State of the Cities


Technical Notes

Data

Data for 1990 are taken from the STF4a census files at the census tract level, aggregating upward to match the geographic boundaries of metropolitan regions, cities, and suburbs in 2000.  

Data for 2000 are taken from the SF3 Profiles released by the Census Bureau in May-June 2002 for metropolitan regions and cities.  Data for suburbs represent the difference between the metro total and the city or cities defined by the Census as central cities in the region.

The original source for information in both years is the Census's long form questionnaire, which was completed by a 1-in-6 sample of households.  They are estimates subject to sampling error.  Therefore for areas with small populations, or small numbers of a particular category of residents, users should be aware that the sample values may be considerably different than if a full-count number were available.

Comparability of 1990 and 2000 Incomes

For comparability, the 1990 median and per capita income figures have been adjusted for inflation and therefore the values are represented in 2000 dollars amounts. To accomplish this, the 1990 income figures were multiplied by 1.30465 as recommended by the Census Bureau.

Ranking Calculations

Our rankings for the metro region, city and suburb were calculated by standardizing the values for each economic indicator (creating a Z-score).  For those indicators where a higher value means a less healthy region (poverty, unemployment, housing vacancy), we took the inverse of the score by multiplying by -1. Then all the indicators were summed and a ranking was assigned - with a higher score leading to a higher (better) rank.  To calculate the index for city-suburb disparities, we first created ratios of the city value to the suburb value for each variable, then standardized these, corrected their direction, and summed the values.


Description of Variables

College Educated: Percentage of persons aged 25 and over who have at least a bachelor's degree.

Management, Professional and Related Occupations: Percentage of employed civilians age 16 and over who have an occupation in the general census occupation category of "managerial and professional specialty occupations." The 1990 percentages have been calculated based on the Mumford Center's definition of professional/managerial occupations. Click here for more information.

Median Household Income: This is the median income for all households. A household includes all the people who occupy a housing unit as their usual place of residence. The median income divides the income distribution into two equal groups, one having incomes above the median, and other having incomes below the median.

Median household income has been reported by the Census Bureau for metro areas and individual cities. For suburbs, for cities where there is more than one central city in the metropolis, and for metro areas that cross state lines, we provide estimates of the median income. These are based on a Pareto curve interpolation from grouped data. For 1990, where income has been reported in 25 categories, the estimates are quite precise. For 2000, because only 9 categories of income have been reported, the estimates are subject to some error. Click here for more details on the procedure.

Per Capita Income: This is the average income figure obtained by dividing aggregate income by total population of an area.

Poverty: Percentage of persons living below the poverty level. Following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to detect who is poor. If the total income for a family or unrelated individual falls below the relevant poverty threshold, then the family or unrelated individual is classified as being "below the poverty level."

Owner-Occupied Housing Unit: Percentage of owner-occupied housing units. From this the percent homeownership is derived. A housing unit is owner occupied if the owner or co-owner lives in the unit even if it is mortgaged or not fully paid for.

Unemployed: Percentage of persons in the labor force aged 16 and over classed as unemployed. All civilians 16 years old and over are classified as unemployed if they (1) were neither "at work" nor "with a job but not at work" during the reference week, and (2) were actively looking for work during the last 4 weeks, and (3) were available to accept a job. Also included as unemployed are civilians who did not work at all during the reference week, were waiting to be called back to a job from which they had been laid off, and were available for work except for temporary illness.

Vacancy Status: Percentage of unoccupied housing units.