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

2. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

8. 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)

9. Short Form Census Only Seven Questions Fulfills the Constitutional Obligation – Decennial Enumeration of Population – Congressional Representation

10. Short Form Questions Name Sex Age Relationship Hispanic Origin Race Tenure (owner or renter)

11. Demographic Oddities Shifting definition of “hispanic” over time 2000 Census first to consider multi-racial categories

12. Long Form Questions Moving away from original intent of decennial census Questions much more probing and sensitive Purpose? Qualifying for federal funding & grant programs

13. Data Files Consist of Tables Population (P) Housing (H) Population at Census Tract level (PCT) Tables are indicated by prefix and a number

14. Example P12 – Sex by Age (5-year groupings)