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.
http://www.census.gov
