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Why is geography important to the Census Bureau?

Katy Rossiter, Geographer, US Census Bureau

Geography is at the heart of taking a census. The U.S. Census Bureau is tasked with counting everyone in the United States once every ten years, but we do not just count people; we count people where they live. Here are several reasons why geography is important to the Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau uses geography as the basis for taking the census.

Leading up to the decennial census, several kinds of geographic areas are delineated to aid in the collection of address information and the delivery and collection of census forms. These areas include local census offices, crew leader districts, assignment areas, and several others. Creating geographic boundaries allows us to take the census in an organized and systematic fashion. It also allows us to track our progress spatially. It ensures we cover all parts of the United States completely and as efficiently as possible.

Geography also takes on the role of ensuring we get our field workers out to everyone’s home. The Census Bureau stores all residential addresses that are included in the decennial census or on-going survey. In addition, we store all of the geographic features that need to go on a map to help field workers find all of the addresses. For the 2010 Census, and for our on-going survey work, we use both electronic and paper maps.

The Census Bureau uses geography as the basis for tabulating census data.

Data the Census Bureau collects are meaningless unless they are tied to a geographic area. Every number or statistic released by the Census Bureau relates to a specific geographic area. For instance, data users can find out the number of school-age children for the nation or for their city or even for their neighborhood. In fact, you can find data for more than 29 different geographic areas from the census blocks to counties to American Indian Reservations. Geography gives the data meaning and relevance. Visit Factfinder to learn more about available data.

The Census Bureau maintains unique geographic area boundaries that other local, state, and federal agencies use.

The Census Bureau collects, defines, and maintains boundaries for over 29 different geographic areas for our purposes, but the entities are often important to other federal, state, and local agencies as well. For example, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development use census tracts in their programs. The Census Bureau’s urban areas are used by other agencies for a variety of urban and rural programs. Furthermore, agencies utilize our boundaries for incorporated places, minor civil divisions, and counties since we update and maintain these legal boundaries from year to year.

Geography is important to the Census Bureau and census geography is a key component of the data products for decision makers and data users. Without the where, it’s all merely numbers.

Visit the Census Bureau's Geography website.

Data Visualization: Watch the Mean Center of Population move across America.

Learn more about the 2010 Census.

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Pool of Nonemployer Firms Continues to Shrink

Written by: William G. Bostic Jr., Associate Director for Economic Programs

Firms that do not have paid employees (businesses ranging from small "mom and pop" corner stores to independent contractors to Internet-based mail order houses) have continued to suffer through the troubled economic times felt since 2008. In 2009, the number of nonemployer firms fell to 21.1 million, down 260,000 from 2008 and down more than 600,000 since 2007.

These statistics are from Nonemployer Statistics: 2009, a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau today, and are the only source of information available on the number of nonemployer firms and receipts at the local level. Such firms comprise the majority of U.S. businesses but account for only about 4 percent of total U.S. business receipts. Many of these firms represent self-employed individuals whose earnings are not necessarily their primary source of income.

Although most states experienced an overall decline, three states and the District of Columbia actually gained nonemployer firms between 2008 and 2009. Texas led the way, adding 8,260, followed by Georgia and Louisiana. On the other hand, New York lost nearly 24,000 firms, more than any other state, with Pennsylvania, California and Minnesota also losing many firms.

Across the nation, most industries experienced declines in nonemployer businesses and receipts. Among the few bright spots were the personal care services industry (such as barber shops and beauty salons) and child day care services, which added 72,000 and 27,000 businesses respectively.

These statistics are available at the national, state, county and metropolitan area levels. To see how nonemployer businesses fared in your local area, click here.

Nonemployer Statistics data exclude businesses with paid employees; statistics on employer businesses are covered in 2009 County Business Patterns, which was released at the end of June.

Read the press release.

View the detailed tables.

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U.S. Businesses Continue to Show Sharp Declines

Written by: William G. Bostic Jr., US Census Bureau

For most, it would not come as a surprise to learn that the last couple of years have been a time of economic hardship for our nation. Headlines have depicted a troubling job market and communities have faced the reality of deep budget cuts.

Statistics released recently from the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns reveal a loss of 168,000 businesses between 2008 and 2009 and a decrease of 6 million employees.

This is the only complete source of annual county-level statistics for U.S. business establishments with industry detail. Most of the nation’s economic activity is covered by these statistics, and they are very useful for examining economic change over time.

These losses were universal among states; all states saw decline in employer businesses in 2009, and only Alaska and the District of Columbia gained employees between 2008 and 2009.

Additionally, the statistics presented in County Business Patterns show how each industry sector fared between 2008 and 2009. As another indicator of current economic hardships, 16 of 19 sectors showed declines, led by construction with a 7.8 percent decline in the number of establishments and a 15.3 percent decline in the number of employees.

These detailed statistics are provided at the national, state and county levels. To get a look at the business activity in your county, click here.

These statistics do not include figures for self-employed individuals, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production employees and most government employees.

Watch our archived live video chat with Census Bureau statisticians.

To learn more, visit the Census Bureau Newsroom.

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What are census blocks?

Written by: Katy Rossiter, Geographer, US Census Bureau

Census blocks are:

- Statistical areas bounded by visible features such as roads, streams, and railroad tracks, and by nonvisible boundaries such as property lines, city, township, school district, county limits and short line-of-sight extensions of roads.

- The building blocks for all geographic boundaries the Census Bureau tabulates data for, such as tracts, places, and American Indian Reservations.

- Generally small in area. In a city, a census block looks like a city block bounded on all sides by streets. Census blocks in suburban and rural areas may be large, irregular, and bounded by a variety of features, such as roads, streams, and transmission lines. In remote areas, census blocks may encompass hundreds of square miles.

- A wall-to-wall coverage across the entire territory of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas.

- Numbered uniquely with a four-digit census block number ranging from 0000 to 9999 nesting within each census tract, which nest within state and county. The first digit of the census block number identifies the block group. Block numbers beginning with a zero (in Block Group 0) are associated with water-only areas.

- Delineated by the U.S. Census Bureau once every ten years. An automated computer process looks for all visible and nonvisible features in our geographic database (MAF/TIGER) that should be a block boundary and creates a block each time those features create a polygon.

- The smallest level of geography you can get basic demographic data for, such as total population by age, sex, and race.
 

Census blocks are not:

- Delineated based on population. In fact, many census blocks do not have any population.

- Permanent throughout the decade. They may be split when a change in another geographic boundary occurs, such as an incorporated place annexation. If a block is split in between decades, a suffix will be added to the block number. For example, block 1000 would become block 1000A and 1000B.

- A boundary that can be used with American Community Survey (ACS) data. ACS data only go down to the block group level.

If you'd like to learn more, visit these links to block-related products created by the U.S. Census Bureau:

P.L. 94-171 County Block Maps – 2010 Census

Access to the 2010 TIGER/Line block Shapefiles

2010 Census Block Assignment Files

Block Relationship Files

Census Bureau Geography products

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Visualizing Foreign Trade Data

Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau added interactive graphs to the U.S. international trade data released each month. For example, these two graphs help you better understand international trade in petroleum.

The first graph shows the effect of prices on petroleum imports. The orange line shows the “nominal value” of petroleum imports for the month. The blue line shows the “real dollar” value, adjusted for 2005 prices. While the nominal value has a range of over $40 billion, the real dollar value range is less than $8 billion. To see the values for a month, just hover over the data point. (Visit the Foreign Trade website to interact with the graph). You can also turn either data series on-and-off by clicking it in the ledger.

You may have already heard of the U.S.’s significant imports of petroleum, but are you aware of the role petroleum plays in the U.S. trade deficit? Since 2006, petroleum has accounted for between 32% and 65% of the U.S. trade deficit in a given month. This interactive graph shows petroleum as a percent of the U.S. deficit for each month. You can hover over a data point to see the exact figure for that month.

All of the graphs we’ve added so far can be found here. We plan to add many more interactive graphs in the coming weeks and months. If there are any suggestions for data series you’d like to see included, please leave a comment below.

For more information on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade division, click here.

To read the Foreign Trade blog, click here.

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