Urban Area Criteria for Census 2000

• August 20th, 2019

The Census Bureau classifies urban and rural population and delineates urbanized areas after each decennial census. This process began with the 1950 census. Since the 1950 census, the Census Bureau has revised these criteria for each decennial census, taking advantage of improvements in data collection, reporting methodologies, and advancements in technology.

The Census Bureau identifies and tabulates data for the urban and rural population solely for presenting census statistical data. The Bureau does not take into account any nonstatistical uses that may be made of the data and it does not attempt to meet the requirements of nonstatistical program uses. Nevertheless, the Census Bureau recognizes that some federal and state agencies are required by law to use Census Bureau-defined urban and rural classifications for allocating program funds, setting program standards, and implementing aspects of their programs. The Bureau recognizes that the urban and rural designations represent areas where people live, work, and spend their lives. People have a considerable amount of pride about where they are and have strong opinions about the concepts of urban and rural. With this series of definitional revisions, the Bureau has tried hard to make all the decisions about urban/rural designation to be equitable, uniform, and objective for the entire nation.

“Urban” will be all population residing within Urbanized Areas and Urban Clusters. “Rural” will be all population and territory not within any UA or UC.

Urbanized Areas and Urban Clusters

• A. Urbanized Areas. For Census 2000, an urbanized area (UA) will consist of a densely settled core of census block groups (BGs) and census blocks that meet minimum population density requirements. These densely settled, adjacent census blocks must encompass a population of at least 50,000 people. At least 35,000 of the people must live in an area that is not part of a military installation.
• B. Urban Clusters. For Census 2000, an urban cluster (UC) will consist of contiguous, densely settled core of census block groups (BGs) and census blocks, along with adjacent densely settled census blocks that together encompass a population of at least 2,500 people, but fewer than 50,000 people.

Places. The Census Bureau will use UAs and the new concept of UCs, rather than places, to determine the total urban population. Previously, place boundaries were used to determine the urban and rural classification of territory. All incorporated places that had at least 2,500 people were classified as urban. The UC concept, based solely on census BGs and census blocks, does not recognize incorporated place boundaries. This eliminates bias by removing the effect of state laws governing incorporation and annexation.

Naming. The UA or UC title will be the name of the incorporated place with the most population. As many as two additional incorporated place names can be part of the title. Previously, many UA central places and titles were based on MA central city definitions. Under the new rules, UA and UC titles do not need to follow MA central city definitions. The Census Bureau will assign a 5-digit numeric code to each UA and UC.

Grandfathering. The Census Bureau will not automatically recognize previously existing UA territory for Census 2000. There will be no “grandfathering” of areas that qualified for earlier censuses. Grandfathering was used extensively in past censuses. The Census Bureau is trying to bring the urban area criteria back to a single set of rules that allow for application of automated processes that yield consistent results rather than to have the areas defined through a process of accretion over time. The Bureau is striving to eliminate any subjectivity in these delineations. They believe that Census 2000 gives them the opportunity to reexamine areas that qualified as urban areas in earlier censuses due to different criteria, misinterpretation of criteria, and the inevitable mistakes made during clerical delineations of the past. Thus, grandfathering will not be allowed. Areas that no longer qualify as a UA will likely qualify as a UC for Census 2000.

Jumps and Hops. Noncontiguous areas may qualify to be included with the core of an urbanized area or urban cluster under certain circumstances. The new criteria increase the permitted jump distance from 1.5 miles in 1990 to 2.5 miles in 2000. The increase in the permitted jump distance recognizes improvements in the transportation network and the associated changes in development patterns. The change also recognizes that governments sometimes provide “green space” between developments.

The rules for jumps over uninhabitable territory are changing. The new rules change the terminology from “uninhabitable” to “exempted.” The original uninhabitable criteria for Census 2000, which were more restrictive than in the past, were limited to bodies of water, military installations, national parks, and national monuments. Because of input from the public, the Census Bureau decided to include as exempted some features such as floodplains and marshlands that meet specific criteria. See the March 15 Federal Register for a detailed discussion of this topic.

Jumps between qualifying areas that are less than 0.5 miles are hops, not jumps. Hops are small, nonqualifying census blocks developed for nonresidential uses, such as schools, shopping centers, office complexes, industrial parks, and parks or other green space. Territory that is two jumps away from a central core can’t be added to the UA. But hops are allowed after jumps, and jumps after hops.

Governmental Boundaries. Boundaries of governmental units will be invisible to the process. Many densely settled, unincorporated areas will be classified as urban for the first time. The overwhelming majority of these densely settled unincorporated areas are located adjacent to incorporated places in states with strict annexation laws. The total urban population for Alabama is not as likely to be affected by the rules change as will be the population of states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or Pennsylvania.

There are elaborate rules for determining, for each block in the country, whether it is “densely settled,” whether or not it is contiguous to other blocks that are densely settled, and whether it qualifies through a jump or a hop to be included with other densely settled blocks to be part of an Urban Cluster or an Urbanized Area. (See the Federal Registernotice Wednesday, March 28 2000, pages 17018-17033 and the Federal Register notice Friday, March 15 2000, pages 11663 -11670 for details.) Because legal boundaries no longer play a part in qualifying territory as urban or rural, every block had to be evaluated on its own merit. This is a time-consuming process, and for this reason the Census Bureau’s Summary File 1 for Census 2000 did not originally have urban/rural designations. Urban/Rural was added to Summary File 1 in Tables P2 and H2 on June 9, 2003.

“Day time” vs. “Night Time” Population. Please note that the urban/rural designations will continue, as in the past, to be based on housing units. That is, they reflect “night time” populations, where people live, as opposed to “day time” populations, where people work.

Census Bureau Releases Population Estimates for Alabama’s Cities and Towns

• August 20th, 2019

The U.S. Census Bureau has released new population estimates for Alabama’s cities and towns that give the state its first indications of growth since the 2000 census, according to Annette Watters, assistant director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at The University of Alabama and manager of the Alabama State Data Center.

Which city grew the fastest? Huntsville added 2,582 people between 2001 and 2002. Calera, in Shelby County, grew 15.5 percent in that same time period. Calera’s 2001 population was 3,722 and its 2002 population was 4,299, meaning the city added 577 people in a year’s time, which is a good many fewer than the 2,582 that Huntsville added. However, the higher population numbers don’t tell the whole story.

“Calera is this year’s winner as those 577 people represent more than 15 percent growth for the town in one year,” Watters said. “Huntsville’s 2,582 new people represent a growth of just 1.6 percent.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, four cities in Alabama gained more than 1,000 people between 2001 and 2002: Huntsville (2,582), Auburn (1,356), Madison (1,355) and Tuscaloosa (1,011). Both Pelham (982) and Prattville (931) came close to the 1,000 mark.

“Birmingham remains Alabama’s largest incorporated place, despite continuing population losses,” Watters said. “Montgomery is the state’s second largest city, followed by Mobile, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Hoover, Dothan, Decatur, Auburn and Gadsden, in descending order of population size.”

Mobile’s population declined between 2001 and 2002, as did Decatur’s.

These newest estimates for cities and towns take into account some corrections that have been made to the 2002 census. Some municipalities filed challenges with the Census Bureau and have had their 2000 census number changed, usually to reflect an increase.

“Several cities and towns in Alabama have shown the Census Bureau that it failed to account for something important when the census was taken, and the Census 2000 totals for those places have been changed,” Watters said.

Not all cities that have filed a Census 2000 challenge have had their changes made and their paperwork still is in the pipeline. As a result, those revisions are not reflected in these newly released population estimates.

“We need to remember that the population figures for 2001 and 2002 are estimates, not literal truth,” Watters said. “If the elected officials of a town believe their estimate is in error, the Census Bureau is very willing to consider changing the number – but the city has to produce proof, not just rhetoric or anecdotal evidence.

She added that getting the estimate revised does not need to be an adversarial process. Officials just need to provide the necessary documentation the federal agency needs to make a correction.
A boon of the new census numbers is that four Alabama cities are ranked nationally for their large populations. To be ranked, an incorporated city must have a population of at least 100,000.

Watters noted that the estimates include the time period through July 1, 2002. If a city has experienced a growth spurt during the most recent 12 months, that will be reflected in future estimates.

FIFTEEN LARGEST CITIES IN ALABAMA, 2002

For more information, visit a table with the 2002 population estimate of every Alabama city and town.

Every County in State Has Some Rural Population

• August 20th, 2019

Is Alabama a rural state or an urban state? The answer may surprise you. The Census Bureau recently provided some information about the urban and rural population in Alabama.

“Every county in Alabama has some rural population, even the most densely settled counties,” says Annette Jones Watters, manager of the Alabama State Data Center at the Center for Business and Economic Research at The University of Alabama. “But some sparsely settled counties have no urban population at all.”

In recent decades Alabama has seen an increased number of people moving from rural to urban settings. Twelve Alabama counties had smaller populations in 2000 than in 1990. All of these but Calhoun County (home of Anniston) are counties people think of as rural. But the government’s definition of “rural” has changed.

The Census Bureau has classified urban and rural population after each decennial census, Watters said. “This process began with the 1950 census. Since the 1950 census, the Census Bureau has revised these criteria for each decennial census, taking advantage of improvements in data collection, reporting methodologies and advancements in technology.”

The Census Bureau identifies and tabulates data for the urban and rural population solely for presenting census statistical data, Watters said. “The Bureau does not take into account any non-statistical uses that may be made of the data and it does not attempt to meet the requirements of any federal or state program. Nevertheless, the Census Bureau recognizes that some federal and state agencies are required by law to use urban and rural classification defined by the Census Bureau to allocate program funds, set program standards and implement aspects of the their programs.”

Watters stressed that the urban and rural designations “represent people who live, work and raise their families. People have a considerable amount of pride about where they are and have strong opinions about the concepts or rural and urban.”

With this series of definitional revisions, Watters said, “the Census Bureau tried hard to make all the decisions about urban/rural designation to be equitable, uniform and objective for the entire nation.”

Watters pointed out that the Census Bureau’s urban and rural statistics refer to “people, not to land area.” For example, a county will be classified as urban if most of its people live in areas that are densely settled. “That same county might have most of its territory taken up by things we think of as rural features–forests, farms, pastures and so on. Colbert County in north Alabama is a good example of an urban county by Census Bureau standards, but most of its land area is not part of any city or town.”

The urban population of a county, Watters said, lives in densely settled areas that meet minimum population density requirements. “The rules about what is ‘densely settled’ are very exact and the Census Bureau examined every block in the country to determine its urban status. ‘Rural’ is everything else that doesn’t fit the strict rules for ‘urban.’”

The new government urban/rural classification system produces some unexpected results in Alabama. For instance, Lauderdale County, home of Florence, is now a rural county. Although Florence is one of Alabama’s largest cities, there are enough people in Lauderdale County who do not live in Florence to make the population mix in that county 48 percent urban and 52 percent rural.

Another surprising outcome of the new urban/rural standards is that Macon County, home of Tuskegee, is now an urban county. Tuskegee is a much smaller town than Florence, but half of the people in Macon County live inside the city limits of Tuskegee, officially tipping the status of Macon County from rural to urban.

The Census Bureau says that 55 percent of Alabama’s population lives in an urban setting and 45 percent lives in rural areas. So, according to the Census Bureau’s definition, Alabama is an urban state.

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Latest Census Numbers Show County Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin

• August 20th, 2019

The U.S. Census Bureau today issued its first county population estimates by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin since Census 2000, pinpointing at the county level where increases and decreases in various population groups are occurring.

The estimates for the state’s 67 counties are as of July 1, 2002, said Annette Watters, manager of the Alabama State Data Center at The University of Alabama. “The race data and the Hispanic origin data cover two distinctly different concepts. The federal government considers Hispanic origin to be an ethnicity rather than a race. Hispanic persons may be of any race,” Watters explained.

The following findings highlight some of the changing demographics in Alabama:

Total Population
Counties in Alabama that were population gainers in the 20th century continue to be the hot counties in the 21st century. Between 2000 and 2002 Shelby County gained 10,539 people, the biggest gain of any county in the state. Madison County took the second spot with 9,200 additional people between the date of the 2000 Census and July 1, 2002. Growth was very uneven across the regions of the state and also uneven within specific demographics. Jefferson County had an overall population loss but a big gain within the African American population. Baldwin County had fewer than 400 additional school-aged children in that time period but more than 1,500 new residents over the age of 65.

Children under 5
Babies are more popular in some Alabama counties than others. In 38 of Alabama’s 67 counties, the number of children under the age of 5 either stayed about the same or declined in the time between 2000 and 2002. Jefferson County, which already had the biggest number of infants and toddlers, is the county that also gained the most over the 2000-2002 period.

Children 5 to 17
Between 2000 and 2002 Alabama lost 19,000 school-aged children. Some large counties (Shelby, Madison, St. Clair, Elmore, Baldwin, and Blount) included in a metro area were part of a contrary trend and gained in number of children between the ages of 5 and 17. All other counties in the state held about steady in number of residents in that age range, or they lost in that demographic. Metro status did not guarantee population gain among children. Some counties that lost the most number of school-aged children are also metro counties (Calhoun, Montgomery, Mobile, Jefferson).

People age 65 and over
Twenty-four of the 67 Alabama counties gained 100 or more persons aged 65 or older between 2000 and 2002. Most counties held about steady in that population group, gaining or losing less than 100 over the two-year period. Exceptions were Madison, Baldwin and Shelby Counties, which each gained more than 1,300 seniors, and Jefferson County, which lost more than 1,000.

People age 85 and over
In two years time, Alabama gained more than 4,000 persons who are older than 85 years old. Some might have moved to the state, but most are long-time residents who simply aged into this category. Nearly every county has more and more very elderly residents. Only some rural counties have fewer people 85 and older now than they did at the time of the 2000 census.

Blacks
Jefferson County had the largest population of Black people in 2000 (260,608) and 2002 (266,481), and also the largest numerical increase (5,873). Other counties with a gain of more than 1,000 African Americans over the two-year period were Montgomery, Mobile, Madison, Tuscaloosa, Shelby, and Lee.

Hispanics
Jefferson and Marshall Counties showed increases in their Hispanic population of more than 1,000 each, followed closely by DeKalb County, which gained about 975 Hispanics between 2000 and 2002. Shelby, Madison, Marshall, and Baldwin each gained more than 500 persons of Spanish origin. Several counties showed little or no change in their Hispanic population, although 16 counties showed a gain of between 100 and 500. Some counties believe their Census 2000 count of Hispanics was artificially low, making comparisons of change within the decade a little problematic.

Tables for every county in the state may be found on the CBER website. The Census Bureau makes county population estimates using administrative records in “a demographic-change model.” The estimates of population changes since the most recent census use data on births, deaths, and migration.

Alabama’s Population Tops 4.5 Million in 2003, According to Census Bureau

• August 20th, 2019

Alabama’s population grew by 21,856 people between 2002 and 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent population estimates. Alabama ranks 30th of 51 (including the District of Columbia) in number of residents added during that time period.

According to Annette Watters, manager of the Alabama State Data Center and a member of the National Steering Committee of the Census Bureau’s State Data Center organization, the South had the largest numerical increase in population (1.3 million), while the West recorded the fastest rate of growth (1.5 percent). Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia rank in the top 10 states for population growth, she said.

“Although Alabama is not one of the nation’s fastest growing states, it has netted more than 53,600 additional people since the Census was taken in 2000,” Watters said. “Population will increase when people move to the state or are born here. Population is subtracted when people move away or die. Most of Alabama’s population growth comes from natural increase. That is, there are more people born in Alabama than people who die in any given year.”

According to Watters, for two of the last three years, Alabama has had negative internal migration numbers.

“In other words, more people have moved away from Alabama than residents of other states have moved in,” she said. “We do not yet have new figures estimating the age, race, or educational attainment of these movers.”

From April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2003, Alabama’s net internal migration was a negative 9,826. The trend began to reverse itself between 2002 and 2003. “Last year we had 4,525 more people who moved here from other states than Alabamians who left,” Watters noted.

International migration is important to the state’s population growth, but it does not contribute as much to Alabama’s increase as it does to some other states, Watters noted. She said Alabama ranked 34th of 51 in 2003 for population change attributed to international migration.

Last year, Alabama picked up about 5,000 new residents from outside international borders, but other states in the South gained many more. For example, Florida gained 107,300 from net international migration; Georgia added 38,900; and Texas 135,000.

In recent years, Watters said, Shelby, Madison, and Baldwin Counties have been the primary recipients Alabama’s population increase. The county-by-county statistics for 2003 will be released in the spring of 2004.

Information about any county in Alabama can be obtained at http://cber.cba.ua.edu.

The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, founded in 1919, first began offering graduate education in 1923. Its Center for Business and Economic Research was created in 1930, and since that time has engaged in research programs to promote economic development in the state while continuously expanding and refining its base of socioeconomic information.

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• August 20th, 2019

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