Gleeson Library: Statistics and Data: Census

United States Census

Data.census.gov
Data.census.gov is the new platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. It replaces the American FactFinder website, which was retired in 2020.
The earliest data on data.census.gov will be from the 2000 Census. American Community Survey (ACS) Data will not be available prior to 2010 with the exception of the 2009 Comparison Profiles. All ACS data, including 2005 to 2009 data, are available in the Census Data API.

For detailed information about the new platform see this guide.

ACS Data Tools
There are many ways to access estimates and microdata from the American Community Survey (ACS). Learn more about available data tools, along with the product type, year(s) available & data set(s), and geographies included, to help you access the information you need from the ACS.
ACS Table IDs Explained
Ever wonder what a table ID represents? The characters may look random at first glance, but each American Community Survey (ACS) table ID is purposefully numbered to describe its content and format.

Historical Statistics of the United States
Statistical tables covering population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, economic sectors, and governance and international relations. Data from as early as 1600, and as late as 2002, with the majority falling between 1790 and 1990.
On-Campus Link
Statistical Abstract of the United States
The Statistical Abstract of the United States is a one-volume, comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
On Campus Link
Social Explorer
Create a personal account, or use USF guest account information: email: guest@usfca.edu password: guest Social Explorer provides quick and easy access to current and historical census data and demographic information. The easy-to-use web interface lets users create maps and reports to illustrate, analyze, and understand demography and social change.
In addition to its comprehensive data resources, Social Explorer offers features and tools to meet the needs of demography experts and novices alike. From research libraries to classrooms to government agencies to corporations to the front page of the New York Times, Social Explorer helps the public engage with society and science.

DATA RESOURCES
Access current and historical demographic data with ease:
The entire US Census from 1790 to 2010.
The entire American Community Survey (ACS) from 2005 to 2012.
All annual updates from the American Community Survey.
InfoGroup data on religious congregations in the United States for 2009 and 2010, including maps for counties and special census areas, as well as point maps of the actual congregation locations.
The Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS) from 1980 to 2010.
Carbon Emissions Data for 2002 from the Vulcan Project.
Social Explorer includes over 40 billion data elements, 500,000 variables, and more than 25,000 interactive maps.
Stay current with the latest data from the US Census Bureau, which is added to the site as soon as it is released.
Browse full source documentation for all reports and maps, as well as the source and computation information for every variable.

TOOLS & FEATURES
Visualize data with customizable, user-friendly maps, allowing unparalleled exploration of demographic and social change, revealing the patterns buried in raw numbers.
Create thematic and interactive maps that explore all historical and modern US census data across the centuries and even down to street level detail (where available).
Locate geographies with the address find tool.
Export, save, and print maps and reports for professional-looking reports, presentations, and graphics. High-resolution images are available and any presentation can be exported directly to PowerPoint.
Create multi-map presentations with the interactive slideshow tool for in-depth comparisons and story-telling.
Graph and chart data with easy on-screen tools to investigate the data and communicate your findings.
Save projects in your personal MyExplorer account for archiving, collaboration, and more.
Share your creations in presentations and online. Maps can be shared through email, Facebook, and Twitter, and embedded in websites.
Create data reports at all geographic levels, including state, county, census tract, block group, zip code, and census place (where the data exist).
Download data to a variety of file formats for use with your favorite statistical package. Our reports automatically calculate aggregates, percentages, inflation adjustments, and medians to save time and eliminate errors.
No software to install or maintain, making it hassle-free for librarians and users. The site works entirely on the web and provides many basic GIS and data manipulation functions.
An ideal teaching resource that employs an engaging visual approach to demographic information for courses across the social sciences, and trusted by Pearson Publishing as a leader in social science online learning.

On-Campus Link
PolicyMap
Thousands of U.S. data indicators for demographic and socioeconomic analysis. PolicyMap data can be presented as maps, tables, charts and pre-built reports that can be incorporated into papers, presentations, blogs and websites. In addition, students can upload unlimited amounts of their own address-based data, and can share these maps with others.
An online (no software installation needed) U.S. national data and mapping tool and analytics platform with multidisciplinary applications for college students and faculty. It is used in undergraduate and graduate curriculum and research related to social sciences, urban studies, real estate and housing analysis, community and economic development, public administration, public health, policy and political science, education, business, economics, statistics, and geography, among others. Users can leverage thousands of U.S. data indicators in PolicyMap to perform demographic and socioeconomic analysis, from a neighborhood census block group in many cases, up to a national level, as well as create custom regions, for their research and studies.

PolicyMap’s data indicators accessible via easy to use menus organized in categories including demographics, income and spending, housing, lending, quality of life, economy, education, health, federal guidelines, and analytics. Data can be viewed on a census block or census tract level in many cases, city, county, zip, state, US, as well as by congressional district, school district, state house and state senate districts.

Statistical Abstract of the United States - Historical Editions
Scanned copies (PDFs) of the Statistical Abstract of the United States. Includes volumes from 1878 to 2011, with some gaps in coverage.
Census Reporter
Census Reporter is a Knight News Challenge-funded project to make it easier for journalists to write stories using information from the U.S. Census bureau. Place profiles and comparison pages provide a friendly interface for navigating data, including visualizations for a more useful first look.
Historical Census Reports (via the US Census Bureau website)
PDFs of published volumes of the Census from 1790-present.
Published Census Volumes (via the IPUMS USA website)
The Census Bureau regularly releases publishes books of tables within a few years of the enumeration of each census. These books usually contain regular data series tabulated for the entire country and usually all states, counties, and major cities. The links below lead to scans (PDFs) of published census volumes from 1790-2010.
Census History
Learn about the history of the U.S. Census Bureau and the Decennial Census.
Index of Questions Asked
(1790-2010)
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey that provides information on a yearly basis about the United States population.
ACS Questionnaire Archive
Browse archived sample American Community Survey questionnaires in English and Spanish with instruction guides from 1996 through present.
Why Are You Asked Specific ACS Questions?
Are you curious about why you are asked questions related to a specific topic on the American Community Survey (ACS)? Every question has a required purpose and many uses to help communities.
Census Instructions
The "Instructions to Enumerators" provided here include the congressional acts U.S. marshalls reviewed during the early census, specially-published instructions for door-to-door census, and lastly, guides used for the limited number of personal interviews conducted during nonresponse follow-up operations.
County and City Data Books
(see also print edition at USF)
IPUMS USA
IPUMS USA collects, preserves and harmonizes U.S. census microdata and provides easy access to this data with enhanced documentation. Data includes decennial censuses from 1790 to 2010 and American Community Surveys (ACS) from 2000 to the present. This is a free resource but you must register to use it.
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IPUMS USA (originally, the "Integrated Public Use Microdata Series") is a website and database providing access to over sixty integrated, high-precision samples of the American population drawn from sixteen federal censuses, from the American Community Surveys of 2000-present, and from the Puerto Rican Community Surveys of 2005-present. Some of these samples have existed for years, and others were created specifically for the IPUMS USA database. These samples collectively constitute our richest source of quantitative information on long-term changes in the American population. However, because different investigators created these samples at different times, they employed a wide variety of record layouts, coding schemes, and documentation. This had complicated efforts to use them to study change over time. IPUMS USA, like other IPUMS projects, assigns uniform codes across all the samples and brings relevant documentation into a coherent form to facilitate analysis of social and economic change.
IPUMS USA Online Data Analysis System
The IPUMS online analysis system uses high-speed tabulation software developed at UC-Berkeley's Computer-assisted Survey Methods Program.
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After clicking one of the samples, you will need to specify the following to create a table:

a row variable
a column variable (optional): will be cross-tabulated with the row variable
filters (optional): can be used to include only certain cases in your analysis
controls (optional): produces a separate table for each category of the specified variable
IPUMS NHGIS
(1790-2015) The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) provides population, housing, agricultural, and economic data, along with GIS-compatible boundary files, for geographic units in the United States from 1790 to the present. This is a free resource, but you need to register and create an account in order to access data.
Census Records
Census records provide data at the individual and household level. Because of a 72-year restriction on access to Census records, the most recent year of records available is 1940. The 1950 Census records will be released in 2022.
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From 1850 to 1940, details are provided for all individuals in each household. Details can include:

Name
Age at a certain point in time
State or country of birth
Parents' birthplace(s)
Year of immigration (if relevant)
Street address
Marriage status and years of marriage (if relevant)
Occupation(s)
Value of home and personal belongings
Crops grown (in agricultural schedules), etc.

Not all of this information is available in every census. Before the 1850 Census, few of these details were recorded. From 1790 to 1840, only the head of household is listed by name; other household members are merely counted in selected age groups.
The Opportunity Atlas
The Opportunity Atlas is a free online resource constructed by Opportunity Insights
economists in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and funded with support from the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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The Opportunity Atlas provides data on children’s outcomes in adulthood for every Census tract
in the United States through an interactive map providing detailed research on the roots of these
outcomes, such as poverty and incarceration rate, back to the neighborhoods in which children
grew up.

Comparison of Decennial Census and the American Community Survey (ACS)

	American Community Survey	Decennial Census
Frequency	Conducted every month, every year	Conducted every ten years
Population Surveyed	Sent to a sample of addresses (about 3.5 million) in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico	Counts every person living in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories
Topics Covered	Asks about topics not on the 2020 Census, such as education, employment, internet access, and transportation	Asks a shorter set of questions, such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, and owner/renter status
Purpose	Provides current demographic estimates to communities every year. It also provides local and national leaders with the information they need for programs, economic development, emergency management, and understanding local issues and conditions.	Provides an official count of the population, which determines congressional representation. Also provides critical data that lawmakers and many others use to provide daily services, products, and support for communities.

2020 Census (United States)

2020 Census Questionnaire
Sample Copy of the 2020 Census Questionnaire.
2020 Census Complete Count Committee Guide
Provides basic outreach information for the 2020 Census.
2020 Census Hard to Count Map
The goal of this map is to highlight the areas of the country that are hardest to count. Organizations can utilize this information to make sure these hard-to-count areas & populations are fully counted and to help ensure a fair and accurate census.
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The Census 2020 HTC map application was developed by the CUNY Mapping Service at the City University of New York's Graduate Center. Use the interactive online map to identify hard-to-count areas and view demographic information for those areas.
Response Outreach Area Mapper (ROAM)
The Response Outreach Area Mapper (ROAM) application was developed to make it easier to identify hard-to-survey areas and to provide a socioeconomic and demographic characteristic profile of these areas using American Community Survey (ACS) estimates.
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ROAM was created by the U.S. Census Bureau. Use the interactive online map to view predicted mail non-response rates and determine the location of harder-to-count areas. Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics are available for users to learn more about an area.

Statistics and Data

United States Census

Comparison of Decennial Census and the American Community Survey (ACS)

2020 Census (United States)

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