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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. Dartmouth Libraries Guides
  4. Census Data
  5. The Basics

Census Data

Every 10 years, the United States government is required to count all of its citizens. This is a guide to the Decenniel Census. The government not only tries to count all of us, but also gathers different types of data about all of us.
  • Introduction
  • The Basics
  • Decennial CensusToggle Dropdown
    • 2020 Census
    • 2010 Census
    • 2000 Census
  • American Community Survey
  • Questionnaires & more ...
  • CensusCD products
  • Census Data by ZIP Code
  • Historic Census Data
  • NHGIS
  • Online Census Data
  • TIGER Files
  • Mapping Census Data
  • PUMS
  • CPS
  • Estimates & Projections
  • International Data
  • Census Data & Genealogy
  • Understanding Census Geography
  • Census maps
  • ArcGIS for Excel
  • Geographic Information Systems
  • GIS Software & Manuals

Subject Librarian

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Lucinda M. Hall
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Contact:
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies, Geography, Polar Studies

In the Library's collections

The following are relevant subject headings to use when searching the online catalog.

  • united states census
  • united states statistics, vital

Finding resources in the Library's collections

  • Introduction
  • Introductory reading(s)
  • Selected book titles
  • Finding journal articles and titles

The following are relevant subject headings to use when searching the online catalog.

  • united states census
  • united states statistics, vital
  • Cover artAnalyzing census microdata by Angela Dale; Ed Fieldhouse; Clare Holdsworth
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HA 36 .D35 2000
    ISBN: 9780340692288
    The use of census data forms an important part of many research activities in subject areas as diverse as geography, demography, sociology, economics, politics and statistics. It is vital that the researchers know how the data was collected, which statistical techniques are useful and why, and how to model the data in order to draw inferences about the whole population. This volume meets these particular needs and is the only book available with a section devoted to showing examples of the analysis of census microdata across many different application areas.
  • Cover ArtAnalyzing US census data: methods, maps, and models in R by Kyle Walker
    • Open Access Icon
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9781032366449
    Census data are widely used in the United States across numerous research and applied fields, including education, business, journalism, and many others. Until recently, the process of working with US Census data has required the use of a wide array of web interfaces and software platforms to prepare, map, and present data products. The goal of this book is to illustrate the utility of the R programming language for handling these tasks, allowing Census data users to manage their projects in a single computing environment.
  • Cover artCongressional Quarterly's encyclopedia of the U. S. Census by Margo J. Anderson, ed.
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HA37.U55 C66 2000
    ISBN: 9781568024288
    Encyclopedia of the U.S. Census represents a unique and definitive collaboration among more than 80 leading experts on all aspects of the U.S. Census. Drawing from academia, government, and the private sector, CQ Press and the editorial board have commissioned more than 100 concise, definitive articles on the decennial census and related topics. ...
  • Cover artHistorical statistics of the states of the United States: two centuries of the census, 1790-1990 by Donald B. Dodd
    • Book
    Call Number: LCSF HA 214 .D63 1993
    ISBN: 9780313283093
    This volume is a census-focused compilation of state-level population, agriculture, and manufacturing data for the fifty states and the District of Columbia. It also includes population figures for the largest 1990 cities from 1790 to 1990. Thus it fills a gap in the historical statistics provided by the government publication, Historical Statistics of the United States (1975), which provides national statistics, and the county-level data compiled by the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research.
  • Cover artUnlocking the census with GIS by Alan H. Peters; Heather I. MacDonald
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HA 37.U55 P48 2004
    ISBN: 9781589481138
    Seeking to demystify the census and explaining the potential of GIS for understanding people, places, and local economies, this guide explains how geographic information systems (GIS) can significantly ease data management, allowing for new ways to analyze and present relationships among variables.
  • 200 years of U. S. census taking: population and housing questions, 1790-1990 by Frederick G. Bohme
    • Open Access Icon
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook from Hathi Trust
  • Cover artThe American census: a social history by Margo J. Anderson
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780300195422
    Publication Date: 2nd ed.
    This book is the first social history of the census from its origins to the present and has become the standard history of the population census in the United States. The second edition has been updated to trace census developments since 1980, including the undercount controversies, the arrival of the American Community Survey, and innovations of the digital age.
  • Cover artDemocracy's data: the hidden stories in the U.S. Census and how to read them by Dan Bouk
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HA 181 .B58 2022
    ISBN: 9780374602543
    The census isn't just a data-collection process; it's a ritual, and a tool, of American democracy. Behind every neat grid of numbers is a collage of messy, human stories--you just have to know how to read them. In Democracy's Data, the data historian Dan Bouk examines the 1940 U.S. census, uncovering what those numbers both condense and cleverly abstract: a universe of meaning and uncertainty, of cultural negotiation and political struggle. He introduces us to the men and women employed as census takers, bringing us with them as they go door to door, recording the lives of their neighbors. ...
  • Cover artDemographic dimensions of the New Republic: American interregional migration, vital statistics, manumissions, 1800-1860 by Peter D. McClelland; Richard J. Zeckhauser
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HA 214 .M38 1982
    ISBN: 9780521243094
    This book provides the first comprehensive and consistent analysis of vital statistics and migration patterns for the United States between the Revolution and the Civil War. It is anchored in the one available source for nationwide estimates, the decennial censuses. It attempts to provide, for black and white populations, a consistent set of estimates of birth and death rates, rates of natural increase, and net international and interregional flows. For the black population, it also estimates the changing pace of manumissions in the antebellum decades. ...
  • Cover artHandbook on geospatial infrastructure in support of census activities by United Nations. Dept. Of Economic And Social Affairs. Statistics Division Staff
    • Open Access Icon
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9789211615272
    This newly revised and renamed Handbook reflects the recommendations of the expert group meetings and regional workshops on geographic information systems (GIS) and census-mapping. It covers both managerial and operational needs in considerable detail. The Handbook addresses organisational and institutional issues that concern statistical agency heads and other managers; and it explicitly addresses technical and practical issues that concern census cartographers and takers.
  • Cover artMeasuring America: the decenniel censuses from 1790 to 2000 by Jason G. Guthrie
    • Open Access Icon
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    This report contains detailed information on the questionnaires and instructions used for each census, plus individual histories of each census.
  • Cover artModernizing the U. S. census by Barry Edmonston; Charles L. Schultze, eds.
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780309051828
    The U.S. census, conducted every 10 years since 1790, faces dramatic new challenges as the country begins its third century. Critics of the 1990 census cited problems of increasingly high costs, continued racial differences in counting the population, and declining public confidence. This volume provides a major review of the traditional U.S. census. Starting from the most basic questions of how data are used and whether they are needed, the volume examines the data that future censuses should provide. ...
  • Cover artUrban policy and the census by Heather MacDonald; Alan Peters
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry HT 123 .M13 2011
    ISBN: 9781589482227
    Urban Policy and the Census helps researchers and policy analysts gain an integrated understanding of census data and other relevant policy data sources, their strengths and limitations, and how best to use this data in policy research. Researchers will be able to critically assess decennial census and the American Community Survey data, which can be the starting point for spatial analysis for realistic policy planning and decision-making. ...

You can find articles about the various censuses in many publications. You can search in Academic Search Complete or Web of Science to start. The U. S. Census Bureau's site is also good place to find information.

  • Resource logoAcademic search complete by EBSCO
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    A scholarly, interdisciplinary article index and a good starting place for article searching on any subject.
  • Resource logoWeb of science citation databases by Clarivate
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

Internet resource(s)

  • Geographic codes for census geography
  • State Data Centers
  • American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Codes
    • Link
    American National Standards Institute codes (ANSI codes) are standardized numeric or alphabetic codes issued by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to ensure uniform identification of geographic entities through all federal government agencies. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has taken over the management of geographic codes from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). ...
  • Black Census Project
    • Link
    The Black Futures Lab launched the Black Census Project to create and survey the largest number of the Black population in the United States since Reconstruction. Reports are available here.
  • FIPS Codes
    • Link
    This page talks about the codes or now called geographic identifiers. Do a search in the site to find lists of FIPS codes by year.
  • U. S. Census Bureau logo
    Understanding Geographic Identifiers
    • Link
    The Census Bureau and other state and federal agencies are responsible for assigning geographic identifiers, or GEOIDs, to geographic entities to facilitate the organization, presentation, and exchange of geographic and statistical data. GEOIDs are numeric codes that uniquely identify all administrative/legal and statistical geographic areas for which the Census Bureau tabulates data. ...
  • State Data Center (SDC) Program
    • Link
    The partnership between the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the island areas and the Census Bureau was created in 1978 to make data available locally to the public through a network of state agencies, universities, libraries, and regional and local governments.
  • NH State Data Center
    • Link
    This site provides direct access to numerous data files (data library) about New Hampshire. Usually these files have been modified by OEP to maximize their efficient use. Most of the data are from the Bureau of the Census and other agencies.
  • Vermont State Data Center
    • Link
    The Vermont State Data Center is hosted by the Center for Rural Studies. This affiliation reflects their desire to be a data resource for all Vermonters and to represent Vermont's interests in the collection, analysis and dissemination of Census Bureau data.
  • Maine State Data Center
    • Link
    The Maine State Data Center (SDC), led by the State Economist’s office, provides demographic and economic data for the state of Maine. The goal of this program, which is a partnership between the state and the U.S. Census Bureau, is to foster public access to data.
  • Massachusetts State Data Center
    • Link
    The State Data Center (SDC)’s mission is to support access to all U.S. Census Bureau data and information for Massachusetts residents and organizations. The SDC is the official local source of demographic, economic and social statistics produced by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • CTData Collaborative
    • Link
    Striving for informed decision-making across Connecticut, they empower an ecosystem of data users by democratizing access to public data and building data literacy.
  • RI Data Center & Census Data
    • Link
    The Planning Information Center provides a range of resources based on demographic data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and other agencies. In addition to preparing tables of Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data, the Planning Information Center produces population projections and monthly Census Data Bulletins. ...
  • New York State Data Center
    • Link
    The New York State Data Center operates as part of a nationwide effort to improve public access to data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  • Missouri Census Data Center
    • Link
    The Missouri Census Data Center (MCDC) is a cooperative program among state agencies in Missouri and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Its purpose is to enhance awareness of and access to public data, especially Census Bureau products. The MCDC data archive, which includes many national collections as well as Missouri-specific data, is one of the premier sites in the country for accessing census and other public, machine-readable demographic and geographic data. ...
  • << Previous: Introduction
  • Next: Decennial Census >>
  • Last Updated: Feb 27, 2025 3:46 PM
  • URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/census
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Subjects: Multidisciplinary
Tags: ACS, American Community Survey, current_population_survey, estimates, international_data, projections, questionnaires, TIGER files

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