Census Geography (Legal Entities) Nation State Counties Minor Civil Divisions – Boroughs, Townships Place Towns, Cities, Villages.

Census Geography (Legal Entities)

• Nation• State• Counties• Minor Civil Divisions– Boroughs, Townships

• Place• Towns, Cities, Villages

Census Geography (Stat. Entities)

• Blocks– Small areas bounded by physical features

• Block Groups– Collections of Blocks– A Census Tract Subdivision

• Census Tracts– As Homogeneous As Possible– Roughly 1,000 – 8,000 persons

Census Geography (Stat. Entities)

• Census-Designated Places• Urbanized Areas– At least 50,000 population– Density of 1,000/sq.mi. at core– Density of >= 500/sq.mi. at periphery of core

• Urban Cluster– Consists of the density requirement of UA

Census Geography (Stat. Entities)

• Metropolitan Areas– Large population nucleus– High degree of integration at nucleus• Social• Economic• Functional

– Boundary theoretically defined by spatial extent of integration

Census Geography (Stat. Entities)

• MA– Freestanding MSA not closely aligned with

another MA

• PMSA– An MA with > 1,000,000 population that is

subdivided into contiguous MAs

• CMSA– A specific collection of PMSAs

Census Sampling Patterns

• Short Form– As near “census” as possible– SF1, SF2 & Redistricting Summary File

• Long Form– 1 in 6 receive survey– Constitutes the 1% and 5% samples– SF3, SF4 & PUMS (among others)

Short Form Census

• Only Seven Questions

• Fulfills the Constitutional Obligation– Decennial Enumeration of Population– Congressional Representation

Short Form Questions

• Name• Sex• Age• Relationship• Hispanic Origin• Race• Tenure (owner or renter)

Demographic Oddities

• Shifting definition of “hispanic” over time

• 2000 Census first to consider multi-racial categories

Long Form Questions

• Moving away from original intent of decennial census

• Questions much more probing and sensitive• Purpose?

• Qualifying for federal funding & grant programs

Data Files Consist of Tables

• Population (P)• Housing (H)• Population at Census Tract level (PCT)

• Tables are indicated by prefix and a number

Example

• P12– Sex by Age (5-year groupings)