Census

NeighborhoodInfo DC, an Urban Institute project, has amassed a data warehouse measuring the health and vitality of Washington, DC neighborhoods. This fact sheet is the first publication in our effort to extend our analysis to the council districts in Prince George's County, Maryland. The following information summarizes selected population and socioeconomic changes in Prince George's County between 2000 and 2010 using the latest tract-level 2010 U.S. Census population data and the 2005–2009 American Community Survey. We provide countywide averages, as well as the individual changes in the county’s nine districts.

While much has been written about the decline of central cities, very little research has examined the problem in their suburbs. This report focuses on the suburbs of older industrial cities and how best to address the challenges they face. Using census data, literature review, and four in-depth case studies, the authors provide a detailed portrait of the underlying forces shaping distressed suburbs. It highlights a range of best practices used in case study cities for fostering growth and reducing poverty. These lessons can be instructive both to local leaders working to turn their cities around and to the federal policy makers supporting them.

Does the closing of a post office have negative effects on the economic indicators of the surrounding community? This study uses a difference-in-differences approach to assess the economic impact of a post office closure on a community. We compared employment and number of business establishments in communities with a post office to similar communities where a post office has been closed between 2002 and 2005. While the results do not provide conclusive evidence of economic impact, they do suggest a small, sometimes significant, negative impact on employment in the ZIP codes with post office closures. 

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that the poverty rate jumped to 15.1 percent in 2010, up from 14.3 percent in 2009 and 13.2 percent in 2008. This 18-year high still understates the dire straits of many Americans today. The devastation of poverty grows more severe over time as individuals exhaust private resources and temporary benefits.

Poverty is higher among the unemployed. In 2010, 30 percent of the long-term unemployed were poor, and 66 percent of single parents unemployed more than 26 weeks were poor.

In this testimony before members of the D.C. City Council, Peter Tatian, senior researcher in the Urban Institute's Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center and director of NeighborhoodInfo DC, presents recent data showing that, although foreclosure activity has slowed in recent months, many D.C. homeowners are still having difficulty paying their mortgages, which puts them at risk of foreclosure down the road. These data suggest that the city should continue to take steps to protect homeowners, renters, and neighborhoods from the negative impacts of foreclosures.

Unemployment compensation (UC), a key part of the social safety net, is not individually reported in the American Community Survey (ACS), an issue for data users wishing to estimate the impact of UC on those in need. Using regression techniques, we predict the share of reported "other" income attributable to UC in the 2008 ACS data for Georgia, Illinois and Massachusetts. We review UC underreporting in the ACS data and discuss one possible method of correction using the Transfer Income Model, Version 3 (TRIM3). We demonstrate the effect of the UC underreporting correction on the poverty rate and poverty gap.

Over the past 50 years, nationwide rates of motor vehicle thefts rose slowly and steadily to a peak in 1990 and then declined to a low in 2009. Rates in Washington, D.C. were higher and more volatile, averaging three to four times the national rate for two decades. Recently, however, rates in D.C. dropped to their lowest level in 25 years. While the Sixth Police District (6D) had the highest rates and counts of motor vehicle theft over the study period, the Seventh Police District (7D) had the largest percentage increase. Hot spots in 6D were located along major thoroughfares.

Updated with 2007 and 2008 American Community Survey data, the Children of Immigrants Data Tool can generate customized graphs and charts for every state and the District of Columbia. Statistics on 26 indicators include citizenship and the immigrant status (foreign vs. native-born) of children and their parents; children's race, ethnicity, and school enrollment; parents’ education and English proficiency; and family composition, income, work effort, homeownership, and food stamp receipt.

This brief updates perspectives brief 9 “Children of Immigrants: National and State Characteristics,” which profiled children of immigrants as of 2005–06. The current brief presents data highlights for the 50 states and the District of Columbia from the 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys. The statistics in this brief and other indicators on children can be obtained on the Urban Institute’s Children of Immigrants Data Tool web site.