Census 2000
Census 2000 Data
pdf version / word version

On December 28, 2000, the US Census Bureau released the first results from Census 2000 showing the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, was 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 persons counted during the 1990 census. Detailed results of Census 2000 are being made available in five data products (redistricting files, Summary File 1, Summary File 2, Summary File 3, and Summary File 4).

Compared to the 1990 census when about 90 percent of the census results were in print, only 10 percent of Census 2000 data products will be available in that form. Census 2000 data will be disseminated mainly using a new data retrieval system called the American FactFinder (AFF). The American FactFinder is accessible through the Internet on the Census Bureau's new website http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html.

The first release (Census 2000 Redistricting Public Law 94-171 Summary File) came in March 2001. This file contained summary statistics on counts for the total population, for the population 18 years and over, and population counts by race and by Hispanic or Latino origin. These tabulations are presented for areas as small as blocks, census tracts, and voting districts.

The next release (Summary File 1) came in June 2001 with data focusing on age, sex, households, families, occupied housing units, and group quarters for the entire population based on answers to the questions common to both the Census 2000 Short Form and Long Form Questionnaires. Data are available down to the block level for many tabulations, but only to the census tract level for others.

In April 2002 Summary File 2 was released. This file presented data similar to the information included in Summary File 1, but the tables in this file are iterated for a selected list of race and Hispanic or Latino categories and for American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. These data are shown down to the census tract level as the lowest geographic level for various race and ethnic categories that meet a specified minimum population size threshold.

The latest major release (Summary File 3) was made available on August 6, 2002, and consisted of 813 detailed tables of Census 2000 social, economic and housing characteristics compiled from a sample of approximately 19 million housing units (about 1 in 6 households) that received the Census 2000 long-form questionnaire. Summary File 3 contains data for the United States, the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico in a hierarchical sequence down to the block group for many tabulations, but only to the census tract levels for others.

Summary File 4 was released in May 2003 and included tabulations of the population and housing data collected from a sample of the population. Data are provided down to the census tract level.

In an attempt to make the voluminous demographic and economic statistics released by the Census Bureau easy to find and use for everyone, the Town of Colonie will be publishing various census results on this site as the data become available. If you have any questions regarding the information presented on this site, please contact the Town of Colonie Community Development Department at 783-2718.