Next, we will look for the variable by using the search bar at the top of the screen. It is located above the "2022" option we chose and below the search bar for addresses and geographic data. We’ll type in “monthly homeowner costs” to see our mapping data options:

When we hit the search button to the right, we can see many options appear. We’d like to look at the median selected monthly owner costs, but we want to be careful about this. Since we want zip codes, and since they almost always have fewer than 65,000 people, we need the five-year ACS sample:

When we select the table, we’ll see our demographic dataset options (Housing Units With a Mortgage, Housing Units Without a Mortgage):

Let’s select housing units with a mortgage:

We’ll close the sidebar on the left by clicking on the “x.” Then, we’ll change the geography by using the pull-down menu from the upper left corner:

When we select “5-Digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA5),” the map tool changes, fairly dramatically. 

Note: Not all zip codes have enough people (or mortgaged households) to protect privacy, so the Census Bureau will omit those. Meanwhile, if we want to get a better idea of the variations in selected homeowner costs across the U.S., we can go to the bottom left corner and click on the three buttons next to the “Auto Adjust” option:

We can change the cutpoints to a quantile display, dividing the zip codes into five categories:

When we change the cutpoints, we get a better idea of the variation in costs:

We can use the slider in the lower left corner to expand the view.

 

We can also use the slider to zoom in on specific areas, such as central New England:

 

Finally, if we’re happy with our map plotter, we can go to the green “Save” button in the upper right corner and click on it, then add whatever information we need for reference: