A month ago, we started tracking the whereabouts of the major-party candidates in the governor’s race — Rick Perry and Bill White — using an interactive map and Twitter feed. Today we launch an update with improved navigation and an embed feature.
Ryan Murphy
Ryan Murphy worked at the Tribune from 2010 to 2019. As deputy data visuals editor, he created graphics, interactive stories and data-driven features, wrangled difficult datasets and worked on tools to make development for the team more efficient. He also oversaw the design and maintenance of our large-scale explorers.
Data App: Even More Salaries
This week we added more than 20 new public agencies to The Texas Tribune’s government employee salary database. The application now features payroll data on more than 620,000 employees from 88 school districts, cities, community colleges, universities, state agencies and transit authorities.
Data App: Community College Pay
About 60 percent of Texas students who continue their education after high school start out at community colleges, whose payrolls have not been part of our database of public employee salaries — until today. We’ve added in the pay of nearly 20,000 administrators and faculty at seven Texas community colleges and college districts: Houston Community College, Dallas County Community College District, Alamo Colleges, Lone Star College, Austin Community College, Collin College and Tarrant County College. While the median salaries at community colleges are comparable to those of state universities, dramatic differences can be seen at the margins.
Interactive: Concealed Handgun Licenses By County
The Tribune analyzed Texas Department of Public Safety data on concealed handgun license issuance during 2009, creating thematic maps that show a county-by-county breakdown of the total number of licenses issued and the per-capita rate. The latter figure is a more accurate measure for the proportion of residents who received licenses. Darker colors represent higher totals and rates.

