use summed counts, and missing or interpolated observations remain explicit.
Result
The published application covers 50 states and Washington, DC across 80 monthly periods of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Visitors can compare metrics, animate the timeline, inspect state trends, and share a selected view. The app and source are available on GitHub.
Tools
- JavaScript
- D3
- TopoJSON
- Data visualization
- Interactive maps
The app uses a BLS data snapshot rebuilt in September 2026, not a live feed. State job-openings data end in December 2025 because BLS publishes them annually. October 2025 labor-force values are interpolated and labeled; other missing observations remain visible as gaps.
Project gallery
Screenshots from the published workforce atlas in its light (default) and dark themes. 2 images. Select an image to view it full size.
Technical details
Independent portfolio project
A single static chart makes it difficult to compare changes across states, dates, and labor-market indicators.
- Read the monthly CSV snapshot, fill the one unpublished labor-force month (October 2025) by labeled interpolation, and keep other missing observations as gaps.
- Calculate national rates from summed state counts instead of averaging state percentages.
- Keep color scales fixed across the time series so map colors remain comparable during animation.
- Synchronize the metric, month, selected state, and map view through a shared application state and URL hash.