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. 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. American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to give communities current and accurate information every year about their demographic, socio-economic and housing characteristics. The ACS which was first introduced in January 2005 is scheduled to replace the long form in the ten-year census beginning in 2010. From that time on, censuses will consist of a short form only. This is expected to result in operational efficiencies and anticipated higher response rates. As with the long form, information from the ACS will be used to administer federal and state programs and distribute more than $300 billion a year In the United States and Puerto Rico , about 250,000 addresses per month, or 2.5 percent of the population per year, receive the survey. This is equal to about one-in-480 addresses a month or one-in-40 a year. The odds of receiving the American Community Survey in any 10-year period are less than 1-in-4. No address will receive the survey more than once in any five-year period. Households that receive the American Community Survey are required by law to respond. If a household does not respond in six weeks, Census Bureau staff will attempt to contact the respondent by telephone to complete the survey. If that, too, fails, the household will be visited by Census Bureau staff for an in-person interview. The cost to taxpayers of a follow-up interview for households that do not mail back their completed questionnaires is up to 10 times greater than the cost of processing questionnaires received by mail. Census 2010 In 2010, the U.S. census will define who we are as a nation. Taken every 10 years, the census affects political representation and directs the allocation of billions of dollars in government funding. By participating in the 2010 Census, you can help our community receive the fiscal and social benefits to which it is entitled. Achieving a complete and accurate 2010 Census is in our hands.
Every year, more than $300 billion in federal funds is awarded to states and communities based on census data. That's more than $3 trillion over a 10-year period. Census data guide local decision-makers in important community planning efforts, including where to build new roads, hospitals and schools. Census data affect your voice in Congress by determining how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 2010 Census questionnaire asks only a few simple questions of each person—name, relationship, gender, age and date of birth, race, and whether the respondent owns or rents his or her home. This simple, short questionnaire takes just a few minutes to complete and return by mail. The Census Bureau does not release or share information that identifies individual respondents or their household for 72 years. last updated 8/14/08 |
