Characteristics of the Population
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Characteristics of the Population GEN~RAL The major portion of the informaifon on the population of the tional Poptrlation, Nativity and Parentage, Nonwhite Popula United States, compiled from the Censuses of Population and tion by Race, Persons of Spanish Surname, Puerto Ricans in Housing of l\l50, is presented in this volume. Part. 1, t.he United Continental United States, State of Birth, Mobility of the Popu. States Summary, contains three chapters previously published as lation, Characteristics by Size of Place, Education, and· Fertility/ separate bulletins. Chapter A recapitulates the statistics on the size and distribution of the total population of the U11itccl States 1950 Census of Housing RPports (originally published in Series P-A U.S. Summary bullctill); Chap ter J3 ]lresen ts statiRtics on the general characteristic.:s of the popu In addition to the reports on population, the Bureau of the. lation (originally publhihed in Series P-B U.S. Summary bullcthl); Census is presenting a separate group of reports on housing from and Chapter C presents detailed data on the characteristics of t,he Seventeenth Decennial Census. Hou&ing Volume I provides the population of the United Htatcs (oriµ;inally vublishcd in Series st.atistics on the general characteristics of housing, and Housing P-C U. S. Summary bulletin). Most of the dnt11. that are pre Volume II provides statistics relating characteristics of households sented for the United States in this volume hnve also boon pre to housing characteristics. senter! for each Stute, as well as for many of the coHstitucnt Preliminary Sample Dnta From the 1950 Census partH of t.hc St.at.e, in the State parts of the volmnc. The HtatifiticH in Chapter A relate to t.hc l.o('.al JlO[llliation of the Preliminary sample figures on characteristics of tho pop4lation lJnited States and its urhan and rum! parts, rlaces c~h1t-1Hilicd by of the United States from the 1050 Census of Population have size, regions, divisions, and t.he States n:1d their urban and rural been published in the Series PC-7 reports. The preliminary fig ])arts, counties, minor civil divisions, incorporated and 1rnincor ures presented in the Sel'ies PC-7 reports were based on tabula porntcd places, urbanized areas, standard metropolitan nreas, tions of a sample of about 0.1 percent of the populat;ion (150,000 State economic areas, economic subregions, and the metropclitrm persons) and difTer somewhat from tho final figure~ because of districts of lll40. Selected statistics aro nlso induded for tho sampling variability. Fmthermore, other differences appear be Tcnitories, possessions, etc. cause the preliminary figures did not include all the rcfinmnents l\'Iost of the tables in this volume are devotNl to tho presentation that resulted from detailed examination of the schcclules in the preparation of the final data. of information 011 tho characterist.ics of the population. Statistics on tho general chnrnct·,cristics, cont11.incd in Chapt.m· B, include Current Population Reports data on urban-rural residence, age, sex, race, nativity, citizenship, country of birth, school enrollment, years of school completed, The Bureau of t,he Census conducts every month the Current marital status, residence in 194!l, employment status, occupation, Population Survey covering a sample of 25,000 households through indust~·y, class of worker, and family income. In Chapter C, out the country. This survey has been in operation since April information on most of these characteristics is preRentecl again 1940 and has provided national estimates of the employment but in greater detail. The statistics in Chapter C include c1·oss status of the population (Current Population Reports, Series P-57, classificntions of age w\th race, nativity, citizenship, marital status, "The Monthly Report on the Labor Force"), 'The distribution relationship to hou;;chold head, cdur.at.ion, and employmcut status; of employed workers by major occupation group is included each Uie occupai;ional £me! industrial atl•achme11ts of the labor force; quarter in this series; and statisLics on other subjects, such as and personal income. In addition to data for Uie United States marital status, school enrollment, mobility of t•he population, and as a whole, statistics on the characteristics of the population arc income, are collected in the Current Population Smvey and pub. also shown for tho four regions of the country (Northeast., North lished annually in other series of Cui·rent Populati:on Re'Jlorts. Central, South, and West), and for the nine groups of States The intercensal statisL!cs provided by the Clll'rent Population designated us "geographic divisions"; certain summaries for States, Survey are, in general, designed to be comparable with the data and for stm1dard metropolil;an 1>,rous and cities of 100,000 inhabi for the United States obtained in the decennial population cen tants or more, arc also included, In most of the tables for the suses. Discussion of the comparability of specific statistics is United States, figures are shown separatnly for the urban, rural presented below under "Population characteristics." nonfarm, and rnral-farm populatiou. Selected statistics are also presented for Ala::;ka, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. ARRANGEMENT OF TABLES RELATED MATERIALS Following the 18 text tables (tables A--S), which give selected summary data, arc the detailed tables published originally in the Volume IV, Special Reports Series P-A, P·-B, and P-C summa1·y bulletins. They were num Additional reports on the characteristics of the population will bered in such a way a:; to p1•ovide a continuous series when bou11d be ·published in Volume IV of the 1950 Census of Population. together in this volume. Thus tables 1 to 33 present data on These reports relate mainly to the United States and regions with, the nun1ber of inhn.bitants, tables 34 to 93 present data on gen il1 soiµe. oases, a few tables for States ancl largo stnnclard metro ernl chamo.tcl'istics ul' tho population, and tables D'l to 185.. pr\l· politan p,rca,s- and cities. .' T4ey cover the following subjects: serit ·the dctn.lled data on the characteris~ics. of ~he :populaq'61.~; Employment Characteristics, Occupational and Industrial Ohar The gcnei'al content of the tables in Chaptor B a11d Chapter. C actcriiitics1 Characteristics of Iramilies, Marital Status, Institu. isXii1dica,tcd in the outlines on pp. vm to ~. 1 2 UNITED STATES SUMMARY ·AVAILABILITY OF UNPUBLISHED DATA Dnte of Enumeration The data on the characteristics of the population that were The date of enumeration for the Decennial Censuses of 1950, tabulated but not published for States, standard metropolitan 1940, and 1930 was April 1 in accordance with the requirements of areas, cities, and other areas are described in the State bulletins, the Fifteenth Census Act. The Census of 1920 was taken as of Series P-B and P-C. The tabulated but unpublished statistics January 1 and that of 1910 was taken as of April 15. For the can be made available, upon request, for the cost of transcription decennial censuses between 1830 and 1900, the date of enumeration or consolidation. was June 1 and in the period 1790 to 1830 the census date was the first Monday in August. The enumeration date April 1 was COVERAGE OF CENSUS selected for recent censuses as a date on which the number of persons away from home would be at a minimum and on which Usual Place of Residence the weather condition13 favor rather than impede .tl:i.e field _work. .· I~-- accordance w-ith Census practice dating back to 1790, each Enumeration for the 1950 Census of Population began on April 1, person enumerated in the 1950 Census was counted as an inhabit 1050. Two-thirds of the population had been enumerated by ant of his usual place of residence ot· usual place of abode, that is, mid-April, nine-tenths by the end of the month. This much of the the place where he lives and sleeps most of the time. This place canvass was just about on schedule, Unfavorable weather condi is not necessarily the same as his legal residence, voting residence, tions in certain parts of the country delayed the beginning of or domicile, although, in the vast majority of cases, .the use of enumeration, in some areas to as late as mid-May. Nevertheless, these different bases of classification would produce identical by the end of June all but one percent of the enumeration had results. been completed. In the application of this i·ule, persons were not always counted The fact that the enumeration is spread over a period of weeks, as residents of the places in which they happened to be found by rather than made on a single day, creates certain problems with the census enumerators. Persons in continental United States respect to coverage. Thus, some persons who move during the and Hawaii in places where guests usually pay for quarters (hotels, enumeration period may be missed altogether, since the area in etc.) were enumerated on the night of April 11, and those whose which they originally lived may not be canvassed before they usual place of residence was elsewhere were allocated to their move and enumeration may be completed in the area of their homes. Visitors found staying in private homes, however, were new home by the time they arrive. Conversely, there is the not ordinarily interviewed there. Information on persons away possibility of duplicate enumeration, once at the initial residence from their usual place of residence was obtained from other and once at their new home. It seems probable, however, that the members of their families, landladies, etc. If an entire family net result is an underenumeration of these movers.