Do you remember completing your Census forms several years ago? The Census Bureau conducted censuses in the United States, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. The reference date for Census 2000 is April 1, 2000 (Census Day). Many of the results have been tabulated, and the U. S. Census Bureau has released them to the public.
The U.S. Census Bureau describes the process as follows: "The decennial census occurs every 10 years, in the years ending in "0," to count the population and housing units for the entire United States. Its primary purpose is to provide the population counts that determine how seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned. Census figures also are required to draw congressional and state legislative district boundaries, to allocate federal and state funds, to formulate public policy, and to assist with planning and decision-making in the private sector.
The decennial census uses both short- and long-form questionnaires to gather information. The short form asks a limited number of basic questions. These questions are asked of all people and housing units, and are often referred to as 100-percent questions because they are asked of the entire population. The long form asks more detailed information from approximately a 1-in-6 sample, and includes the 100-percent questions as well as questions on education, employment, income, ancestry, homeowner costs, units in a structure, number of rooms, plumbing facilities, etc."
I have crunched some of these numbers to put them in an easy-to-understand format, based on some of the questions about the area's demographics that I am often asked. But before we move forward, a comment about Maricopa County. When people here think of Maricopa County, they often believe it to mean the same thing as the 'metro Phoenix area'. Just to be sure we understand what Maricopa County includes (like Wickenburg and Gila Bend), and doesn't include (like Apache Junction) here are some county details. Now on to the statistics!
