Census Bureau
The Census offers a great wealth of data. It is tempting, and in fact accurate to say, that if you think it is at all possible that the data is produced by the Census, check here -- you're likely to find it. The material is a mix of general interest material (I've even used some for my principles classes) and highly detailed information.
The "News" category includes news releases, tipsheets, fact sheets, Census briefs, and the "Census and You" monthly newsletter. It also has a section titled "Ask the Expert," where you can find contact information for different Census functions.
The "Search" category includes many different ways of searching this site and material on it. This includes words in on-line Census documents, searching by place that Census reports on, and searching for Census staff members. You can even search via a map, from which you can choose the geographical area you're interested in, and then view summary information about that area. You can proceed to the county level, and it provides a wealth of interesting and easy-to-find information.
"Access Tools" includes software that works over the net, such as "Map Stats" (which profiles information from states and counties (the same as map searching described above); the "Tiger" map system for generating maps on the fly; "1990 Census Lookup" (you can extract files from a given Census); a gazetteer for the U.S. (which also performs lookups); "FERRET" (Federal Electronic Research and Review Tool) for extracting data; and "MABLE/Geocorr," which accesses MABLE geographic database and generates correlation lists as reports or files. This section also includes software you can download, and Census access tools at other sites.
The "CenStats and CenStore" section lists various products. "CenStats" is a fee-based Internet service for statistical data. "CenStore" has information on various products, such as tapes, CD-ROMS, diskettes, publications, and maps. You can purchase all documents generated by Census after January, 1996 in electronic form.
New to the Census Bureau site is the State and County QuickFacts , which allows users to review frequently requested information at the national, state, and county levels. On the main page, users have access to national and state level tables. The state pages give access to county tables. Examples of information include population, land area, median income, business facts, and geographical facts.
Most material is in the section titled "Subjects A-Z" (only 2 letters have no entry). The slightly edited entries are:
A: Abbreviation and Acronym Glossary, Acquisition Information, Advance Monthly Retail Sales, Advisory Committees, Age, Age Search, Aging, Agriculture, Alaska Native, American Community Survey, American Indian, Ancestry, Annual Research Conference, Apportionment, Asian, and Assets.
B: Birthplace, Births, Black-Owned Businesses, Black Population, Building Permits, and Business (Customized Tabulations, Databases, Enterprises, General, Inventories, Owners, Totals by County, Reports, and FAQ)
C: Calendars, Capital Assets, Capital Expenditures, CD-ROMs, Census Briefs, Census Catalog and Guide, CenStats, CenStore, Census 2000, Census & You, Census Bureau, Census Tract Coding Resources, Children, Citizenship, City/County Governments, College Enrollment, Commodity Flow, Commodity Input/Exports Related to Output, Communication Services, Communications, Commuting, Companies, Computer Ownership and Use, Conferences, Congressional Affairs, Congressional Districts, Consolidated Federal Funds Report, Construction (Current Reports, Industry Series, and Statistics), Continuous Measurement, Contracts, County Business Patterns, County & City Data Book, County Profiles, Crops, Current Industrial Reports (CIRs), Current Population Survey (CPS), and Customer Liaison Office.
D: Data Capture Services Contract, Data Developments, Data Extraction System, Deaths, Decennial Census (2000, 1990, Historical, and Report to Congress -- The Plan for Census 2000), Demographic and Social Characteristics, Demographic Business Characteristics, Disability, Divorces, and Durable Goods Orders.
E: Economic Census, Economic Indicator Releases Schedule, Economic Indicators, Economic Statistics Briefing Room, Education, Education Finances, Elderly, Electronic Data Product Support - TechTalk:, Elected Officials, Electronic Subscription Service, Employee-Retirement Systems, Employment (General/Public and Opportunities (Census Bureau)), Empowerment Contracting Resources, Enterprises, Entrepreneurs, Establishment and Firm Size, Estimates (1996 Estimates of the Population of Cities, Places, and MCDs Housing Units & Households, Income, Persons, and Poverty), Expenditures, Exports, and Extract Software for CD-ROM.
F: Families, Farms, Federal Depository Libraries, Federal Expenditures, Federal Government Data, Federal-State Cooperative Program, Federal Statistics Briefing Room, FEDSTATS Fellowship Opportunities, Fertility, Finance (Insurance & Real Estate), Finances of Governments and Schools, Fishing, Foreign Born, and Foreign Trade.
G: Gazetteer (U.S.), Genealogy, Geographic (Area Profiles, Mobility, Services & Information), Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms, Governmental Interactions Calendar, and Governments.
H: Health Insurance, Health Statistics, Hispanic Origin, Hispanic-Owned Businesses, Homeownership, Hotels (Motels and Other Lodging Places), Households and Families -- CPS Households and Families Projections, Household and Housing Unit Estimates, Housing (Characteristics, Completions, Inventory Change, Houses Sold, Housing Starts, Press Releases Starts, and Statistics), and Hunting.
I: Immigration, Imports, Income, Indicators - Economic, Industry Statistics, Insurance, International (Statistics and Trade), Irrigation, Inventories (Business), and ITPlans.
J: Journey to Work.
L: Labor Force, Land, Language Use, Livestock, Living Arrangements, Local Retirement Systems, and Lodging Places.
M: Manufacturing, Manufacturing Financial Report, Maps, Marital Status, Market Value of Agricultural Products, Marriage, Merchandise Line Sales, Metropolitan Areas, Migration, Mining, Minority-Owned Businesses, Mobility/Movers, Money Income, Monthly Retail Sales, Monthly Wholesale Trade, Motels, and Motor Freight.
N: Native American Population, Nativity, NAICS (North American Industry Classification System), New on Site, and Nonemployer Statistics (Retail and Services).
O: Occupation, Other Official Statistics/FedStats, Other Topics, and Outlying Areas (Economic).
P: Pacific Islander Population, PDFPublications, Place of Birth, Place of Work, Population (1996 Estimates of the Population of Cities, Places, and MCDs (Characteristics, Density, Estimates, P-20, P-23, Profile, Projections, and Topics)), Poverty, Press Releases, Previous Residence, Prices and Inflation, Procurement Activities, Product Profiles, Product Shipments, Program Participation, Public Finance and Employment, Publications, and Puerto Rico.
Q: Quarterly Financial Report (Manufacturing, Mining, and Trade Corporations).
R: Race, Radio Broadcasts, Ranches, Real Estate, Recreation, Redistricting Data Program, References, Regional Offices of Census Bureau, Report to Congress (revised August 1997), Residential Construction, Residential Improvements, Retail (Monthly Retail Sales, Retail Trade, Retail Trade for Outlying Areas, and Sales and Inventories -- Retail), and Rural/Urban.
S: Sales and Inventories -- Retail, Sales and Inventories -- Wholesale, School (Characteristics of Students, Enrollment - Including College, Finances, Public Education Finances, and Schools), Service Annual Survey, Service Industries, Service Industries for Outlying Areas, Shipments (Inventories, & Orders), SIC Codes (Standard Industrial Classification), Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, Small Business, Solicitations, Sources of Receipts, Sources of Revenue, State Data Centers, State Government, State Profiles, State Retirement Systems, Statistical Abstract, Statistical Agencies (Federal and International), Statistical Briefs (See also: Census Brief), Statistical Research Report Series, Subject Index to Population Reports, Subscription Service, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), and Surveys.
T: Taxes (Quarterly Tax Revenues (by state and local governments), State Tax Collection, and Taxable Property Values), TechTalk (Electronic Data Product Support), TIGER, Trade (Goods and Services, Trade and Employment, Trade Balance, Trade Corporations Financial Report, International, and with U.S. Possessions), Transportation, Travel to Work, and Trucks.
U: Urban/Rural, U.S. Exports and Imports, U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Merchandise Trade, U.S. Possessions - Trade, U.S. Trade with Puerto Rico, and Utilities.
V: Vacancy, Value of New Construction, and Voting and Registration.
W: Warehousing, We the Americans Series, Wealth, Wholesale (Monthly Wholesale Trade, Sales and Inventories -- Wholesale, Wholesale Trade, and Wholesale Trade Outlying Areas), Wildlife, Women-Owned Businesses, and Working Papers.
Y: Year 2000.
Z: ZIP Code Statistics.
Finally, several miscellaneous entries provide additional information: "About the Bureau," "User Manual," "New on the Site," "Current Economic Indicators" (with recent reports), and the current U.S. and world populations.
Information: pio@census.gov http://www.census.gov