Age Data of the United States

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The Older Population in the United States: March 2000
Detailed Tables (PPL-147)

These tables present data on the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the population age 55 and over in the United States from the March 2000 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). Topics covered include geographic distribution, age and sex distribution, marital status, household type and size, educational attainment, labor force status, employment status, occupational characteristics, family income, and poverty status. Data are presented for the United States. Tables 1-5 and 7-21 provide data for the population 55 years and over and table 6 provides data on family type by size and age of householder for the population 65 years and over.

A paper version of these tables is available as PPL-147 for $21.80. To receive a paper copy of this tabulation, send your request along with a check or money order in the amount of $21.80 for PPL-147, payable to Commerce-Census-88-00-9010, to U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, P.O. Box 277 943, Atlanta, GA, 30384-7943, or call our Statistical Information Office on 301-457-2422. Please be certain to specify which PPL you are requesting. A copy of these tabulations will be made available to any existing CPR P-20 subscriber without charge, provided that the request is made within 3 months of the issue date of this report. Contact our Statistical Information Office at 301-457-2422.

NOTE: Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent; therefore, the percentages in a distribution do not always add to exactly 100 percent. The totals, however, are always shown as 100. Moreover, individual figures are rounded to the nearest thousand without being adjusted to group totals, which are independently rounded; percentages are based on the unrounded numbers.

Symbols Used in the Tables

-      Represents zero or rounds to zero.

Source of Data

The estimates in this report come from data obtained in March 2000 from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The Census Bureau conducts the CPS every month, although this report uses only data from the March survey.

Accuracy of the Estimates

Statistics from surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. All comparisons presented in this report have taken sampling errors into account and meet the Census Bureau's standards for statistical significance. Nonsampling errors in surveys may be attributed to a variety of sources, such as how the survey was designed, how respondents interpret questions, how able and willing respondents are to provide correct answers, and how accurately the answers are coded and classified. The Census Bureau employs quality control procedures throughout the production process - including the overall design of surveys, the wording of questions, review of the work of interviewers and coders, and statistical review of reports. The Current Population Survey employs ratio estimation, where by sample estimates are adjusted to independent estimates of the national population by age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin. This weighting partially corrects for bias due to undercoverage, but how it affects different variables in the survey is not precisely known. Moreover, biases may also be present when people who are missed in the survey differ from those interviewed in ways other than the categories used in weighting (age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin). All of these considerations affect comparisons across different surveys or data sources.

For further information on statistical standards and the computation and use of standard errors, contact, Brandi York of the Demographic Statistical Methods Division on the Internet at: Dsmd_S&A@census.gov

Detailed Tables

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