A Data Visualization Newsletter

Ever wondered where the best places to trick-or-treat are near your home? Now you can find out using Instacart’s “Scare Score.” It’s a proprietary metric that combines candy, costume, and decor purchasing behavior to rank the best zip codes for trick-or-treating. Based on our research, Utah and Texas have plenty of Halloween spirit.

Pit stops are among the most stressful parts of a Formula One team’s weekend. Sure, they only last for two to three seconds — but in that time, 22 men race to swap out all four tires and adjust the front flap angle. This article from The Washington Post explains what separates the fastest teams, like Red Bull, from the rest of the pack.

More extreme weather is reshaping the availability of water, forcing cities, countries, and companies to purchase water from farther away. But it’s not just the trade of water that’s being impacted; because water is needed to make almost every raw material and product we consume, trillions of dollars in commodities and goods are also at risk. Bloomberg breaks down the situation for us.

Census categories for race and ethnicity have shaped how the United States sees its population, dating all the way back to 1790. Over the years, the census’s options have evolved from being broad categories — primarily “free whites” and “slaves” — to more specific choices that reflect the nation’s increasingly complex demographics. A new proposal from the Biden administration would provide even more options, but it’s not without its share of critics.

The most common causes of death in the United States vary by age group. External factors have consistently been the leading cause of death for Americans under 40, while cancer has emerged as a prominent cause among older people since 1990. FlowingData’s Nathan Yau manages to pack a lot of information into a single chart.