Detailed information about 2000 census available online

New Hampshire Union Leader
September 4, 2002

Detailed census 2000 information for New Hampshire is scheduled to be available starting today on the U.S. Census Bureau's Web site: www.census.gov.

Thomas Duffy, head of the New Hampshire Data Center in the state Office of Planning, said the information in Summary File 3 is an elaboration of the census data released May 21.

For example, he said, the May release provided broad poverty figures. Now, the numbers will be further broken down into people at various levels of poverty. There will also be tables showing ratios of poverty against income.

Duffy said the breakdown of information, which is critical for planning purposes, is far more detailed than in the past. This year, he said, there is a 58-page printout for the state of New Hampshire, and there will be similar printouts for each of the 10 counties and the 234 municipalities. "In years past, the printouts were 15 to 20 pages," he said. "They've made the tables more detailed."

That, despite the fact the number of questions asked on the long form declined from the 1990 to 2000 census. "There are more details, more tables," he said.

The information is based on long form census questionnaires from 19 million housing units, representing approximately one in six.

While the census bureau sells CD-Roms and DVD-Roms, and publications and maps with the information, Duffy said the details and tables are now available to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. "You wouldn't pay a dime for it, . . . That's pretty amazing," he said.

Duffy said interest in the census results has grown considerably. "I know the media and the public at large has discovered the census," he said. The U.S. Census Bureau has discovered the same thing, he said: "One-third of early visitors to the Web site were new."

Duffy said the latest information is so detailed it's a number cruncher's delight. "It is now down to the real data users, like Doug Hall (co-executive director of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies)," he said.

But it's all going to be available to everyone and people can find out just about any demographic information they want about their community, or any other. Perhaps the most user-friendly way to get census information is through American FactFinder, at www.factfinder.census.gov.

While many are personally curious about census information, Duffy needs information in order to make projections that planners need.

For example, he said, using appropriate software, he expects to soon be able to project state and county populations by age and gender, figuring in fertility, survival and migration. That information has a variety of potential applications, including nursing home personnel needs and planning for alternative elder care solutions. It's already becoming obvious that there are personnel shortages, even though first postwar baby boomers won't be reaching traditional retirement age of 65 until 2011. And that presumes they'll be healthy when they do.

Population shifts have already complicated New Hampshire's state political picture and further details about the population will have far-reaching effects in virtually every aspect of New Hampshire life, including decisions on federal as well as state and local spending.