The
U.S. Bureau of the Census
collects and publishes data on
populations in the United States according to several different
definitions. Various statistical systems then use the appropriate
population for calculating rates.
Total
population is the population of the United States, including all
members of the Armed Forces living in foreign countries, Puerto Rico, Guam,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Other Americans abroad (for example,
civilian Federal employees and dependents of members of the Armed Forces
or other Federal employees) are not included.
Resident
population includes persons whose usual place of residence (that
is, the place where one usually lives and sleeps) is in one of the 50
States or the District of Columbia. It includes members of the
Armed Forces stationed in the United States and their families. It
excludes international military, naval, and diplomatic personnel and
their families located here and residing in embassies or similar quarters.
Also excluded are international workers and international
students in this country and Americans living abroad. The resident
population is usually the denominator when calculating birthand death
rates and incidence of disease.
The resident population is also the
denominator for selected population-based rates that use numerator data
from the National
Nursing Home Survey.
Civilian
population is the resident population excluding members of the
Armed Forces. However, families of members of the Armed Forces are
included. This population is the denominator in rates calculated for the
NCHS National Hospital
Discharge Survey, the National
Home and Hospice Care Survey, and the National
Survey of Ambulatory
Surgery.
Civilian
noninstitutionalized population is the civilian population not
residing in institutions. Institutions include correctional
institutions, detention homes, and training schools for juvenile
delinquents; homes for the aged and dependent (for example, nursing homes and
convalescent homes); homes for dependent and neglected
children; homes and schools for the mentally or physically handicapped; homes
for unwed mothers; psychiatric, tuberculosis, and chronic disease
hospitals; and residential treatment centers. Census Bureau
estimates of the civilian noninstitutionalized population are used to
calculate sample weights for the NCHS National Health
Interview Survey,
National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey, National Survey
of Family Growth,
National Ambulatory
Medical Care Survey, and the National
Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.