“What do you do for a

living?” is a question frequently asked in contexts ranging from

social conversation to

scientific research. A

person’s occupation has

often been a defining

characteristic, so much

so that many of today’s

surnames reflect the

occupation of a long ago

relative.

Census 2000 counted

281.4 million people in

the United States on

April 1, 2000, of whom

129.7 million were

employed civilians aged

16 and over (Table 1).1

The census classifies

occupations at various

levels, from the leastdetailed summary level

— six occupational

groups — to the most

detailed level — 509

occupation categories. This Census 2000

Sample Brief examines occupations of the

employed civilian population 16 years old

and older.

Census 2000 occupation classifications

were based on the government-wide

2000 Standard Occupation Classification

(SOC) system, whereas the 1990 census

occupations were based on the 1980

SOC. The SOC was overhauled in 1998

(with additional revisions in 2000) to create a classification system that more

accurately reflected the occupational

structure in the United States at the time

of the revisions. As a result, comparisons of occupation data from the 1990

census and Census 2000 are not recommended and therefore are not attempted

in this report.

At the least-detailed summary level, the

highest proportion of civilian workers 

16 and older, 33.6 percent, were in

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued August 2003

C2KBR-25

Occupations: 2000

Census 2000 Brief

By 

Peter Fronczek 

and 

Patricia Johnson

Occupation

a. What kind of work was this person doing?

(For example: registered nurse, personnel manager,

supervisor of order department, auto mechanic, accountant)

b. What were this person’s most important

activities or duties? (For example: patient care,

directing hiring policies, supervising order clerks, repairing

automobiles, reconciling financial records)

Figure 1.

Reproduction of the Questions on 

Occupation from Census 2000

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

28

1 The text of this report discusses data for the

United States, including the 50 states and the

District of Columbia. Data for the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico are shown in Table 6 and Figure 3 only.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

management, professional, and

related occupations, followed by

26.7 percent in sales and office

occupations.2 The occupational

group made up of farming, fishing,

and forestry occupations had the

lowest proportion of workers 

(0.7 percent).3 The proportion of

workers in the other summary

level occupational groups were:

service occupations, 14.9 percent;

production, transportation, and

material moving occupations, 

14.6 percent; and construction,

extraction, and maintenance occupations, 9.4 percent. 

This report is part of a series that

presents population and housing

data collected by Census 2000, and

highlights the occupations of

American workers in 2000 for the

United States, regions, states, metropolitan areas, and counties.

Because of the importance of occupation data in understanding the

economy and the changes taking

place in society, the Census Bureau

has asked questions on occupation

in every decennial census since

1850. In Census 2000, two questions on occupation (Figure 1) were

asked of everyone 15 or older (with

responses tabulated for those 16

and older). The first question (28a)

focused on the kind of work done,

while the second (28b) asked about

the duties of the job. Both questions allowed respondents to write

a description of their occupation

and its duties. The descriptions

provided in these two questions,

along with the answers to the questions on type of industry and

whether an occupation was with the

government, a private for-profit

organization, a nonprofit organization, or a family business enabled

the Census Bureau to classify the

responses into one of 509 occupation categories. 

Differences still exist in the

jobs held by men and women. 

Despite the movement into nontraditional occupations, men and

women still showed differences in

the types of jobs they held in 2000.

For example, 36.7 percent of

women but only 17.9 percent of

men worked in sales and office

occupations. The proportions of

men and women were also substantially different in construction,

extraction, and maintenance occupations where 17.1 percent of men

and only 0.7 percent of women

were employed; production, transportation, and material moving

occupations where 20.5 percent of

men and 8.0 percent of women

worked; and service occupations

where 12.1 percent of men were

employed compared with 18.0 percent of women.

Approximately 31.4 percent of all

employed men 16 and older

worked in management, professional, and related occupations.

The next highest categories were

production, transportation, and

material moving occupations with

20.5 percent; sales and office

occupations at 17.9 percent; and

construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations with 17.1 percent. Only 1.1 percent of men

were employed in farming, fishing,

and forestry occupations. 

More than one-third (36.7 percent)

of women 16 and older worked in

sales and office occupations in

2000, closely followed by management, professional, and related

occupations (36.2 percent). The

only other group employing more

than 10 percent of women was

service occupations, at 18.0 percent. Construction, extraction, and

maintenance occupations and

farming, fishing, and forestry occupations employed the lowest percentage of women at 0.7 percent

and 0.3 percent, respectively.

Tables 2 and 3 present the ten

occupations employing the most

men and the most women, based

on occupations at the most

detailed level available from

Census 2000 — 509 occupation

categories. Once again differences

appear in the type of jobs held by

men and women 16 and older.

Only one occupation, retail salespersons, appears on both lists.

The top occupations for men

included drivers/sales workers and

truck drivers; first-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers; retail salespersons; laborers

and freight, stock, and material

movers; carpenters; and janitors

and building cleaners. For women,

the top occupations included secretaries and administrative assistants; elementary and middle

school teachers; registered nurses;

cashiers; and retail salespersons.

The diversity of the ten most popular occupations was greater for

men than for women. For men,

five of the six major occupational

groups are represented on their

top ten list with only farming, fishing, and forestry occupations not

included. In contrast, only three of

the six major occupational groups

are represented on the women’s

list of the ten most popular occupations: management, professional, and related occupations; service

occupations; and sales and related

occupations.

2 The estimates in this report are based

on responses from a sample of the population. As with all surveys, estimates may

vary from the actual values because of sampling variation or other factors. All statements in this report have undergone statistical testing and are significant at the

90-percent confidence level unless otherwise

noted. 3 This surprisingly low percentage

requires further explanation. Prior to the

overhaul of the SOC, farm and ranch owners

and renters were classified in the farming,

fishing, and forestry occupations group.

After the reclassification, they were put into

the management, professional, and related

occupations group. 
U.S. Census Bureau 3

Table 1.

Selected Occupational Groups and Subgroups by Sex for the United States: 2000

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Occupational groups and subgroups

Total Men Women

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total population ............................... 281,421,906 – 137,916,186 – 143,505,720 –

Employed civilian population 16 years and over . . . . . . 129,721,512 100.0 69,091,443 100.0 60,630,069 100.0

Management, professional, and related occupations . . . 43,646,731 33.6 21,708,758 31.4 21,937,973 36.2

Management, business, and financial operations

occupations . ...................................... 17,448,038 13.5 10,131,223 14.7 7,316,815 12.1

Management occupations, except farmers and farm

managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,115,046 8.6 6,910,883 10.0 4,204,163 6.9

Farmers and farm managers . ...................... 773,218 0.6 661,288 1.0 111,930 0.2

Business and financial operations occupations ....... 5,559,774 4.3 2,559,052 3.7 3,000,722 4.9

Business operations specialists ................... 2,718,121 2.1 1,248,755 1.8 1,469,366 2.4

Financial specialists ............................. 2,841,653 2.2 1,310,297 1.9 1,531,356 2.5

Professional and related occupations . ................ 26,198,693 20.2 11,577,535 16.8 14,621,158 24.1

Computer and mathematical occupations . . . ......... 3,168,447 2.4 2,218,400 3.2 950,047 1.6

Architecture and engineering occupations . .......... 2,659,298 2.1 2,301,953 3.3 357,345 0.6

Architects, surveyors, cartographers, and engineers . 1,926,689 1.5 1,702,234 2.5 224,455 0.4

Drafters, engineering, and mapping technicians .... 732,609 0.6 599,719 0.9 132,890 0.2

Life, physical, and social science occupations ........ 1,203,443 0.9 709,392 1.0 494,051 0.8

Community and social services occupations ......... 1,953,184 1.5 787,587 1.1 1,165,597 1.9

Legal occupations . ............................... 1,412,737 1.1 747,170 1.1 665,567 1.1

Education, training, and library occupations .......... 7,337,276 5.7 1,930,948 2.8 5,406,328 8.9

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

occupations ..................................... 2,484,201 1.9 1,302,419 1.9 1,181,782 1.9

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations . . . 5,980,107 4.6 1,579,666 2.3 4,400,441 7.3

Health diagnosing and treating practitioners and

technical occupations .......................... 4,144,065 3.2 1,210,571 1.8 2,933,494 4.8

Health technologists and technicians .............. 1,836,042 1.4 369,095 0.5 1,466,947 2.4

Service occupations ................................. 19,276,947 14.9 8,346,408 12.1 10,930,539 18.0

Healthcare support occupations ...................... 2,592,815 2.0 305,247 0.4 2,287,568 3.8

Protective service occupations ....................... 2,549,906 2.0 2,041,698 3.0 508,208 0.8

Fire fighting, prevention, and law enforcement

workers, including supervisors .................... 1,536,287 1.2 1,300,671 1.9 235,616 0.4

Other protective service workers, including supervisors 1,013,619 0.8 741,027 1.1 272,592 0.4

Food preparation and serving related occupations ...... 6,251,618 4.8 2,663,418 3.9 3,588,200 5.9

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

occupations . ...................................... 4,254,365 3.3 2,565,933 3.7 1,688,432 2.8

Personal care and service occupations ................ 3,628,243 2.8 770,112 1.1 2,858,131 4.7

Sales and office occupations ......................... 34,621,390 26.7 12,341,968 17.9 22,279,422 36.7

Sales and related occupations ....................... 14,592,699 11.2 7,364,006 10.7 7,228,693 11.9

Office and administrative support occupations .......... 20,028,691 15.4 4,977,962 7.2 15,050,729 24.8

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations . ........... 951,810 0.7 750,915 1.1 200,895 0.3

Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations ............................................... 12,256,138 9.4 11,802,699 17.1 453,439 0.7

Construction and extraction occupations ............... 7,149,269 5.5 6,937,857 10.0 211,412 0.3

Supervisors, construction and extraction workers . . . . . 911,013 0.7 886,001 1.3 25,012 0.0

Construction trades workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,116,087 4.7 5,933,117 8.6 182,970 0.3

Extraction workers ................................ 122,169 0.1 118,739 0.2 3,430 0.0

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations . . . .... 5,106,869 3.9 4,864,842 7.0 242,027 0.4

Production, transportation, and material moving

occupations ........................................ 18,968,496 14.6 14,140,695 20.5 4,827,801 8.0

Production occupations .............................. 11,008,625 8.5 7,437,071 10.8 3,571,554 5.9

Transportation and material moving occupations . ...... 7,959,871 6.1 6,703,624 9.7 1,256,247 2.1

Supervisors, transportation and material moving

workers ........................................ 237,902 0.2 193,527 0.3 44,375 0.1

Aircraft and traffic control occupations . . . ............ 158,481 0.1 147,143 0.2 11,338 0.0

Motor vehicle operators ........................... 3,852,820 3.0 3,394,798 4.9 458,022 0.8

Rail, water and other transportation occupations ...... 400,826 0.3 352,303 0.5 48,523 0.1

Material moving workers ........................... 3,309,842 2.6 2,615,853 3.8 693,989 1.1

– Not applicable.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Summary File 3.
Management, professional,

and related occupations 

paid the most to both 

men and women.

At the least-detailed summary level

(six occupational groups) for

employed civilian men and women

16 and older, management, professional, and related occupations paid

the most. The median 1999 earnings4 in these occupations were

$50,034 for men and $35,654 for

women (Figure 2 and Table 4). The

second highest paying occupational

group for men, with a median of

$35,079, was sales and office occupations; followed by construction,

extraction, and maintenance occupations at $32,000; production,

transportation, and material moving

occupations at $30,992; and service

occupations at $26,000. The lowest paying occupational group for

men was farming, fishing, and

forestry occupations, with a median

of only $20,000 in 1999 earnings. 

The second highest paying occupational group for women was construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations, where the

median earnings were $29,000.

This category was followed by sales

and office occupations at $24,497;

production, transportation, and

material moving occupations at

$20,850; and service occupations at

$17,805. As with men, the lowest

paying occupational group for

women was farming, fishing, and

forestry occupations, with a median

earnings of only $15,996.

Women earned less than 

men in all occupations, but

construction, extraction, and

maintenance occupations was

closest to parity.

In each of the summary level occupational groups, men earned more

than women as measured by median earnings in 1999. The occupational group closest to parity was

the traditional “blue collar” group,

represented by construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations,

where women earned 90.6 percent

of men’s earnings (Table 4). In

farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, women earned 80.0 percent of their male counterparts’ pay.

However, both these occupational

groups employed very few women

in 2000. Of all employed civilians

16 and older employed in construction, extraction, and maintenance

4 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

The Ten Occupations1 Employing the Most Men for the

United States: 2000

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling

error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Occupations Number Percent

Employed civilian males 16 years and over...... 69,091,443 100.0

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers ................. 2,925,936 4.2

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers. . . 1,606,310 2.3

Retail salespersons ................................. 1,605,860 2.3

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand. . 1,448,035 2.1

Carpenters . . ....................................... 1,317,690 1.9

Janitors and building cleaners ........................ 1,308,889 1.9

Managers, all other.................................. 1,253,965 1.8

Construction laborers ................................ 1,066,404 1.5

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing . . . . 1,026,745 1.5

First-line supervisors/managers of production and

operating workers . . ................................ 1,008,876 1.5

1

Based on the most detailed level of occupations available in Census 2000 – 509 occupations.

Note: Confidence intervals are not displayed because they round to the percentages shown in the

table.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Sample Edited Detail File.

Table 3.

The Ten Occupations1 Employing the Most Women for the

United States: 2000

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling

error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Occupations Number Percent

Employed civilian females 16 years and over . . . . 60,630,069 100.0

Secretaries and administrative assistants .............. 3,597,535 5.9

Elementary and middle school teachers. . .............. 2,442,104 4.0

Registered nurses................................... 2,065,238 3.4

Cashiers ........................................... 2,030,805 3.3

Retail salespersons ................................. 1,775,889 2.9

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks .......... 1,526,803 2.5

Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides............ 1,469,736 2.4

Customer service representatives ..................... 1,396,105 2.3

Child care workers .................................. 1,253,306 2.1

Waiters and waitresses .............................. 1,228,977 2.0

1

Based on the most detailed level of occupations available in Census 2000 – 509 occupations.

Note: Confidence intervals are not displayed because they round to the percentages shown in the

table.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Sample Edited Detail File.

4 Earnings is calculated for year-round,

full-time workers, defined as employed civilians 16 years and older who worked 50

weeks or more in 1999 and usually 35 hours

or more a week. 
U.S. Census Bureau 5

occupations in 2000, 96.3 percent

were men and only 3.7 percent

were women, representing about

0.7 percent of all employed women.

Similarly, only about 0.3 percent of

employed women were in farming,

fishing, and forestry occupations.

In the occupational groups employing the most women — sales and

office occupations and management, professional, and related

occupations — women earned 

69.8 percent and 71.3 percent compared with their male colleagues,

respectively.

The occupational group where

women earned the least compared

to men was production, transportation, and material moving occupations, where the median earnings

for women were only 67.3 percent

of men’s earnings.

Asians and non-Hispanic

Whites (who reported no 

other race) were more often

in management, professional,

and related occupations than

people reporting other races.

Census 2000 allowed respondents

to choose more than one race. With

the exception of the Two or more

races group, all race groups discussed in this report refer to people

who indicated only one racial identity among the six major categories:

Figure 2.

Selected Occupational Groups by Median 

1999 Earnings by Sex: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Sample Edited Detail File.

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Production,

transportation and

material moving

Construction,

extraction,

and maintenance

Farming, fishing,

and forestry

Sales and office

Service

Management,

professional

and related

Total

Men

Women

$20,850 

$43,000

$50,034

$35,654

$21,000

$26,000

$17,805

$27,700

$35,079

$24,497

$20,000

$20,000

$15,996

$32,000

$32,000

$29,000

$28,800

$30,992

Occupational groups

Table 4.

Median 1999 Earnings of Men and Women and Women' s Earnings as a Percentage of Men' s

Earnings by Selected Occupation Groups for the United States: 2000

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Occupational groups

Men Women

Median

earnings

Median

earnings

Percent of

men’s earnings

Management, professional, and related occupations . ............... $50,034 $35,654 71.3

Service occupations ............................................ $26,000 $17,805 68.5

Sales and office occupations . . .................................. $35,079 $24,497 69.8

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations......................... $20,000 $15,996 80.0

Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations ............. $32,000 $29,000 90.6

Production, transportation, and material moving occupations ........ $30,992 $20,850 67.3

Note: Confidence intervals are not displayed because they round to the percentages shown in the table.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Sample Edited Detail File.
White, Black or African American,

American Indian and Alaska Native,

Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other

Pacific Islander, and Some other

race.5 The use of the single-race

population in this report does not

imply that it is the preferred

method of presenting or analyzing

data. The Census Bureau uses a

variety of approaches.6

The percentage of workers

employed in management, professional, and related occupations

was higher (44.6 percent) for

Asians (who reported no other

race) than for people reporting any

other race group shown in Table 5.

Non-Hispanic Whites (who reported

no other race) had the second

highest percentage of workers in

this occupational group (36.6 percent), followed by people who

reported Black or African American

only (25.2 percent), American

Indian and Alaska Native only

(24.3 percent), and Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

only (23.3 percent).7 8 About 

18.1 percent of Hispanics were

employed in management, professional, and related occupations.

Blacks (who reported no 

other race) were prominent in

production, transportation,

and material moving

occupations.

About 18.6 percent of Black workers (who reported no other race)

were employed in production,

transportation, and material moving occupations. This percentage

was higher than for people reporting any other race group except

Some other race only (24.0 percent), a residual category used in

the census to classify individuals

who did not identify themselves as

being in one of the other race

groups. Approximately one-fifth

(21.2 percent) of Hispanics were

employed in production, transportation, and material moving

occupations. In contrast, only

13.2 percent of non-Hispanic

Whites were in this group.

6 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 5.

Selected Occupational Groups by Race and Hispanic Origin for the United States: 2000

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin

Occupational groups

Employed

civilian

population

16 years

and over

Management,

professional,

and related

occupations Service

Sales

and office

Farming,

fishing,

and

forestry

Construction,

extraction,

and maintenance

Production,

transportation, and

material

moving

Total. . . ........................... 129,721,512 33.6 14.9 26.7 0.7 9.4 14.6

White alone............................ 102,324,962 35.6 13.4 27.0 0.6 9.8 13.6

Black or African American alone.......... 13,001,795 25.2 22.0 27.3 0.4 6.5 18.6

American Indian and Alaska Native alone . 914,484 24.3 20.6 24.0 1.3 12.9 16.8

Asian alone............................ 4,786,782 44.6 14.1 24.0 0.3 3.6 13.4

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific

Islander alone. ......................... 157,119 23.3 20.8 28.8 0.9 9.6 16.5

Some other race ....................... 5,886,427 14.2 22.7 21.7 3.5 14.0 24.0

Two or more races ..................... 2,649,943 26.7 19.8 27.1 0.9 9.8 15.7

Hispanic or Latino (of any race) .......... 13,347,876 18.1 21.8 23.1 2.7 13.1 21.2

White alone, not Hispanic or Latino ...... 95,834,018 36.6 12.8 27.2 0.5 9.6 13.2

U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Sample Edited Detail File.

5 For further information on each of the

six major race groups and the Two or more

races population, see reports from the

Census 2000 Brief series (C2KBR/01), available on the Census 2000 Web site at

www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000

/briefs.html 6 This report draws heavily on Summary

File 3, a Census 2000 product that can be

accessed through American FactFinder,

available from the Census Bureau’s Web site,

www.census.gov. Information on people who

reported more than one race, such as “White

and American Indian and Alaska Native” or

“Asian and Black or African American” is

forthcoming in Summary File 4, which will

also be available through American FactFinder

in 2003. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race.

7 Hereafter this report uses the term Black

to refer to people who are Black or African

American, the term Pacific Islander to refer to

people who are Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander, and the term Hispanic to refer

to people who are Hispanic or Latino. 

Because Hispanics may be of any race,

data in this report for Hispanics overlap with

data for racial groups. Based on Census 2000

sample data, the proportion Hispanic was 8.0

percent for Whites, 1.9 percent for Blacks,

14.6 percent for American Indians and Alaska

Natives, 1.0 percent for Asians, 9.5 percent

for Pacific Islanders, 97.1 percent for those

reporting Some other race, and 31.1 percent

for those reporting Two or more races. 8 The difference between American Indian

and Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islanders was not statistically

significant.
Blacks were also well represented in

sales and office occupations, where

27.3 percent were employed in

2000. This was second only to

Pacific Islanders at 28.8 percent,

and about the same as non-Hispanic

Whites at 27.2 percent. Sales and

office occupations employed 

23.1 percent of Hispanic workers.

Hispanics led in farming,

fishing, and forestry

occupations.

Although the percentage of people

working in farming, fishing, and

forestry occupations was much

smaller than in the other summary

level occupational groups, the percentage of each race and ethnic

group in this category is interesting.

These occupations claimed a higher

percentage of Hispanic workers, 

2.7 percent, than any of the race

groups examined in this brief

(except the residual Some other

race category, which had 3.5 percent). This percentage was about

double that of American Indians

and Alaska Natives, 1.3 percent;

and was far higher than the percentage of Pacific Islanders, 0.9 percent; non-Hispanic Whites, 0.5 percent; Blacks, 0.4 percent; and

Asians 0.3 percent.

THE GEOGRAPHIC

DISTRIBUTION OF

OCCUPATIONS

The following discussion focuses

on the employed civilian population 16 and over.

The four regions did not

differ greatly in the

distribution of occupations.

Table 6 shows occupational groups

for the four census regions, the 

50 states, and the District of

Columbia.9 In each region the pattern was similar: the highest percentages of workers were in management, professional and related

occupations, followed by sales and

office occupations. Construction,

extraction, and maintenance occupations and farming, fishing, and

forestry occupations had the lowest percentage of workers. The

only regional differences involved

service occupations and production, transportation and material

moving occupations. The percentage of workers in service occupations in the Northeast and West

was higher than the percentage for

production, transportation and

material moving occupations,

while in the Midwest and the

South, the opposite was true.

The District of Columbia 

had the highest percentage 

of workers in management,

professional, and related

occupations.

Over half (51.1 percent) the workers in the District of Columbia

were in management, professional,

and related occupations in 2000,

followed at some distance behind

by the state of Maryland, where

41.3 percent of workers were in

that occupational group. These

high percentages in the District of

Columbia and Maryland likely

reflect the large presence of federal workers and related support

occupations in those areas.

Another state with a high percentage of workers in management,

professional, and related occupations was Massachusetts (41.1 percent).10 The state with the lowest

percentage of workers in this occupational group was Nevada with

25.7 percent.

Nevada and Hawaii, two states that

cater to vacation and recreation

travelers, led all states in the percentage of workers employed in

service occupations with 24.6 percent and 20.9 percent, respectively. New Hampshire, with only 

13.0 percent, had the lowest proportion of workers in this occupational group.

The range between the states with

the highest and the lowest percentage values was smaller for sales

and office occupations than for any

other occupational group.11 Florida

led in sales and office occupations,

with 29.5 percent of workers

employed in this area. Only 22.8

percent of the workers in the

District of Columbia were

employed in these occupations. 

Seven out of the ten states with

the highest percentage of workers

in production, transportation, and

material moving occupations were

in the South, although the state

with the highest percentage was

Indiana (21.4 percent) in the

Midwest. The seven southern

U.S. Census Bureau 7

9 The Northeast region includes the

states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The Midwest region includes the states of

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North

Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The South region includes the states of

Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida,

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,

Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South

Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West

Virginia, and the District of Columbia, a state

equivalent. The West region includes the

states of Alaska, Arizona, California,

Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,

New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and

Wyoming.

10 The difference between Maryland and

Massachusetts was not statistically significant. 11 Except for the farming, fishing, and

forestry occupational group, which had so

few workers that it is not included.
8 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 6.

Selected Occupational Groups as a Percentage of the Employed Civilian Population

16 Years and Over for the United States, Regions, States, and for Puerto Rico: 2000

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Area

Occupational groups

Employed

civilian

population

16 years

and over

Management,

professional,

and related

occupations Service

Sales

and office

Farming,

fishing,

and forestry

Construction,

extraction,

and

maintenance

Production,

transportation,

and material

moving

United States ...................... 129,721,512 33.6 14.9 26.7 0.7 9.4 14.6

Region

Northeast ............................. 24,904,791 36.5 15.1 27.0 0.4 8.0 13.0

Midwest............................... 31,185,231 32.1 14.4 26.3 0.6 9.0 17.6

South ................................ 45,226,189 32.4 14.7 26.7 0.7 10.6 14.9

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,405,301 34.8 15.4 26.8 1.2 9.4 12.3

State

Alabama .............................. 1,920,189 29.5 13.5 25.9 0.8 11.3 19.0

Alaska ................................ 281,532 34.4 15.6 26.1 1.5 11.6 10.8

Arizona ............................... 2,233,004 32.7 16.2 28.5 0.6 11.0 10.9

Arkansas .............................. 1,173,399 27.7 14.1 25.1 1.5 10.6 21.0

California.............................. 14,718,928 36.0 14.8 26.8 1.3 8.4 12.7

Colorado .............................. 2,205,194 37.4 13.9 27.2 0.6 10.5 10.5

Connecticut ............................ 1,664,440 39.1 14.3 26.5 0.2 8.0 12.0

Delaware.............................. 376,811 35.3 14.6 27.6 0.5 9.5 12.5

District of Columbia...................... 263,108 51.1 16.1 22.8 0.1 4.8 5.2

Florida................................ 6,995,047 31.5 16.9 29.5 0.9 10.3 10.8

Georgia ............................... 3,839,756 32.7 13.4 26.8 0.6 10.8 15.7

Hawaii ................................ 537,909 32.2 20.9 28.1 1.3 8.6 8.9

Idaho................................. 599,453 31.4 15.6 25.3 2.7 10.8 14.2

Illinois ................................ 5,833,185 34.2 13.9 27.6 0.3 8.2 15.7

Indiana ............................... 2,965,174 28.7 14.2 25.3 0.4 10.0 21.4

Iowa ................................. 1,489,816 31.3 14.8 25.9 1.1 8.9 18.1

Kansas ............................... 1,316,283 33.9 14.4 25.8 1.0 9.9 15.0

Kentucky .............................. 1,798,264 28.7 14.3 25.4 0.9 11.0 19.7

Louisiana.............................. 1,851,777 29.9 16.7 26.8 0.8 11.7 14.1

Maine ................................ 624,011 31.5 15.3 25.9 1.7 10.3 15.3

Maryland .............................. 2,608,457 41.3 13.9 26.4 0.3 8.6 9.5

Massachusetts ......................... 3,161,087 41.1 14.1 25.9 0.2 7.5 11.3

Michigan .............................. 4,637,461 31.5 14.8 25.6 0.5 9.2 18.5

Minnesota ............................. 2,580,046 35.8 13.7 26.5 0.7 8.4 14.9

Mississippi............................. 1,173,314 27.4 14.9 24.9 1.2 11.2 20.4

Missouri............................... 2,657,924 31.5 15.0 26.9 0.6 9.8 16.3

Montana .............................. 425,977 33.1 17.2 25.5 2.2 10.7 11.2

Nebraska.............................. 877,237 33.0 14.6 26.4 1.6 9.3 15.1

Nevada ............................... 933,280 25.7 24.6 27.6 0.3 11.4 10.4

New Hampshire......................... 650,871 35.8 13.0 26.6 0.4 9.4 14.8

New Jersey ............................ 3,950,029 38.0 13.6 28.5 0.2 7.8 12.0

New Mexico ........................... 763,116 34.0 17.0 25.9 1.0 11.4 10.7

New York. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,382,988 36.7 16.6 27.1 0.3 7.6 11.7

North Carolina.......................... 3,824,741 31.2 13.5 24.8 0.8 11.0 18.7

North Dakota........................... 316,632 33.3 16.7 26.1 1.7 9.8 12.4

Ohio ................................. 5,402,175 31.0 14.6 26.4 0.3 8.7 19.0

Oklahoma ............................. 1,545,296 30.3 15.5 26.6 0.9 11.3 15.4

Oregon ............................... 1,627,769 33.1 15.3 26.1 1.7 9.1 14.7

Pennsylvania........................... 5,653,500 32.6 14.8 27.0 0.5 8.9 16.3

Rhode Island........................... 500,731 33.9 15.7 27.1 0.3 7.7 15.2

South Carolina ......................... 1,824,700 29.1 14.7 25.2 0.6 11.5 19.0

South Dakota .......................... 374,373 32.6 15.6 26.5 1.9 9.1 14.2

Tennessee............................. 2,651,638 29.5 13.7 26.1 0.6 10.3 19.9

Texas ................................ 9,234,372 33.3 14.6 27.2 0.7 10.9 13.2

Utah ................................. 1,044,362 32.5 14.0 28.9 0.5 10.6 13.5

Vermont............................... 317,134 36.3 14.6 24.5 1.3 9.3 14.0

Virginia ............................... 3,412,647 38.2 13.7 25.5 0.5 9.6 12.5

Washington ............................ 2,793,722 35.6 14.9 25.9 1.6 9.4 12.7

West Virginia........................... 732,673 27.9 16.6 26.1 0.7 12.3 16.4

Wisconsin ............................. 2,734,925 31.3 14.0 25.2 0.9 8.7 19.8

Wyoming .............................. 241,055 30.0 16.7 24.2 1.5 14.8 12.8

Puerto Rico ........................... 930,865 27.4 16.2 28.0 1.1 12.1 15.2

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Summary File 3.
states were Arkansas, Mississippi,

Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama,

South Carolina, and North Carolina.

The District of Columbia with 

5.2 percent had the lowest percentage of production, transportation and material moving workers.

Wyoming (14.8 percent) had the

highest percentage of workers in

the traditional “blue collar” occupational group: construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations,

followed by West Virginia at 

12.3 percent. Once again, the

District of Columbia had the lowest

percentage of workers in this occupational group (4.8 percent). Five

of the next six states with the lowest percentage were Massachusetts,

New York, Rhode Island, New

Jersey, and Connecticut, all in 

the Northeast. 

Sales and office occupations

were predominant in more

counties than any other

occupational group.

Figure 3, a graphical representation

of occupations throughout the

United States and Puerto Rico,

shows which of the least detailed

summary-level occupational

groups12 employed the most civilian

workers 16 and over in each state

and county in the country. 

At the county level, sales and office

occupations (yellow) were the primary occupational group in more

counties than any other group and

every state had at least one county

where this group was primary. This

occupational group was most predominant in the Northeast and the

West and less so in the Midwest and

parts of the South.

Production, transportation and

material moving occupations

(brown) tended to be popular in

nonmetropolitan counties in the

Midwest and the South, particularly

in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and

Arkansas. Service occupations

(red) were the primary group in a

small number of widely scattered

counties throughout the United

States. Interestingly, several of

these counties were in the upper

Midwest along or near the border

with Canada, and in Texas and

New Mexico along or near the border with Mexico, suggesting that

considerable employment in these

counties was in services related to

our nearest neighbors.

Figure 3 also shows that professional and related occupations

(purple) were predominant in several isolated counties or small

groups of counties throughout the

United States, many where universities or colleges are located.

Examples are Dane County,

Wisconsin (University of

Wisconsin), Tippecanoe and

Monroe Counties, Indiana (Purdue

and Indiana University), and Centre

County, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania

State University). 

A second interesting pattern from

Figure 3 appears with management,

business, and financial operations

occupations (blue). That this group

would predominate in several rural

and sparsely populated counties in

states such as Montana, the

Dakotas, and Nebraska might seem

odd, but the pattern becomes more

understandable given the overhaul

of the Standard Occupation

Classification system in 1998 that

moved farm and ranch owners to

this group (see footnote 3).

The Washington-Baltimore 

and San Francisco-Oakland-San

Jose metropolitan areas led in

management, professional,

and related occupations.

Among the ten metropolitan areas

with the highest percentage of their

workers in management, professional, and related occupations in

2000, two — Washington-Baltimore,

DC-MD-VA-WV, and San FranciscoOakland-San Jose, CA, — had more

than 3 million employed civilians 

16 and over. (Table 7).13 Six of the

remaining eight were “college

towns”: Corvallis, OR;

Charlottesville, VA; Raleigh-DurhamChapel Hill, NC; Madison, WI;

Gainsville, FL; and Iowa City, IA.

About 26.7 percent of the workers

in the Las Vegas, NV, metropolitan

area were employed in service

occupations in 2000, the highest

percentage for any metropolitan

area in the country. Several of the

ten metropolitan areas shown in

Table 7 with high percentages of

service occupation workers cater

to tourists and vacationers. These

include not only Las Vegas, but

also the Punta Gorda, Naples, and

Panama City, FL; Reno, NV; Myrtle

Beach, SC; and Honolulu, HI metropolitan areas. 

Three metropolitan areas in

Florida, Jacksonville, Tampa-St.

Petersburg-Clearwater, and MiamiFort Lauderdale, were among the

ten with the highest percentage of

sales and office occupation

workers. Each of the metropolitan

U.S. Census Bureau 9

12 The highest level or least detailed summary level comprises six occupational

groups: management, professional, and

related occupations; service occupations;

sales and office occupations; farming, fishing, and forestry occupations; construction,

extraction, and maintenance occupations;

and production, transportation, and material

moving occupations. However, Figure 3

shows seven groups. The management, professional, and related occupations group was

split into two sub-groups: management,

business, and financial operations occupations and professional and related occupations. This was done to present a more representative picture.

13 Because of sampling error, the estimates for the metropolitan areas shown in

Table 7 may not be significantly different

from one another or from metropolitan areas

not shown.
10 U.S. Census Bureau Occupations: 2000 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3. American Factfinder at factfinder.census.gov provides census data and mapping tools. 

Figure 3. 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 

0 100 Miles P

g

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf.) 
U.S. Census Bureau 11

Table 7.

Ten Metropolitan Areas With the Highest Percentage of Civilians Employed in Selected

Occupational Groups: 20001

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Metropolitan areas

Total employed civilian

population 16 years

and over in area

Percent in

occupation group

90-percent

confidence interval

Management, professional, and related occupations

Corvallis, OR ............................................... 38,356 46.9 45.7 - 48.1

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV......................... 3,843,329 45.4 45.3 - 45.5

Charlottesville, VA .......................................... 78,424 45.4 44.6 - 46.3

Santa Fe, NM............................................... 74,586 45.2 44.3 - 46.1

Rochester, MN ............................................. 66,973 44.5 43.7 - 45.3

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC .............................. 627,772 44.3 44.1 - 44.6

Gainesville, FL ............................................. 105,293 44.0 43.3 - 44.7

Madison, WI ............................................... 246,064 43.6 43.2 - 44.0

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA . . ....................... 3,495,883 43.6 43.5 - 43.7

Iowa City, IA ............................................... 64,255 43.3 42.5 - 44.1

Service occupations

Las Vegas, NV-AZ. . . ........................................ 710,179 26.7 26.5 - 27.0

Punta Gorda, FL ............................................ 50,690 20.9 20.0 - 21.8

Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, MS ............................... 155,970 20.1 19.6 - 20.6

Myrtle Beach, SC ........................................... 97,577 20.1 19.5 - 20.7

New London-Norwich, CT-RI . ................................ 141,736 20.0 19.5 - 20.5

Naples, FL ................................................. 105,436 19.9 19.3 - 20.5

Reno, NV .................................................. 171,723 19.9 19.4 - 20.4

Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, TX ......................... 108,904 19.8 19.2 - 20.4

Panama City, FL ............................................ 64,883 19.7 19.0 - 20.5

Honolulu, HI ................................................ 383,148 19.6 19.3 - 19.9

Sales and office occupations

Sioux Falls, SD ............................................. 96,177 32.2 31.6 - 32.8

Jacksonville, FL ............................................. 519,840 31.4 31.1 - 31.7

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL .......................... 1,079,627 31.1 30.9 - 31.3

Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL ................................... 1,680,147 31.0 30.9 - 31.3

Billings, MT . . .............................................. 65,512 30.8 30.1 - 31.5

Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT ................................... 648,104 30.8 30.5 - 31.1

Des Moines, IA ............................................. 244,649 30.6 30.2 - 31.1

Roanoke, VA . . ............................................. 116,592 30.3 29.7 - 30.9

Charleston, WV . . .......................................... 112,867 30.1 29.6 - 30.7

Omaha, NE-IA .............................................. 368,142 30.1 29.8 - 30.4

Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations

Houma, LA ................................................. 78,613 14.3 13.8 - 14.9

Jacksonville, NC ............................................ 49,020 14.1 13.4 - 14.9

Lake Charles, LA............................................ 79,408 13.9 13.4 - 14.4

Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL ................................... 186,417 13.5 13.1 - 13.9

Casper, WY ................................................ 33,213 13.5 12.7 - 14.3

Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX .................................... 155,964 13.4 13.1 - 13.8

Victoria, TX . . . .............................................. 38,464 13.4 12.6 - 14.2

Myrtle Beach, SC ........................................... 97,577 13.3 12.8 - 13.8

Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, MS ............................... 155,970 13.2 12.8 - 13.6

Wilmington, NC . . . .......................................... 113,593 13.1 12.7 - 13.5

Production, transportation, and material moving occupations

Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, NC . . . ............................. 176,415 34.3 33.8 - 34.8

Elkhart-Goshen, IN .......................................... 93,074 32.7 32.0 - 33.4

Sheboygan, WI . ............................................ 59,454 29.8 29.0 - 30.6

Danville, VA . ............................................... 49,261 28.7 27.9 - 29.5

Mansfield, OH .............................................. 79,992 27.7 27.1 - 28.3

Kokomo, IN................................................. 47,717 26.8 26.0 - 27.6

Janesville-Beloit, WI ........................................ 76,336 26.8 26.2 - 27.5

Lima, OH................................................... 71,550 26.3 25.6 - 27.0

Decatur, AL ................................................ 65,388 25.6 24.9 - 26.3

Fort Smith, AR-OK .......................................... 92,135 25.4 24.8 - 26.0

1

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations are not shown in this table because of the small number of employed people in this group.

Note: Because of sampling error, the estimates in this table may not be significantly different from one another or from rates for other geographic areas not

listed in this table.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, Summary File 3.
areas in the ten highest had about

3 out of 10 workers employed in

sales and office occupations.

Nine out of ten metropolitan

areas with the highest

percentage of construction,

extraction, and maintenance

workers were in the South.

Nine out of ten metropolitan areas

with the highest percentage of

workers in construction, extraction,

and maintenance occupations were

in the South in 2000. The only area

not in the South was Casper, WY,

which was in the West. All of the

ten were relatively small, with none

having more than 200,000 workers. 

Similarly, each of the ten metropolitan areas with the highest percentage of workers in production,

transportation, and material moving occupations in 2000 was small:

only one had more than 100,000

workers. The leading metropolitan

areas in this group were HickoryMorganton-Lenoir, NC, and ElkhartGoshen, IN, with 34.3 percent and

32.7 percent14 of their workforce in

production, transportation, and

material moving occupations.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

How does occupation differ

from industry?

People often confuse industry and

occupation data. Industry refers to

the kind of business conducted by

a person’s employing organization;

occupation describes the kind of

work that person does on the job.

Some occupation groups are related closely to certain industries.

Operators of transportation

equipment, farm operators and

workers, and health care providers

account for major portions of their

respective industries of transportation, agriculture, and health care.

However, the industry categories

include people in other occupations. For example, people

employed in agriculture include

truck drivers and bookkeepers;

people employed in transportation

include mechanics, freight handlers, and payroll clerks; and people in the health care industry

include occupations such as security guard and secretary.

The industry classification system

used during Census 2000 was

developed for the census and consists of 265 categories classified

into 13 major industry groups. The

Census 2000 industry classification

was developed from the 1997

12 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 8.

Occupational Groups by Industry Groups for the United States: 2000

(Data based on a sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Industry groups

Occupational groups

Employed

civilian

population

16 years

and over

Management,

professional

and

related

occupations Service

Sales

and

office

Farming,

fishing,

and

forestry

Construction,

extraction, and

maintenance

Production,

transportation,

and

material

moving

Totals ........................................ 129,721,512 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining. . . . 2,426,053 2.2 0.4 0.4 82.2 1.9 1.2

Construction ....................................... 8,801,507 2.9 0.4 1.9 0.4 51.4 2.6

Manufacturing...................................... 18,286,005 10.3 1.6 7.5 2.9 10.6 50.5

Wholesale trade.................................... 4,666,757 1.9 0.3 6.8 6.2 2.3 5.7

Retail trade ........................................ 15,221,716 4.1 2.9 30.0 2.4 6.1 9.0

Transportation and warehousing, and utilities .......... 6,740,102 2.0 1.5 5.5 0.7 5.3 15.8

Information . ....................................... 3,996,564 4.5 0.4 3.9 0.0 3.3 1.0

Finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing . 8,934,972 8.0 1.6 13.8 0.0 1.6 0.7

Professional, scientific, management, administrative,

and waste management services.................... 12,061,865 14.3 9.9 8.5 2.3 2.3 3.6

Educational, health and social services ............... 25,843,029 36.7 28.4 10.1 0.5 2.3 3.0

Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and

food services . . ................................... 10,210,295 4.2 33.5 4.0 0.6 1.2 2.0

Other services (except public administration) . . . ....... 6,320,632 3.3 9.7 3.0 0.3 9.9 4.0

Public administration................................ 6,212,015 5.5 9.4 4.6 1.5 1.9 0.9

Source: United States Census 2000, Sample Edited Detail File.

14 The difference between these two metropolitan areas was not statistically significant.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which is an

industry description system that

groups establishments into industries based on activities in which

they are primarily engaged. Several

census data products use the aggregation structure shown in this

report, while others, such as

Summary File 3 and Summary File

4, use more detail.

Some occupational groups

have a closely related

industry counterpart. 

About 82.2 percent of farming,

fishing, and forestry workers were

employed in agriculture, forestry,

fishing and hunting, and mining

industries. A little more than half 

(51.4 percent) of construction,

extraction, and maintenance occupation workers were in the construction industry. Similarly, over

half (50.5 percent) of workers in

production, transportation, and

material moving occupations were

in manufacturing industries.

Service occupations was the only

occupational group to have a substantial percent of workers in two

industry areas — arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation

and food service, with 33.5 percent; and educational, health and

social services, with 28.4 percent.

More than one-third (36.7 percent)

of workers in management,

professional and related occupations worked in the educational,

health and social services industries. About 30.0 percent of sales

and office workers worked in retail

trade industries. 

ABOUT CENSUS 2000

Why Census 2000 asked 

about occupation.

The study of occupations is important because it facilitates a better

understanding of the economy by

tracking labor force trends and

identifying new and emerging

occupations, such as those related

to computers or the Internet. It

also provides a window on

changes taking place in society,

reflected by the work people do. 

Specifically, information on occupations is used by a number of federal agencies to distribute funds, to

develop policy, and to measure

compliance with laws and regulations. For example, occupation

data are required by the Bureau of

Economic Analysis to develop state

per capita income estimates, which

are used in the allocation formulas

or eligibility criteria of more than

20 federal programs. Data are

used to help the Environmental

Protection Agency, under the Toxic

Substances Control Act, to identify

occupations that expose people to

harmful chemicals and that

adversely affect the environment.

They are also used by the Equal

Employment Opportunity

Commission, under the Civil Rights

and Equal Pay Acts, to monitor

compliance with federal law and to

investigate complaints where

employment discrimination is

alleged. Occupation data are used

by the Department of Labor to formulate policies and programs for

employment, career development,

and training.

Accuracy of the Estimates

The data contained in this product

are based on the sample of households who reported to the Census

2000 long form. Nationally,

approximately 1 out of every 6

housing units was included in this

sample. As a result, the sample

estimates may differ somewhat

from the 100-percent figures that

would have been obtained if all

housing units, people within those

housing units, and people living in

group quarters had been enumerated using the same questionnaires, instructions, enumerators,

and so forth. The sample estimates also differ from the values

that would have been obtained

from different samples of housing

units, people within those housing

units, and people living in group

quarters. The deviation of a sample estimate from the average of

all possible samples is called the

sampling error. 

In addition to the variability that

arises from the sampling procedures, both sample data and 100-

percent data are subject to nonsampling error. Nonsampling error may

be introduced during any of the various complex operations used to

collect and process census data.

Such errors may include: not enumerating every household or every

person in the population, failing to

obtain all required information from

the respondents, obtaining incorrect

or inconsistent information, and

recording information incorrectly.

In addition, errors can occur during

the field review of the enumerators’

work, during clerical handling of

U.S. Census Bureau 13
the census questionnaires, or during the electronic processing of the

questionnaires.

Nonsampling error may affect the

data in two ways: (1) errors that

are introduced randomly will

increase the variability of the data

and, therefore, should be reflected

in the standard errors; and (2)

errors that tend to be consistent in

one direction will bias both sample

and 100-percent data in that direction. For example, if respondents

consistently tend to underreport

their incomes, then the resulting

estimates of households or families by income category will tend

to be understated for the higher

income categories and overstated

for the lower income categories.

Such biases are not reflected in the

standard errors.

While it is impossible to completely

eliminate error from an operation

as large and complex as the decennial census, the Census Bureau

attempts to control the sources of

such error during the data collection and processing operations.

The primary sources of error and

the programs instituted to control

error in Census 2000 are described

in detail in Summary File 3

Technical Documentation under

Chapter 8, “Accuracy of the Data,”

located at www.census.gov

/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf.

All statements in this Census 2000

Brief have undergone statistical

testing and all comparisons are

significant at the 90-percent confidence level, unless otherwise

noted. The estimates in tables,

maps, and other figures may vary

from actual values due to sampling

and nonsampling errors. As a

result, estimates in one category

may not be significantly different

from estimates assigned to a different category. Further information on the accuracy of the data is

located at www.census.gov/prod

/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf. For further

information on the computation

and use of standard errors, contact

the Decennial Statistical Studies

Division at 301-763-4242. 

For More Information.

The Census 2000 Summary File 3

data are available from the

American Factfinder on the Internet

(factfinder.census.gov). They were

released on a state-by-state basis

during 2002. For information on

confidentiality protection,

nonsampling error, sampling error,

and definitions, also see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000

/doc/sf3.pdf or contact the

Customer Services Center at 

301-763-INFO (4636).

Information on population and

housing topics is presented in the

Census 2000 Brief series, located

on the Census Bureau’s Web site at

www.census.gov/population/www

/cen2000/briefs.html. This series,

which will be completed in 2003,

presents information on race,

Hispanic origin, age, sex, household type, housing tenure, and

social, economic, and housing

characteristics, such as ancestry,

income, and housing costs.

For additional information on occupations in the United States,

including reports and survey data,

visit the Census Bureau’s Internet

site at www.census.gov

/hhes/www/occupation.html.

To find information about the availability of data products, including

reports, CD-ROMs, and DVDs, call

the Customer Services Center at

301-763-INFO (4636), or e-mail

webmaster@census.gov. 

14 U.S. Census Bureau