[SOLVED] How to combine multiple character columns into a single column in an R data frame

Issue

I am working with Census data and I need to combine four character columns into a single column.

Example:

LOGRECNO STATE COUNTY  TRACT BLOCK
    60    01    001  021100  1053
    61    01    001  021100  1054
    62    01    001  021100  1055
    63    01    001  021100  1056
    64    01    001  021100  1057
    65    01    001  021100  1058

I want to create a new column that adds the strings of STATE, COUNTY, TRACT, and BLOCK together into a single string. Example:

LOGRECNO STATE COUNTY  TRACT BLOCK  BLOCKID
    60    01    001  021100  1053   01001021101053
    61    01    001  021100  1054   01001021101054
    62    01    001  021100  1055   01001021101055
    63    01    001  021100  1056   01001021101056
    64    01    001  021100  1057   01001021101057
    65    01    001  021100  1058   01001021101058

I’ve tried:

AL_Blocks$BLOCK_ID<- paste(c(AL_Blocks$STATE, AL_Blocks$County, AL_Blocks$TRACT,    AL_Blocks$BLOCK), collapse = "")

But this combines all rows of all four columns into a single string.

Solution

Try this:

AL_Blocks$BLOCK_ID<- with(AL_Blocks, paste0(STATE, COUNTY, TRACT, BLOCK))

there was a typo in County… it should’ve been COUNTY. Also, you don’t need the collapse parameter.

I hope that helps.

Answered By – JAponte

Answer Checked By – Candace Johnson (BugsFixing Volunteer)