Census Bureau Definitions for Population Estimates

Census Bureau Definitions for Population Estimates

  • July 29th, 2019

Census Bureau Definitions for Population Estimates


Population estimates incorporate revisions of estimates from previous years and the results of special censuses and test censuses conducted by the Census Bureau.

Births – Births are the number of live births occurring to residents of an area during the period as reported from the Census Bureau’s Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE) and the National Center for Health Statistics.

Census Regions and Divisions – Statistics for states are totaled for the four census regions and nine census divisions in the top lines of each table.

The Northeast region includes the New England division: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; and the Middle Atlantic division: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The Midwest region includes the East North Central division: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; and the West North Central division: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

The South region includes the South Atlantic division: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia; the East South Central division: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; and the West South Central division: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The West region includes the Mountain division: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and the Pacific division: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.

Deaths – Deaths are the number of deaths occurring within the resident population of an area during the period as reported by the Census Bureau’s Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE) and the National Center for Health Statistics.

Demographic Components of Change – The demographic components of population change consist of natural change and net migration. Natural change is defined as births minus deaths. Net migration is the difference between all forms of migration into and out of an area.

Natural Change – Natural change is the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths.

Net Domestic Migration – Net domestic migration (“NDM”) is the difference between domestic in-migration to an area and domestic out-migration from it during the period. Domestic in-migration and out-migration consist of moves where both the origins and destinations are within the United States (excluding Puerto Rico).

Net Federal Movement – Net federal movement is the difference between the movement of federal employees (both military and civilian) and their dependents into and out of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico) during the period.

Net International Migration – Net international migration (“NIM”) is the difference between migration to an area from outside the United States (immigration) and migration from the area to outside the United States (emigration) during the period. For the purposes of these population estimates, the geographic extent of the United States is defined as excluding Puerto Rico. More specifically, net international migration consists of
1) legal immigration to the United States as reported by the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
2) an estimate of net undocumented immigration from abroad,
3) an estimate of emigration from the United States, and
4) net movement between Puerto Rico and the (balance of) the United States.

Net Movement from Abroad – Net movement from abroad is the sum of net international migration and net federal movement during the period.

Population (Census) – The April 1, 1990 census population is a count of the number of persons residing in an area (resident population) as reported in the 1990 Census of Population, or as subsequently revised. Revisions to an area’s 1990 census population count may occur as the result of
1) post-1990 census corrections of political boundaries, geographic misallocations, or documented under-enumerations or over-enumerations, and
2) geographic boundary updates made subsequent to the 1990 census, which include annexations, new incorporations, mergers, etc. The closing date for these two forms of revisions was December, 1996.

Population Change – Population change (“Pop chg”) is the difference between the population of an area at the beginning and end of a period. It is expressed numerically (“Numerical”) and as a percentage (“Percent” or “%”) of the beginning population.

Population (Estimate) – The estimated population is the computed number of persons living in an area (resident population) as of July 1. The estimated population is calculated from a demographic components of change model that incorporates information on natural change (births and deaths) and net migration (net domestic migration and net movement from abroad) that has occurred in the area since the reference date of the 1990 census. Additional information on the methodology used to produce these population estimates is contained in Current Population Reports P25-1127 and at the Census Bureau’s Internet site with URL of http://www.census.gov/population/www/methodep.html.

Resident Population – These population estimates are for the resident population. The resident population of a state includes all residents (both civilian and Armed Forces) living in the state. The geographic universe for the resident population is the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It excludes Puerto Rico and outlying areas under United States jurisdiction. The resident population excludes U.S. citizens residing abroad.

Residual – The subnational estimates are constrained to sum to an independently derived estimate of the national population. The residual is the difference between an area’s population as estimated by the subnational population estimation procedure before and after imposing this constraint. The residual is not a demographic component of population change; rather, it is a statistical artifact of the procedures employed in producing the estimates.

Source: Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC 20233, January 9, 1998.

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