Social Explorer is a leading provider of GIS spatial analytics software, delivering powerful, user-friendly mapping and data visualization solutions to government agencies, businesses, and research institutions. Originally developed with over $2 million in National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, our platform has evolved into a trusted subscription service used by over 600 colleges, universities, public and specialized libraries, and organizations across the public and private sectors.

Our configurable web-based spatial analytics platform seamlessly integrates with existing websites, databases, and applications, empowering users to organize data, gain insights, and drive informed decision-making. Our clients include:

• ‍Media Organizations – The New York Times, Advance Publications, among others‍
• Federal Agencies – U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Justice, Library of Congress, AmeriCorps, among others‍
• Nonprofits – AARP, among others‍
• Publishing & Education – Pearson Higher Education, Norton Publishing, among others
  

As a small business specializing in location-based data analytics, we combine proven data expertise with cutting-edge technology to deliver innovative, scalable, and actionable solutions. Our platform is designed to handle complex data, providing agencies and organizations with the tools they need to analyze, visualize, and make data-driven decisions with confidence.

Products

Social Explorer‍

An award-winning demographic and location intelligence platform that provides powerful mapping, reporting, and data download tools for researchers, analysts, and decision-makers. Available in three editions:

• ‍Social Explorer Pro – Designed for professionals in business, nonprofit, and government settings.‍
• Social Explorer Academic – Tailored for universities, professional schools, training programs, and secondary education.‍
• Social Explorer Library – Accessible to public libraries and library systems, enhancing community research capabilities.

Social Explorer serves over 500 academic institutions and hundreds of organizations, including federal, state, and local government agencies. Recognized with prestigious awards, including a Webby Award, two Webby Honoree distinctions, an American Library Association Reference Source Award, Charleston Advisor Best New End User Product, and Choice Outstanding Academic Title.

Vizualist

A versatile data visualization tool that enables users to create and publish interactive maps, charts, graphs, tables, and dashboards for public or private use. Vizualist also supports high-quality printable versions for reports and presentations.

Software Functionality and Features

Social Explorer's software is engineered to provide dynamic, interactive spatial analytics and data analysis capabilities that can be customized to display and summarize location or area data from multiple data sources simultaneously.

The software is fully embeddable and integration ready, as well as supports external data sources and pipelines. It has been used for projects by the U.S. Census Bureau, AmeriCorps, U.S. Department of Justice, and The Federal Reserve.

Relevant key features of Social Explore’s software addressing the needs of a wide range of Spatial Analysis, Data Analysis, and Data Visualization Software Use Cases, include:

Interactive Data Visualization

Create dynamic, interactive maps, tables, and charts to visualize complex datasets with customizable layers, filters, and annotations.

Advanced Geospatial Analytics

Perform spatial analysis, geographic search, and drive-time or radius-based calculations to uncover patterns and relationships in location-based data.

AI-Powered Insights & Search

Leverage generative AI for advanced data analysis, summarization, and visualization while maintaining security in a closed data environment.

Customizable Mapping & Reporting

Generate interactive maps with configurable base layers, driving directions, and annotations, and produce customized reports with multi-format outputs (.csv, .pdf, .xlsx, .spss, API).

Embedded & Multi-Platform Outputs

Seamlessly integrate maps and reports into websites, PowerPoint presentations, and print-ready formats with user-friendly export options.

Database Integration & Automatio

Connect with external government and third-party databases, automate data processing, and enable real-time updates for accurate decision-making.

Mobile Optimization & Accessibility

Ensure seamless access on mobile devices with touchscreen functionality while maintaining full compliance with Section 508 accessibility standards.

Services

Data Engineering & Management

Design and implement scalable data architectures, pipelines, and governance frameworks to ensure secure, high-quality data for analytics and AI.

Advanced Analytics & AI Solutions

Develop AI-driven models, predictive analytics, and machine learning solutions to extract actionable insights and enhance decision-making.

Geospatial Intelligence & Location Analytics

Perform advanced spatial analysis, mapping, and geospatial AI applications to support federal operations, logistics, and security.

Cloud Data Solutions & Infrastructure

Deploy and manage secure cloud-based data warehouses, data lakes, and hybrid cloud architectures to optimize performance and compliance.

Automation & Data Integration

Streamline data workflows with ETL pipelines, API integrations, and process automation for real-time analytics and reporting.

Cybersecurity & Compliance

Ensure data security, privacy, and compliance with federal regulations, including FISMA, FedRAMP, HIPAA, and Section 508 accessibility standards.

What Sets Us Apart

At Social Explorer, we combine deep data expertise with a customer-centric approach to deliver intuitive, high-performance solutions tailored to the needs of federal agencies, researchers, and decision-makers.

• ‍User-Friendly, Scalable Solutions – Our web-based tools are designed for ease of use while supporting complex, large-scale data analysis, with additional fee-based services available for fully customized projects of any size.‍
• Elite Team of Experts – Our highly qualified team of engineers, data scientists, designers, and project managers bring extensive experience in statistical analysis, geospatial intelligence, and emerging technologies.‍
• Extensive Data Integration Capabilities – We specialize in handling diverse public and private datasets, including sensitive and novel data sources such as mobility data from cellular devices, enabling rich, multi-dimensional analysis.‍
• Cutting-Edge Analytics & AI Integration – We leverage the latest advancements in machine learning, AI-driven analytics, and big data processing to provide advanced modeling, forecasting, and decision-support tools.‍
• Proven SaaS & Cloud-Based Implementation – Our platform is built for scalability, security, and seamless deployment, ensuring efficient data management and integration across cloud and hybrid environments.
  

With a focus on innovation, security, and accessibility, Social Explorer empowers organizations to extract meaningful insights, make data-driven decisions, and optimize mission-critical operations.

Proven Partnerships

Census Bureau—Collaborated with Bureau staff across departments to design and launch multiple editions of Census Explorer, an interactive project that made Census data easily accessible to the public. Focused data, maps, charts, and graphs enabled guided exploration and comparison by hundreds of thousands of users. One version won the 2015 Webby Honoree for Government. (Site available here https://census.socialexplorer.com/young-adults/#/)

Pearson Higher Education—Social Explorer created Vizualist, a data-visualization publishing platform, to serve the client’s need to transform their courseware into an interactive digital format. It has generated over 100,000 charts, tables, maps, surveys, and graphs, and served content to millions of students. Disciplines include Sociology, History, Political Science, Psychology,Economics, Criminal Justice, and Business. This platform automatically aggregates and integrates data from multiple sources including Social Explorer, the Federal Reserve Data hub, and CanStat, the Canadian government’s data hub.

Additional Custom Work—The New York Times, Newspaper Division, provide consultation and data analysis for well over 1,000 articles since 2008; AARP data and analysis for their livabilityIndex; Keller Williams Real Estate for custom system to assess real estate opportunities; LyndonJohnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, building a custom web-based system to track the correctional population; Ellis Island Museum, a large format interactive kiosk system enabling visitors to view the location and size of 200 ethnic and immigrant groups in theUnited States; Museum of the City of New York, interactive system to explore changing demographics in New York City.