Homes on the Range: Homeownership Rates Are Higher in Rural America

"For decades, homeownership rates have been an important indicator of the health of housing markets all across the United States. Communities use these data to recognize the changing landscape of their housing markets by analyzing patterns in the percentage of owner-occupied housing units compared  to all occupied units. Homebuilders, financial institutions and realtors all depend on homeownership data to determine what type of housing to build, finance and sell to prospective homebuyers. While last decade’s housing crash and Great Recession altered the economy and conditions of housing markets throughout the nation, studies have shown that most Americans continue to believe homeownership is both desirable and attainable..."
Rural homeownership

A Look at Custodial Parents and Child Support in the U.S

"Raising children can be an expensive endeavor. A child recently born and raised to adulthood in the United States can cost almost $250,000, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

For many families, receiving cash and noncash assistance from the noncustodial parent is a critical source of supporting income. In 2014, about one-quarter of children living in families, or  22.1 million children under age 21, lived with only one of their parents. About five in six of these 13.4 million custodial parents were mothers (82.5 percent).

These data come from the 2013 Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Supportreport from the 2014 Current Population Survey. It provides demographic information about custodial parents, as well as child support and other income or program data..."
Custodial parents

Working in America: New Tables Detail Demographics of Work Experience

"More than seven in 10 people of traditional working age (16 to 64 years old) worked in 2014; for people 65 and over, at least one in five had worked in the past 12 months. In fact, 12.4 percent of people 70 and over continued to work.

Of these older workers, many worked full time, year round; nearly half of workers age 65 to 69 and nearly a third of workers 70 and over worked full time, year round. Among workers 65 and over, men worked longer hours each week than women; 57.6 percent of men compared with 45.5 percent of women 65 and over clocked in 35 or more hours per week..."
Work experience

Women Now at the Head of the Class, Lead Men in College Attainment

"In 1940, under 5 percent of the U.S. population held a bachelor’s degree. Men, at 5.5 percent, were more likely than women at 3.8 percent, to have a college education. Although the 1.7 percentage point gap may appear small, it was big relative to the portion of women with bachelor’s degrees (it would have taken a 45 percent increase among women for them to match men).

Now, nearly 75 years after the Census Bureau began collecting these statistics, the educational attainment of our population has increased to 30 percent -and the gender balance has shifted. For the first time since measurement began in 1940, women were more likely than men to have a bachelor’s degree..."
College attainment

Another Difference Between the Sexes – Health Insurance Coverage

"Today, the Census Bureau, with support from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released its fifth annual report, The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2014. This measure extends information provided by the official poverty measure by explicitly including benefits from many of the government programs designed to assist low-income families and individuals.

According to the report, the supplemental poverty measure rate was 15.3 percent last year, which was higher than the official measure of 14.9 percent for 2014. Both the supplemental measure rate and the official poverty rate were not significantly different from the corresponding rates in 2013..."
Health Insurance

Comparison Guidance: Income and Poverty

"Last year, the U.S. Census Bureau implemented methodological changes to the 2014Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). Based onsubstantial research to improve the quality of the data we collect, we redesigned the way we asked the survey questions about income in 2014. Over the course of the past year, we evaluated the effects of the redesign and sought out experts to review and provide feedback on our efforts. Based on the results of our evaluation, we fully implemented the redesign in 2015.

Maintaining the time series means two estimates for 2013 income and poverty. 

In the 2014 ASEC, we introduced the redesigned income questions using a probability split panel design. Of the 98,000 addresses selected to participate in the 2014 ASEC, approximately 68,000 addresses received the traditional set of income questions. The remaining 30,000 addresses received the redesigned income questions.

The split design functions as a bridge for year-to-year comparisons of the data. Last year, we used the traditional income questions to look at changes between 2012 and 2013. This year, we will use the estimates from the sample eligible to receive the redesigned income questions to look at changes between 2013 and 2014..."
Income and poverty

A Gray Revolution in Living Arrangements

"The last 50 years have witnessed a revolution in young adult living arrangements, which are now more diverse than at any time since World War II. The transformation is not limited to young adults, however. Today’s older adults, defined here as 65 and older, are more likely to live alone or with an unmarried partner than previous generations (see Figure 1). Surprisingly, they’re also the only age group where living with a spouse is more common today than 50 years ago — every other age group has witnessed a substantialdecline in marriage..."
Living arrangements

Families and Living Arrangements: 2014

"For nearly half a century, the Census Bureau has been collecting data on America’s living arrangements. Young adults age 18 to 34 have experienced significant changes in who they live with when compared over several generations. This blog will examine some of those differences.

In 1967, almost nine in 10 young adults were living in just two arrangements, either with a parent or with a spouse. While about half of 18- to 24-year-olds still live with a parent today, the other half live in more diverse arrangements. Among young adults between the ages of 25 and 34, the majority no longer live with a spouse but with a partner, alone or with others (see Figure 1). Living with others includes living with relatives other than a parent (such as a child) or nonrelatives.."
Family and Living Arrangements

One-Stop Shop for Stats on Specific Industries: Now with Even More Information

"If you are a business owner, entrepreneur or business development specialist looking for key information about an industry in your local area, you are in luck.

The Census Bureau today launched an expanded version of its Industry Snapshots. These Snapshots permit you to select one of more than 1,000 detailed industries and pull up national and state-level data tables and county-level thematic maps for that industry..."
Industry Statistics

New Population Projections Account for Differences in Fertility of Native- and Foreign-Born Women

"Last December, the U.S. Census Bureau released its latest series of national population projections, providing perspective on the future composition of the nation’s population. A new report released today explores these projections. It uses current data, along with past trends in fertility, mortality and international migration, to anticipate changes in the population in the years to come..."
Population projections

A Change in Circumstances: Family and Household Transitions and Child Well-Being

"Change is inevitable, but how often things change can matter for the well-being of children. A new report, A Child’s Day: Living Arrangements, Nativity, and Family Transitions: 2011, uses multiyear data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to understand how often children experience family and household transitions.

The new report examines three types of transitions that children potentially face. A family structure transition occurs if the child experienced a change in family structure due to a parent getting married, divorced or cohabiting with a new partner. An employment transition occurs if either parent in the household lost or gained a job. Lastly, a residential transition occurs if the child moved at any point..."Households

Are Today’s Young Adults Better Off Than Their Parents? Yes and No

"Compared with prior generations, young people today, those 18 to 34 years old, are more educated and, in some parts of the country, earn more. However, they are also less likely to be employed and more likely to live in poverty than their counterparts were in 1980..."
Todays young 
 

Census Bureau Provides Informed Picture of the State of the U.S. Auto Manufacturing Industry

"Since its birth more than 100 years ago, the U.S. automobile manufacturing industry has experienced significant growth to not only become one of the largest U.S. manufacturing industries but also one of the biggest industries in the U.S. economy. The changes this industry has faced have included periods of decline as well as growth, such as the most recent recession and subsequent recovery. Throughout these years, the U.S. Census Bureau has provided consistent, comparable, and reliable statistics that are critical to understanding this industry.
The Annual Survey of Manufactures provides insight into the changes in this industry in the years between economic censuses..."
Automobile Industry

Understanding Geographic Relationships: Geographic Summary Levels

"The third installment of our geographic relationships series discusses geographic summary levels and how American FactFinder uses them to provide tabulated data.

To protect individual privacy, the Census Bureau provides summaries of data for geographic areas. For example, you cannot find the median household income for a particular house, but you can find the median household income for the census tract or county for where that house is located. Each summary level, identified by a unique three-digit number, represents a different geographic entity for which the Census Bureau summarizes data..."

Geographic summary levels

Understanding Geographic Relationships: American Indian Areas

"The Hierarchy of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Areas displays the relationship between both legal and statistical American Indian Area boundaries. The hierarchy portrays relationships with a line and shows where relationships do not exist by displaying entities on different line tracks. For example, you can see how tribal census tracts and tribal block groups are related..."
Geographic relationships and American Indians

Who Bikes to Work in America?

From U.S. Census Bureau's Random Samplings blog (5/8/2014)
"As cities take steps to increase transportation options, many people choose to ride a bike to work or walk. Timed with National Bike to Work Month, the Census Bureau has released its first-ever report on biking and walking to work. If you have ever wondered who chooses this form of commuting, this report highlights annual American Community Survey information on biking and walking but also offers new information about these travel modes for specific populations.

Although changes in rates of bicycle commuting vary across U.S. communities, many cities have experienced relatively large increases in bicycle commuting in recent years. The total number of bike commuters in the U.S. increased from about 488,000 in 2000 to about 786,000 during the period from 2008 to 2012, a larger percentage increase than that of any other commuting mode.."Bikes to work

More and More Metropolitan America:County and City Population, July 2013

"Many of us now live in one of the biggest of the big metros. Nearly one in seven Americans reside in either the New York, Los Angeles or Chicago areas. And almost one in three live in one of the 10 most populous areas, which include the three just mentioned, plus Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, Miami, Atlanta and Boston.

The 10 fastest-growing areas are relatively small in size. And virtually all are located either in or near the Great Plains or in or near the Gulf Coast...."
Metropolitan america

What is the Supplemental Poverty Measure and How Does it Differ from the Official Measure

"The official poverty measure compares an individual’s or family’s before-tax cash income to a set of thresholds that vary by the size of the family and the ages of the family members. These official poverty calculations do not take into account the value of in-kind benefits, such as those provided by nutrition assistance programs, and housing and energy assistance. Nor do they take into account regional differences in living costs or expenses, such as housing..." variation.
Supplemental poverty measure

Resources for Mapping Census Data

From: the Census Bureau's Random Samplings
"Here are some of the mapping resources available from the Census Bureau:

• TIGERweb allows data users to view our TIGER database and even offers a Web Map Service (WMS) for app developers and more advanced GIS users.
• The Census Data Mapper is a web mapping application that provides customers with a simple way to view and print county-based demographic maps for the United States.
• The newly released Census Flows Mapper shows county-to-county migration from the American Community Survey 5-year data.
• The Metropolitan and Micropolitan Area Population viewer shows 34 characteristics of the population for all metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas by census tract and how they compare to the nation.
• In addition, the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) Interactive Tool combines data tables and mapping capabilities to display statistics at the state, county, and school district level.
• The county business pattern and demographic interactive maps combine economic and demographic data to provide a full profile of a particular area..."
  Census Mapping

Faster vs. Bigger: Size and Growth of the Foreign-Born from Asia and Latin America

from Random Samplings:
"The foreign-born population from Asia increased over the last decade – from 8.2 million in 2000 to 11.6 million in 2011 – and now represents more than one-fourth (29 percent) of all immigrants in the United States.

 While sizeable, the foreign-born population from Asia is still smaller than the number of foreign born from Latin America and the Caribbean. As of 2011, there were 21.2 million foreign-born from Latin America and the Caribbean, up from 16.1 million in 2000. More than half (53 percent) of today’s foreign-born population is from Latin America and the Caribbean..."
Faster vs. Bigger: Size and Growth of the Foreign-Born from Asia and Latin America