# Presentation: 514535

## America at the Dawn of a New Century

**POPULATION PROFILE OF THE UNITED STATES: 2000**

**Notes:**
In years ending in zero, population censuses provide detailed information about the people living in the United States. In the meantime, people are born and die; some move and others take their place. For the years in between censuses, people who need more recent numbers turn to survey results from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

## The primary sources for this presentation are: 

- The Decennial Censuses of Population and Housing (Census 2000 and earlier censuses)
- The Current Population Survey (CPS),  and
- The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

**Notes:**
The primary sources for this report are the Census Bureau’s Decennial Census of Population and Housing, the Current Population Survey (CPS), and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). 

Data for the United States include the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

Estimates using sample data from the CPS and SIPP are weighted by population controls based on the 1990 decennial census adjusted for estimated net undercount.  The population universe for these surveys is the civilian noninstitutionalized population. As a result, these estimates are not consistent with population estimates computed from either the intercensal estimates program (which are not adjusted for estimated net census undercount), or the 2000 decennial census.

## Every state grew during the 1990s, but DC lost population. 

*Every state grew during the 1990s, but DC lost population. *

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 and 1990 census.

**Notes:**
Census 2000 was the largest census in the history of the United States, counting 281 million people. In fact, the 33 million people added to the U.S. population between 1990 and 2000 is the largest census-to-census increase ever. 

The growth rate during the 1990s (13 percent) was more than the rate in the 1980s (10 percent), but significantly less than the rate experienced during 1950s – when a baby boom contributed appreciably to the 18-percent gain. 

The last decade of the 20th Century was the only one in which every state gained population. Nevada had the largest percent gain, 66 percent. And North Dakota had the smallest, 0.5 percent. The District of Columbia lost population.

## In Census 2000, 75 percent of respondents said they were White alone.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

**Notes:**
The overwhelming majority of respondents to Census 2000 (98 percent) reported only one race. The largest group (75 percent) reported White alone. Another 12 percent reported Black or African American alone. Just under 1 percent of the population indicated only American Indian and Alaska Native. And 4 percent indicated Asian only. Among those indicating only one race, the smallest race group was the population of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, accounting for only 0.1 percent of the total U.S. population. The remainder of the single-race respondents (6 percent of the total) indicated that they were Some other race alone.

Just over 2 percent of the population indicated more than one race. The most common combination was “White and Some other race,” accounting for 32 percent of all respondents in this category. This group was followed by “White and American Indian and Alaska Native” (16 percent), “White and Asian” (13 percent), and “White and Black or African American” (11 percent). Of all respondents reporting more than one race, 7 percent indicated three or more races.

## Hispanics accounted for 12.5 percent of the U.S. population in 2000.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

**Notes:**
The federal government considers race and Hispanic origin to be two separate and distinct concepts. For Census 2000, about 13 percent of the total U.S. population indicated that they were Hispanic or Latino.  The racial distribution of this group contrasted sharply with the racial distribution of the population as a whole. Nearly half (48 percent) of Hispanics indicated that they were White alone. Another 42 percent indicated that they were Some other race alone. Less than 4 percent reported Black or African American alone, American Indian and Alaska Native alone, or Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone. Approximately 6 percent of all Hispanics reported two or more races. 

## Between 1990 and 2000, the population aged 45 to 54 swelled 49 percent and those aged 85 and older grew 38 percent.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 and 1990 census.

**Notes:**
The median age of the U.S. population in 2000 was 35.3 – the highest it has ever been. In 1990, the median was 32.9. 

As the large generation of baby boomers began passing their 45th birthday, the population aged 45 to 54 swelled 49 percent during the decade.

For the first time in the history of the census, the population aged 65 and older increased at a slower rate than the population as a whole. The percentage of people aged 65 and older fell from 12.6 percent in 1990 to 12.4 percent in 2000. Relatively low birth rates during the late 1920s and early 1930s meant a relatively small number of people celebrated their 65th birthday in time for Census 2000.

## Women outnumber men two to one in the group aged 85 and older.

- (Number of men per 100 women by age)

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2000.

**Notes:**
In 2000, the female population in the United States (140 million) was 6 million higher than the male population (134 million). Yet, among the group under age 20, there were 105 boys for every 100 girls. This male-to-female ratio declined as age increased. For men and women aged 20 to 44, the ratio was 98. But among the group aged 85 and older, there were only 50 men for every 100 women. In 2000, the projected average life expectancy at birth for women was 79 years, compared with 74 years for men.

## Almost one in five adults had some type of disability in 1997 and the likelihood of having a disability increased with age.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Wave 5 (August - November 1997) of the 1996 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation.

**Notes:**
Among those aged 45 to 54, 23 percent had some form of a disability and 14 percent had a severe disability. Only 4 percent needed personal assistance. For those aged 80 and older, the proportion increased to 74 percent with some disability, 58 percent with a severe disability, and 35 percent needing assistance.

## Families still dominate American households, but less so than they did 30 years ago.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1970 and 2000

**Notes:**
Families represented 81 percent of households in 1970, but only 69 percent of America’s 105 million households in 2000, according to the 2000 Current Population Survey.  The decline in married-couple families with children has been especially evident, falling from 40 percent of all households in 1970 to 24 percent in 2000. At the same time, the share of married couples without children remained relatively stable, accounting for 30 percent of all households in 1970 and 29 percent in 2000. However, the percentage of family households with no spouse present grew significantly, rising from 11 percent to 16 percent.

## Since 1993, both families and nonfamilies have seen median household incomes rise.

- *Family  household,
- no spouse present.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1994 and 2001

**Notes:**
The 2000 median household income for both family ($51,800) and nonfamily households ($25,400) remained statistically unchanged from the previous year. Still, all household types showed a significant gain since 1993, the low point for the decade. The 2000 median for married-couple households was $59,300, while the median for a family maintained by a man with no spouse present was $42,100 and for a woman with no spouse was $28,100. 

## People in Married-couple families have the lowest poverty rates.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2001

**Notes:**
People in married-couple families had the lowest poverty rate      (6 percent) of all family types in 2000. But because this family type is the most common, they still made up a large share of all poor families (42 percent). People in female-householder families with no husband present had the highest poverty rate (25 percent). Although they made up only 17 percent of all families, they accounted for 50 percent of poor families. 

However, poverty rates were even higher when there were no workers in the family.

## The poor of any age are more likely than others to lack health insurance coverage.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2001

**Notes:**
With 27 percent uninsured, young adults, aged 18 to 24, were more likely than any other age group to lack coverage during the entire year.  Because of Medicare, the elderly were at the other extreme with only about 1 percent lacking coverage. However, the poor were more likely to lack health insurance coverage in every age group. Among poor children, 22 percent were not covered in 2000.

## The number of elementary and high school students in 2000 fell just short of the all-time high of 49 million reached in 1970.

- (in millions)

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, October 1970-2000.

**Notes:**
.
Eight million children were enrolled in nursery school or kindergarten and 33 million in elementary school, according to the October 2000 Current Population Survey (CPS). Sixteen million students attended high schools and 15 million attended college 

Much of the growth in enrollment has been driven by an increase in births that took place between 1981 and 1994 as women born during the baby boom reached their peak childbearing ages. In 2000, 65 percent of elementary and high school students had baby-boomer parents. Immigration has been another factor contributing to growing enrollment. Among school-aged children, 19 percent had at least one foreign-born parent – and 5 percent of elementary and high school students were foreign-born themselves.

## Improvements in educational attainment cross racial and ethnic lines.

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2000

**Notes:**
Among White non-Hispanics aged 25 and older, 88 percent were high school graduates, surpassing the record high reached in 1999. The percentage of Blacks who were high school graduates was 79 percent, also a new record high for this group. Over the past decade, the differences in the percentages of Blacks and White non-Hispanics who had completed high school narrowed as Black high school graduation rates improved. For the population aged 25 and older, the difference between the two groups decreased from 16 percentage points in 1989 to about 10 percentage points in 2000.

The Hispanic population was less likely than other groups to have completed high school or college. In 2000, 57 percent of Hispanics aged 25 and older were high school graduates – a significant improvement over the 1989 share of 51 percent.  However, the percentage of Hispanics who held a bachelor’s degree or higher, 11 percent, was not significantly different than the percentage in 1989.

## The majority of U.S. households have computer access.

- Source: U.S, Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, 1997-2000

**Notes:**
The majority of households in 2000, 51 percent, had access to a computer, up from 42 percent in 1998.  Since 1997, when data on Internet use was first collected, the proportion of households with Internet access has more than doubled from 18 percent to 42 percent.  

## You can access Census Bureau data through:

- The Census Bureau’s Web site at www.census.gov.
- The Census Bureau’s Customer Service Center at 301-457-4100.
- State Data Centers: Call 301-457-1305.
- Census Information Centers (For information on specific racial and ethnic groups): Call 301-457-1305.
- Federal Depository Libraries: Call 888-293-6498.

**Notes:**
Today’s Census Bureau surveys touch on topics that the population census cannot even begin to address, such as computer use, voting behavior, and neighborhood crime. 

The Census Bureau supplies information that federal, state, and local governments need to govern, businesses need to stay in business, nonprofits need to serve their communities, and you need to make informed decisions. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!