Introduction

The decennial census occurs every 10 years, in the years ending in "0," to count the population and housing units for the entire United States.  Its primary purpose is to provide the population counts that determine how seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned.

Two Questionnaires were sent out to homes on April 1, 2000.  A short form with population and housing items was sent to each household in the United States.  The long form with additional questions was sent to 17% of all housing units.  

Census 2000 Changes

On the 2000 census certain questions have changed from the short form to the long form and some questions have been dropped since the 1990 census.  Certain items will not be able to be compared to 1990 census data.  These questions were dropped because they were seen as intrusive on the 1990 census.  2000 questions were limited to those topics that had a specific federal legislative mandate. The dropped questions are: Children ever born (fertility), Source of water, Sewage Disposal, Condominium status, and Year last worked.

Other Census questions were transferred from the Short Form to the Long Form.  The topics moved to the Long Form were: Martial Status, Units in Structure, Number of Rooms, Value of Home, and Monthly Rent.

Quick Links

Short Form- 100% Items

Population

Housing

Long Form- Sample Data

Census 2000 data sets will be coming out in many formats:  Internet (via American Factfinder), CD-ROM, DVD, or printed reports.  Generally, most data products will be released first on the Internet, followed by subsequent releases in other formats.  Only three series will be available in printed reports with one report per state and a national summary volume.  These printed reports are the following:

Summary Population and Housing Characteristics (PHC-1) – This series, containing information collected on a 100-percent basis, will present information for states, counties, places, and other areas, Comparable to the 1990 CPH-1 report, Summary of Population and Housing Characteristics, it will also be available on the Internet.  Planned released date: 2002.

Summary Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics (PHC-2) – This publication will include information on the sample population and housing subjects for the same geographic areas and information will be comparable to the 1990 CPH-5 census report series, Summary Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics (1990 CPH-5).   It will also be available on the Internet.   Planned release date:  2003

Population and Housing Units Totals (PHC-3) – This publication includes population and housing unit totals for Census 2000 as well as the 1990 and 1980 censuses.  Information on area measurements and population density will be included.  This series will include one printed report for each state plus a national report; it will also be available on the Internet.  Planned release date:  2003

Summary File 1:  100%

Available Now on DVD or American Fact finder web site
STF1 in 1990
Race, Sex, Age, Households and Families, Housing Tenure

Summary File 2:  100%

Detailed cross classifications by type of Hispanic origin, Indian tribe, or Asian subcategory
STF2 in 1990 not available on American Factfinder web site

Summary File 3:  Sample
STF3 in 1990
Income, Language, Ethnicity, Occupation, Commuting, Housing Value and Rent
Census 2000 Supplementary Questionnaire for States is similar

Summary File 4:  Sample

Detailed cross classification by age, race and sex
STF4 in 1990 not on American Factfinder web site

To find out when a particular subject will be released and in which file(s) go to the Census’ web site on Census 2000 Data Products Listed by Subject http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/c2k_subs.html

Census 2000 Supplementary Survey              

Census 2000 Supplementary Survey reports the results of an operational test conducted as part of the Census 2000.  The survey used the American Community Survey questionnaire to collect demographic, social, economic and housing data.  They are the first American-Community-Survey based to be released for all the states and the country.  It contains four quick tables:

• General Demographic Characteristics that includes data on sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, household type, housing occupancy, homeowners, renters, and additional topics.
• Profile of Selected Social Characteristics that includes information on school enrollment, educational attainment, marital status, disability status, migration, place of birth, language spoken at home, ancestry, and additional topics.
• Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics that includes information on labor force status, commuting, occupation, income and benefits, poverty, and additional topics.
• Profile of Selected Housing Characteristics that includes units in structure, year structure built, number of rooms, vehicles available, type of heating fuel, occupants per room, value of housing unit, mortgage status, amount of rent paid and additional topics.

It also allows you to set up your own data sets comparisons based on 107 summary tables made available through American FactFinder.