Mississippi Counties and

Potential Covid-19 Economic

Impact:

Leveraging Foursquare Location

Data to Better Understand Local
Economies
BY: WILLIAM NEWMAN
“To understand the world,
you must first understand
a place like Mississippi.”

- WILLIAM FAULKNER
Purpose of the report
oTo better understand local economies using Foursquare location data

oTo identify counties that may be in need of additional economic

assistance to survive and recover from Covid-19 and related economic
hardships

oNote: The purpose of this study is not to make recommendations on

public health policy, but rather to better understand the economic
impact of Covid-19.
Data Sources
oUnited States Profile Database from data.census.gov

oLocation data called from Foursquare

Step 1
Isolate needed census data
for all 295 incorporated
towns in Mississippi.
Step 2
Calculate population center
for each county.
Step 3
Use Foursquare to call data
for all businesses located
with 25km of each county’s
population center.
Step 4
Find the most common
venue types in each county
and find each type’s
percentage of all businesses
in the county.
Results1
K-Means clustering based on
the percentages of each
business type found in each
county showed that there
seemed to be a trend based on
the county’s population.

Cluster 2 (green dots) are

found at all four metropolitan
areas, as well as other more
populated areas, such as the
suburbs of Memphis, TN.
Results 2
A box and whisker plot
confirmed that clusters 2
and 5 seem to be strongly
correlated with population.

Cluster 2 represents more

populous counties, while
cluster 5 represents less
populous counties.
Analysis of the most common venue
types in each cluster showed:
oThe most common venue in every county in clusters 1, 3 and 4 was
either a fast-food restaurant, a gas station, or a discount store.

oCounties in cluster 2 showed more diversified economies with cafés

and boutiques featuring prominently.

oFarms and farmers markets were more prominent in counties from

cluster 5.
Conclusion
The counties of cluster 2 clearly have more diversified
economies. Under normal circumstances, one would
suspect that a more highly diversified economy would
equate to a more resilient economy. However, I would
argue that these economies would suffer more under
an ‘shelter in place’ order than would their more rural
counterparts.
Conclusion (cont.)
I would recommend that the state government closely monitor
the public health and economic situations of all 82 counties.
However, I believe the data shows that Mississippi’s most
populated counties are likely to be hit hardest by the current
economic situation. In surviving and recovering from the
economic downturn caused by Covid-19, these counties will
require greater assistance than more rural counties, not just
because of their larger populations, but because their
economies are made up of businesses that are
disproportionately affected by ‘social distancing’ and ‘shelter-in-
place’ policies.