The Add Business Analyst Data utility allows you to build datasets for a single level of geography by enriching standard geographies or hexagons with demographic data for use in ArcGIS projects and analysis. If you have downloaded and connected to a local dataset, you can add this data to a layer for further analysis.
Note:
This utility is not available when connected to an online data source. To use this utility, you must select a local dataset as the Business Analyst data source.
Potential applications
The following are potential applications of the Add Business Analyst Data utility:
| Application | Description | Examples of data used |
|---|---|---|
Research poverty in Southern California | A public health researcher wants to study poverty-focused health outcomes in Los Angeles County. They create a layer enriched with 50 poverty-related variables at the block group level. |
|
| Sales territory management | A sales manager is planning work distribution for salespersons in the greater Toronto area. They create a layer enriched with population metrics at the dissemination area level, for use in a territory solution. |
|
Interstate retail assessment | A company is assessing the market for their products in the Midwest. They create a dataset of level 7 hexagons that contain retail spending data for Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa. |
|
Add Business Analyst data
To add Business Analyst data to a layer, do the following:
- On the Analysis tab, click Business Analysis to open the gallery, and click the Add Business Analyst Data button
. A notification window appears, providing a link to Data guidelines and best practices. Optionally, click the link to review the information on Business Analyst data.
- To close the window, do either of the following:
- Click OK. You will see the window the next time you open the utility.
-
Check the Don't show this again check box and click OK.
The Add Business Analyst Data window appears.
- Set the area of interest for the analysis using the following options:
- Use the Area of interest search field to define the analysis extent using standard geographies. When you enter a search term, a list of standard geographies is displayed in order of population. Click one or more standard geographies in the list to add them to the area of interest. You can add multiple standard geographies of the same type in the Area of interest field. You can remove areas of interest individually or click Clear all.
- Use the Filter drop-down list
to select the current map extent 
or boundary layer that is currently on the map as the area of interest. You can use one polygon layer at a time.
Note:
If multiple standard geographies are used (for example, three counties) or if a boundary layer has multiple features (for example, a layer of 15 drive-time areas), the area of interest is created as one dissolved polygon.
- Set the level of detail using the following options:
- For Boundary mode, select Geographies or Hexagons. Switching the boundary mode replaces all existing sublayers in the data layer.
- Use the Level of detail drop-down list to specify the level of geography to display on the map, such as counties, ZIP codes, or a hexagon resolution.
- Optionally, click Add
to open the data browser and
select variables to add to the
layer. You can click Save List to save
the variables as a custom list, or click Remove all to
remove all the selected variables.Note:
You can add variables from statistical data collections you created, as long as your area of interest is in a location you have data for. - Use the Output field to create a name for the layer and click the Browse button
to choose a storage location. - To create the layer, do either of the following:
- Click Apply to create the layer and keep the utility window open.
- Click OK to create the layer and close the workflow window.