The U.S. Census Bureau

Federal, State, and Local Governments
2002 Census of Governments
 
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A Census of Governments is taken at 5-year intervals as required by law under Title 13, United States Code, Section 161. The census covers three major subject fields - government organization, public employment, and government finance.
 
    Census 2002 Brochure   PDF
 

Organization Phase

The organization phase of the census provides a universal list of government units, classified according to type of government, for use in the employment and finance phases of the census. Official counts of the number of state and local governments and tabulations of governments by state, type of government, size and county location are provided in our Volume 1, No. 1 publication.
 
Public Use Files - 2002 Census of Governments - Government Organization
Each of the 87,525 local governments enumerated for the 2002 Census of Governments is represented in the files below. Also included in the Public School Systems file are 1,508 School Systems that are dependent upon their state or local government. These files contain data on local government fiscal year ending dates, e-government activities, service delivery methods, special district and public school system service areas, and special district taxing authority. Data are from research, updating coverage in the universe list of local governments, and the Local Government Directory Survey, which obtained additional information on the characteristics of local governments.
To provide for faster downloading, some of the files below have been compressed.  Numbers in parentheses are approximate compressed/decompressed file sizes.
General Purpose Governments (Counties, municipalities, towns and townships)  (.8 MB/7.8 MB)
Special District Governments  (.6 MB/5.3 MB)
Public School Systems  (.3 MB/2.3 MB)
 
 Reference Information for Government Organization Phase
Technical Documentation explanations of the source and limitations of data, file layouts and content of files available to the public
  Please Note:  If printing, may need to adjust margins
County Area Names Cross-Reference File Census county area codes and names
Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual definitions and explanations of detailed item codes
2002 Governments Integrated Directory names, ID's, and other refererence information for all governments enumerated in the 2002 Census of Governments
2002 Local Government Directory Survey Forms  
  Publications - 2002 Census of Governments
Preliminary Report No. 1 The 2002 Census of Governments   PDF
 Preliminary counts as of June 30,2002   (Now Available)
Volume 1, No. 1, Government Organization
 (Released: December 2002) PDF
 Order the Publication online
Volume 1, No. 2, Individual State Descriptions
 (Released: July 2005)
Skip these NOSCRIPT linksThe browser you are using is not Java-Enabled, so you will not be able to use the drop down menu above. If you would like to access the Preliminary State Description files, you choose them from this list:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Colorado
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Employment Phase

The employment phase of the census provides comprehensive findings on government employment and payrolls for March 2002. The reports will contain national summary data, state area summaries, county area summaries, and data for individual governments (the Federal Government, each state, and local governments).
Description of Available Data
* Federal Government data viewable files by governmental function and state
* State Government data viewable and microdata files by governmental function
* State and Local Government data viewable and microdata files by governmental function
* Local Government data viewable and microdata files by governmental function
Publications - 2002 Census of Governments
Volume 3, No. 1, Employment of Major Local Governments
  (Released: June 2004)
 PDF
Volume 3, No. 2, Compendium of Public Employment
  (Released: September 2004)
 PDF

Finance Phase

The government finance phase of the census includes statistics on the revenue, expenditure, debt and assets of state and local governments. The statistics are aggregated nationally, by state area, and by type of government. Separate reports will be available for county, municipal and township governments, and special district governments, as well as public school systems and public-employee retirement systems.
Description of Available Data
* State and Local Governments Finances (2002) state government and local government data on revenues, expenditures, indebtedness, and cash/securities
* Employee Retirement Systems of State and Local Governments (2002) basic counts and identifying information, measures of financial activity, and membership information
* Public Education Finances (2002) include revenues,expenditures, debt, and assets (cash and security holdings) of elementary and secondary public school systems
Publications - 2002 Census of Governments
Volume 4, No. 1, Public Education Finances
  (Released: September 2004)
 PDF
Volume 4, No. 2, Finances of Special District Governments
  (Released: June 2005)
 PDF
Volume 4, No. 3, Finances of County Governments
  (Released: February 2005)
 PDF
Volume 4, No. 4, Finances of Municipal and Township Governments
  (Released: April 2005)
 PDF
Volume 4, No. 5, Compendium of Government Finances
  (Released: October 2005)
 PDF
Volume 4, No. 6, Employee Retirement Systems of State and
Local Governments   (Released: December 2004)
 PDF

 Reference Information
* Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual definitions and explanation of detailed finance and employment codes
 Contact Information
Contact us by email or by phone at (800) 242-2184.


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