| Data Dictionary: | Census 2000 |
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Survey: Census 2000
| Data Source: | U.S. Census Bureau |
Data set: Summary File 3 (SF3)
| Table: | P27. Place Of Work For Workers 16+ Years--Place Level [5] |
Universe: Workers 16 years and over
Table Details
| P27. | Place Of Work For Workers 16+ Years--Place Level | ||||||||||||
| Universe: Workers 16 years and over | |||||||||||||
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Relevant Documentation:
| Excerpt from: | Social Explorer, U.S. Census Bureau; 2000 Census of Population and Housing, Summary File 3: Technical Documentation, 2002. |
| Summary File 3 Technical Documentation -> Appendix B. Definitons of Subject Characteristics -> Population Characteristics -> Journey to Work -> Place of Work |
The data on place of work were derived from answers to long-form questionnaire Item 22, which was asked of a sample of the population 15 years old and over. This question was asked of people who indicated in question 21 that they worked at some time during the reference week. (For more information, see "Reference Week.")
Data were tabulated for workers 16 years old and over; that is, members of the armed forces and civilians who were at work during the reference week. Data on place of work refer to the geographic location at which workers carried out their occupational activities during the reference week. The exact address (number and street name) of the place of work was asked, as well as the place (city, town, or post office); whether or not the place of work was inside or outside the limits of that city or town; and the county, state or foreign country, and ZIP Code. If the persons employer operated in more than one location, the exact address of the location or branch where the respondent worked was requested. When the number and street name were unknown, a description of the location, such as the building name or nearest street or intersection, was to be entered.
In areas where the workplace address was coded to the block level, people were tabulated as working inside or outside a specific place based on the location of that address, regardless of the response to Question 22c concerning city/town limits. In areas where it was impossible to code the workplace address to the block level, people were tabulated as working in a place if a place name was reported in Question 22b and the response to Question 22c was either "yes" or the item was left blank. In selected areas, census designated places (CDPs) may appear in the tabulations as places of work. The accuracy of place-of-work data for CDPs may be affected by the extent to which their census names were familiar to respondents, and by coding problems caused by similarities between the CDP name and the names of other geographic jurisdictions in the same vicinity.
Place-of-work data are given for minor civil divisions (MCDs) (generally, cities, towns, and townships) in 12 selected states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin), based on the responses to the place-of-work question. The MCDs in these 12 states also serve as general-purpose local governments that generally can perform the same governmental functions as incorporated places. The U.S. Census Bureau presents data for the MCDs in all data products in which it provides data for places. Many towns and townships are regarded locally as equivalent to a place, and therefore, were reported as the place of work. When a respondent reported a locality or incorporated place that formed a part of a township or town, the coding and tabulating procedure was designed to include the response in the total for the township or town.
Data were tabulated for workers 16 years old and over; that is, members of the armed forces and civilians who were at work during the reference week. Data on place of work refer to the geographic location at which workers carried out their occupational activities during the reference week. The exact address (number and street name) of the place of work was asked, as well as the place (city, town, or post office); whether or not the place of work was inside or outside the limits of that city or town; and the county, state or foreign country, and ZIP Code. If the persons employer operated in more than one location, the exact address of the location or branch where the respondent worked was requested. When the number and street name were unknown, a description of the location, such as the building name or nearest street or intersection, was to be entered.
In areas where the workplace address was coded to the block level, people were tabulated as working inside or outside a specific place based on the location of that address, regardless of the response to Question 22c concerning city/town limits. In areas where it was impossible to code the workplace address to the block level, people were tabulated as working in a place if a place name was reported in Question 22b and the response to Question 22c was either "yes" or the item was left blank. In selected areas, census designated places (CDPs) may appear in the tabulations as places of work. The accuracy of place-of-work data for CDPs may be affected by the extent to which their census names were familiar to respondents, and by coding problems caused by similarities between the CDP name and the names of other geographic jurisdictions in the same vicinity.
Place-of-work data are given for minor civil divisions (MCDs) (generally, cities, towns, and townships) in 12 selected states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin), based on the responses to the place-of-work question. The MCDs in these 12 states also serve as general-purpose local governments that generally can perform the same governmental functions as incorporated places. The U.S. Census Bureau presents data for the MCDs in all data products in which it provides data for places. Many towns and townships are regarded locally as equivalent to a place, and therefore, were reported as the place of work. When a respondent reported a locality or incorporated place that formed a part of a township or town, the coding and tabulating procedure was designed to include the response in the total for the township or town.
The data on place of work relate to a reference week; that is, the calendar week preceding the date on which the respondents completed their questionnaires or were interviewed by enumerators. This week is not the same for all respondents because the enumeration was not completed in 1 week.
However, for the majority of people, the reference week for Census 2000 is the week ending with April 1, 2000. The lack of a uniform reference week means that the place-of-work data reported in Census 2000 do not exactly match the distribution of workplace locations observed or measured during an actual work week.
The place-of-work data are estimates of people 16 years old and over who were both employed and at work during the reference week (including people in the armed forces). People who did not work during the reference week but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent due to illness, bad weather, industrial dispute, vacation, or other personal reasons are not included in the place-of-work data. Therefore, the data on place of work understate the total number of jobs or total employment in a geographic area during the reference week. It also should be noted that people who had irregular, casual, or unstructured jobs during the reference week may have erroneously reported themselves as not working.
The address where the individual worked most often during the reference week was recorded on the Census 2000 questionnaire. If a worker held two jobs, only data about the primary job (the one worked the greatest number of hours during the preceding week) was requested. People who regularly worked in several locations during the reference week were requested to give the address at which they began work each day. For cases in which daily work was not begun at a central place each day, the person was asked to provide as much information as possible to describe the area in which he or she worked most during the reference week.
However, for the majority of people, the reference week for Census 2000 is the week ending with April 1, 2000. The lack of a uniform reference week means that the place-of-work data reported in Census 2000 do not exactly match the distribution of workplace locations observed or measured during an actual work week.
The place-of-work data are estimates of people 16 years old and over who were both employed and at work during the reference week (including people in the armed forces). People who did not work during the reference week but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent due to illness, bad weather, industrial dispute, vacation, or other personal reasons are not included in the place-of-work data. Therefore, the data on place of work understate the total number of jobs or total employment in a geographic area during the reference week. It also should be noted that people who had irregular, casual, or unstructured jobs during the reference week may have erroneously reported themselves as not working.
The address where the individual worked most often during the reference week was recorded on the Census 2000 questionnaire. If a worker held two jobs, only data about the primary job (the one worked the greatest number of hours during the preceding week) was requested. People who regularly worked in several locations during the reference week were requested to give the address at which they began work each day. For cases in which daily work was not begun at a central place each day, the person was asked to provide as much information as possible to describe the area in which he or she worked most during the reference week.
The wording of the question on place of work was substantially the same in Census 2000, the 1990 census, and the 1980 census. However, data on place of work from Census 2000 and the 1990 census are based on the full census sample, while data from the 1980 census were based on only about one-half of the full sample.
For the 1980 census, nonresponse or incomplete responses to the place-of-work question were not allocated, resulting in the use of "not reported" categories in the 1980 publications. However, for Census 2000 and the 1990 census, when place of work was not reported or the response was incomplete, a work location was allocated to the person based on their means of transportation to work, travel time to work, industry, and location of residence and workplace of others. Census 2000 and 1990 census tabulations, therefore, do not contain a "not reported" category for the place-of-work data.
Comparisons between 1980, 1990, or Census 2000 data on the gross number of workers in particular commuting flows, or the total number of people working in an area, should be made with extreme caution. Any apparent increase in the magnitude of the gross numbers may be due solely to the fact that for Census 2000 and the 1990 census, the "not reported" cases have been distributed among specific place-of-work destinations, instead of tallied in a separate category, as in 1980.
For the 1980 census, nonresponse or incomplete responses to the place-of-work question were not allocated, resulting in the use of "not reported" categories in the 1980 publications. However, for Census 2000 and the 1990 census, when place of work was not reported or the response was incomplete, a work location was allocated to the person based on their means of transportation to work, travel time to work, industry, and location of residence and workplace of others. Census 2000 and 1990 census tabulations, therefore, do not contain a "not reported" category for the place-of-work data.
Comparisons between 1980, 1990, or Census 2000 data on the gross number of workers in particular commuting flows, or the total number of people working in an area, should be made with extreme caution. Any apparent increase in the magnitude of the gross numbers may be due solely to the fact that for Census 2000 and the 1990 census, the "not reported" cases have been distributed among specific place-of-work destinations, instead of tallied in a separate category, as in 1980.
| Excerpt from: | Social Explorer, U.S. Census Bureau; 2000 Census of Population and Housing, Summary File 3: Technical Documentation, 2002. |
| Summary File 3 Technical Documentation -> Appendix A. Census 2000 Geographic Terms and Concepts -> Place |
Places, for the reporting of decennial census data, include census designated places, consolidated cities, and incorporated places. Each place is assigned a five-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code, based on the alphabetical order of the place name within each state. If place names are duplicated within a state and they represent distinctly different areas, a separate code is assigned to each place name alphabetically by primary county in which each place is located, or if both places are in the same county, alphabetically by their legal description (for example, "city" before "village").
Census designated places (CDPs) are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places. CDPs are delineated to provide census data for concentrations of population, housing, and commercial structures that are identifiable by name but are not within an incorporated place. CDP boundaries usually are defined in cooperation with state, local, and tribal officials. These boundaries, which usually coincide with visible features or the boundary of an adjacent incorporated place or other legal entity boundary, have no legal status, nor do these places have officials elected to serve traditional municipal functions. CDP boundaries may change from one decennial census to the next with changes in the settlement pattern; a CDP with the same name as in an earlier census does not necessarily have the same boundary.
For Census 2000, for the first time, CDPs did not need to meet a minimum population threshold to qualify for tabulation of census data. For the 1990 census and earlier censuses, the U.S. Census Bureau required CDPs to qualify on the basis of various minimum population size criteria.
Beginning with the 1950 census, the U.S. Census Bureau, in cooperation with state and local governments (and American Indian tribal officials starting with the 1990 census), identified and delineated boundaries and names for CDPs. In the data products issued in conjunction with Census 2000, the name of each such place is followed by "CDP," as was the case for the 1990 and 1980 censuses. In the data products issued in conjunction with the 1950, 1960, and 1970 censuses, these places were identified by "(U)," meaning "unincorporated place."
Hawaii is the only state that has no incorporated places recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau. All places shown in the data products for Hawaii are CDPs. By agreement with the state of Hawaii, the U.S. Census Bureau does not show data separately for the city of Honolulu, which is coextensive with Honolulu County.
All places in the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam are CDPs. The Virgin Islands of the United States has both CDPs and incorporated places. There are no CDPs in American Samoa; the U.S. Census Bureau treats the traditional villages as statistically equivalent to incorporated places.
For Census 2000, for the first time, CDPs did not need to meet a minimum population threshold to qualify for tabulation of census data. For the 1990 census and earlier censuses, the U.S. Census Bureau required CDPs to qualify on the basis of various minimum population size criteria.
Beginning with the 1950 census, the U.S. Census Bureau, in cooperation with state and local governments (and American Indian tribal officials starting with the 1990 census), identified and delineated boundaries and names for CDPs. In the data products issued in conjunction with Census 2000, the name of each such place is followed by "CDP," as was the case for the 1990 and 1980 censuses. In the data products issued in conjunction with the 1950, 1960, and 1970 censuses, these places were identified by "(U)," meaning "unincorporated place."
Hawaii is the only state that has no incorporated places recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau. All places shown in the data products for Hawaii are CDPs. By agreement with the state of Hawaii, the U.S. Census Bureau does not show data separately for the city of Honolulu, which is coextensive with Honolulu County.
All places in the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam are CDPs. The Virgin Islands of the United States has both CDPs and incorporated places. There are no CDPs in American Samoa; the U.S. Census Bureau treats the traditional villages as statistically equivalent to incorporated places.
A consolidated government is a unit of local government for which the functions of an incorporated place and its county or minor civil division (MCD) have merged. The legal aspects of this action may result in both the primary incorporated place and the county or MCD continuing to exist as legal entities, even though the county or MCD performs few or no governmental functions and has few or no elected officials. Where this occurs, and where one or more other incorporated places in the county or MCD continue to function as separate governments, even though they have been included in the consolidated government, the primary incorporated place is referred to as a consolidated city.
The presentation of data for consolidated cities varies depending on the geographic presentation. In some hierarchical presentations, consolidated cities are not shown. These presentations include the places within the consolidated city and the "consolidated city (balance)." Although hierarchical presentations do not show the consolidated city, the data for it are the same as the county or county subdivision with which it is coextensive. Other hierarchical presentations do show the consolidated city, county or county subdivision, and (balance) as separate entities. For inventory geographic presentations, the consolidated city appears alphabetically sequenced within the listing of places; in 1990, consolidated places appeared at the end of the listing. The data for the consolidated city include the data for all places that are part of and within the consolidated city. The "consolidated city (balance)" entry shows the data for the portion of the consolidated government minus the separately incorporated places within the consolidated city, and is shown in alphabetical sequence with other places that comprise the consolidated city. For data presentation purposes these "balance" entities are treated as statistically equivalent to a place; they have no legal basis or functions.
In summary presentations by size of place, the consolidated city is not included. The places within consolidated cities are categorized by their size, as is the "consolidated city (balance)." A few incorporated places are partially inside and partially outside a consolidated city. Data tabulations by place will include all territory within the place, while the tabulation for the place within a consolidated city is only for part of the place.
Each consolidated city is assigned a five-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code that is unique within state. The places within consolidated cities and the "consolidated city (balance)" also are assigned five-digit FIPS place codes that are unique within state. The code assigned to each place within a consolidated city is the same as its regular place code; a place that is partially included in a consolidated city does not have a different code for the portions inside and outside the consolidated city. FIPS codes are assigned based on alphabetical sequence within each state.
The presentation of data for consolidated cities varies depending on the geographic presentation. In some hierarchical presentations, consolidated cities are not shown. These presentations include the places within the consolidated city and the "consolidated city (balance)." Although hierarchical presentations do not show the consolidated city, the data for it are the same as the county or county subdivision with which it is coextensive. Other hierarchical presentations do show the consolidated city, county or county subdivision, and (balance) as separate entities. For inventory geographic presentations, the consolidated city appears alphabetically sequenced within the listing of places; in 1990, consolidated places appeared at the end of the listing. The data for the consolidated city include the data for all places that are part of and within the consolidated city. The "consolidated city (balance)" entry shows the data for the portion of the consolidated government minus the separately incorporated places within the consolidated city, and is shown in alphabetical sequence with other places that comprise the consolidated city. For data presentation purposes these "balance" entities are treated as statistically equivalent to a place; they have no legal basis or functions.
In summary presentations by size of place, the consolidated city is not included. The places within consolidated cities are categorized by their size, as is the "consolidated city (balance)." A few incorporated places are partially inside and partially outside a consolidated city. Data tabulations by place will include all territory within the place, while the tabulation for the place within a consolidated city is only for part of the place.
Each consolidated city is assigned a five-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code that is unique within state. The places within consolidated cities and the "consolidated city (balance)" also are assigned five-digit FIPS place codes that are unique within state. The code assigned to each place within a consolidated city is the same as its regular place code; a place that is partially included in a consolidated city does not have a different code for the portions inside and outside the consolidated city. FIPS codes are assigned based on alphabetical sequence within each state.
Incorporated places recognized in decennial census data products are those reported to the U.S. Census Bureau as legally in existence on January 1, 2000, under the laws of their respective states, as cities, boroughs, city and boroughs, municipalities, towns, and villages, with the following exceptions: the towns in the New England states, New York, and Wisconsin, and the boroughs in New York are recognized as minor civil divisions for decennial census purposes; the boroughs, city and boroughs (as in Juneau City and Borough), and municipality (Anchorage) in Alaska are county equivalents for decennial census statistical presentation purposes. In four states (Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia), there are one or more incorporated places known as "independent cities" that are primary divisions of a state and legally not part of any county. For data presentation purposes, the U.S. Census Bureau may treat an independent city as a county equivalent, county subdivision, and place.
The U.S. Census Bureau treats the villages in American Samoa as incorporated places because they have their own officials, who have specific legal powers as authorized in the American Samoa Code. The village boundaries are traditional rather than being specific, legally defined locations. There are no incorporated places in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The U.S. Census Bureau treats the three towns in the Virgin Islands of the United States as incorporated places.
There are a few incorporated places that do not have a legal description. An incorporated place is established to provide governmental functions for a concentration of people as opposed to a minor civil division, which generally is created to provide services or administer an area without regard, necessarily, to population.
The U.S. Census Bureau treats the villages in American Samoa as incorporated places because they have their own officials, who have specific legal powers as authorized in the American Samoa Code. The village boundaries are traditional rather than being specific, legally defined locations. There are no incorporated places in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The U.S. Census Bureau treats the three towns in the Virgin Islands of the United States as incorporated places.
There are a few incorporated places that do not have a legal description. An incorporated place is established to provide governmental functions for a concentration of people as opposed to a minor civil division, which generally is created to provide services or administer an area without regard, necessarily, to population.
