Florida's Veterans

PUMA data and the American Community Survey

A “PUMA” — Public Use Microdata Area — is a regional area within a single state with a population of about 100,000. The Census designs each PUMA so that it can sample about 1% of the population each year and use those responses to estimate key attributes and demographic data about each PUMA. Each year the Census staff releases the latest PUMA American Community Survey (“ACS”), and also combines the results from the most recent five years into a five-year ACS.

Veterans

One of the questions asked by the ACS is whether the person is a veteran. The 2018 ACS estimates there were 1.4 million veterans out of an over-17 population of more than 17 million, or 8.38% statewide.

However, some areas of the state, such as the panhandle, have a higher percentage of veterans. Here is a map showing the PUMAs with a 10% or higher percentage of veterans:

The first congressional district, in the western most part of the panhandle, gave Trump one of his largest pluralities. If even a small number of veterans switch their vote to Biden this time, that could have a meaningful impact in the final statewide tally.