Overview

From the US Census Bureau’s website:

The Census Bureau is the federal government’s largest statistical agency. We are dedicated to providing current facts and figures about America’s people, places, and economy. Federal law protects the confidentiality of all the information the Census Bureau collects.

Data Sources

The US Census collects, estimates, and makes available a large amount and broad array of data. The Census calls them “Statistical Programs,” but here they will be referred to as Data Sources, because we use the data produced by each program. The text below is summarized from the [US Census Bureau’s website] and includes sources that may be useful for performing urban analysis.

Censuses

  • Decennial Census: the population and housing count that occurs every 10 years; it is required by the U.S. Constitution. The results of the decennial census determine the number of seats for each state in the U.S. House of Representatives and are used to draw congressional and state legislative districts and to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds each year.
  • Economic Census: measures the nation’s economy every 5 years, providing vital statistics for virtually every industry and geographic area in the country.

Surveys

  • American Community Survey (ACS): an ongoing annual survey that captures a broad range of demographic, socioeconomic, and other data.
  • Demographic surveys: measure income, poverty, education, health insurance coverage, housing quality, crime victimization, computer usage, and many other subjects.
  • Economic surveys: conducted monthly, quarterly, and annually. They cover selected sectors of the nation’s economy and supplement the Economic Census with more frequent information about the dynamic economy.
  • Small Business Pulse Survey: provides detailed information on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses as well as their participation in federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program.
  • Household Pulse Survey: asks questions about how the COVID- 19 pandemic affected education, employment, food security, health, housing, Social Security benefits, household spending, consumer spending associated with stimulus payments, intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and transportation.

Population Estimates and Projections

  • Population estimates: yearly data including population count estimates (by age, sex, and race) and demographic components of change, such as births, deaths, and migration.
  • Population projections: estimates of future population size and its characteristics. Projections are based on future demographic trends, including births, life expectancy, and migration patterns.

This page was last updated on February 26, 2024