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)