Census tract

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A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock [1] is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. [2] Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas [2] and several tracts commonly exist within a county. In unincorporated areas of the United States these are often arbitrary, except for coinciding with political lines.

Contents

Census tracts represent the smallest territorial entity for which population data are available in many countries. [3] In the United States, census tracts are subdivided into block groups and census blocks. In Canada they are divided into dissemination areas. In the U.S., census tracts are "designed to be relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions" and "average about 4,000 inhabitants". [4]

By country

Brazil

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics uses the term census sector (setor censitário). [5] As of the 2010 Census, there were approximately 314,000 sectors in Brazil.

France

In 1999 in France, in order to prepare for the dissemination of the 1999 French population census, INSEE (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) developed a system for dividing the country into units of equal size, known as IRIS2000, but now known simply as 'IRIS'. [6] The acronym stands for 'Ilots Regroupés pour l'Information Statistique' (‘aggregated units for statistical information') [7] and the 2000 in the name referred not only to the upcoming millennium year but to the target size of 2,000 residents per basic unit. Since 1999, IRIS has represented the fundamental unit for dissemination of infra-municipal data in France and its overseas departments and regions. Towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants, and a large proportion of towns with between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants, are divided into several IRIS units. France is composed of around 16,100 IRIS in total, of which 650 are in the overseas departments. [6] There are 3 types of IRIS unit in use: residential IRIS (pop. between 1,800 and 5,000), business IRIS (containing more than 1,000 employees) and miscellaneous IRIS (specific large zones which are sparsely inhabited and have large surface areas (leisure parks, ports, forests etc.). [6]

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, the Central Statistics Office (CSO), established in 1949, organises the census. [8] Beginning from the 2011 census, the CSO website has made available "Small Area Population Statistics" (SAPS) for each "small area", a subdivision of an electoral division (ED) defined by Ordnance Survey Ireland constrained by natural landscape features. [9] Formerly main roads also constrained the borders but this was changed to increase data privacy. [9] A small area has a minimum of 65 and average of 90 households. [9] For the 2016 census there were 18,641 small areas. [10] The 2016 census also provides the population of each of 50,117 townlands, except those with a population of one sex or two people. [10]

From 1926 to 2006, the smallest unit of public reporting was the electoral division (till 1996 called "district electoral divisions" in counties or "wards" in the cities). There were 3,409 EDs in 2016. [10] Until 1911, the smallest reported unit was the townland in rural areas and the ward in urban areas. Subsequently, townland data was available on application to the CSO. All of the aforementioned are legally defined administrative units, although with no local government functions. From 1996 to 2006, "census enumeration areas" were included in data made available on request for areas within the five county boroughs but not the 29 administrative counties. A census enumeration area was the area covered by a single enumerator, and had an average of 330 households. [11] This data has since been published online. [12]

New Zealand

In New Zealand census tracts are known as meshblocks, or mesh blocks, and are defined by Statistics New Zealand as being "the smallest geographic unit for which statistical data is collected and processed by Statistics New Zealand". It is a defined area, varying in size from part of a city block to large areas of rural land. Each of these borders another to form a network covering the whole country including inlets and coasts, and extending out to the 200 mile economic zone. Meshblocks are added together to "build up" larger geographic areas such as area units and urban areas. They are also used to draw up and define New Zealand electorates and local authority boundaries. [1]

United Kingdom

British census tracts were first developed in the city of Oxford. The Inter-University Census Tract Committee was formed in 1955 [13] and Oxford was divided into 48 tracts with an average population of 2,645 each. [14] The Registrar General, however, opted for enumeration districts containing less than 1,000 people on average, rather than adopting census tracts. [13] While tracts composed of enumeration districts were later developed, these were not extensively used. [15] Census tracts have, however, been constructed and used by British demographers. [16] The Office for National Statistics now uses enumeration districts only for the collection of data, with output areas used as the base unit in census releases. [17]

United States

The concept of the census tract was first developed in the United States. In 1906, Walter Laidlaw originated the concept of permanent, small geographic areas as a framework for studying change from one decennial United States Census to another in neighborhoods within New York City. [18] For the 1910 Census, eight cities—New York, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis—delineated census tracts (then termed ‘‘districts’’) for the first time. No additional jurisdictions delineated census tracts until just prior to the 1930 Census, when an additional ten cities chose to do so. The increased interest in census tracts for the 1930 Census is attributed to the promotional efforts of Howard Whipple Green, who was a statistician in Cleveland, Ohio, and later the chairman of the American Statistical Association's Committee on Census Enumeration Areas. For more than 25 years, Green strongly encouraged local citizens, via committees, to establish census tracts and other census statistical geographic areas. The committees created by local citizens were known as Census Tract Committees, later called Census Statistical Areas Committees.

After 1930, the Census Bureau saw the need to standardize the delineation, review, and updating of census tracts and published the first set of census tract criteria in 1934. The goal of the criteria has remained unchanged; that is, to assure comparability and data reliability through the standardization of the population thresholds for census tracts, as well as requiring that their boundaries follow specific types of geographic features that do not change frequently. The Census Bureau began publishing census tract data as part of its standard tabulations beginning with the 1940 Census. Prior to that time, census tract data were published as special tabulations.

For the 1940 Census, the Census Bureau began publishing census block data for all cities with 50,000 or more people. Census block numbers were assigned, where possible, by census tract, but for those cities that had not yet delineated census tracts, ‘‘block areas’’ (called ‘‘block numbering areas’’ [BNAs] in later censuses) were created to assign census block numbers. Starting with the 1960 Census, the Census Bureau assumed a greater role in promoting and coordinating the delineation, review, and update of census tracts. For the 1980 Census, criteria for BNAs were changed to make them more comparable in size and shape to census tracts. For the 1990 Census, all counties contained either census tracts or BNAs.

Census 2000 was the first decade in which census tracts were defined in all counties. In addition, the Census Bureau increased the number of geographic areas whose boundaries could be used as census tract boundaries. It also allowed tribal governments of federally recognized American Indian tribes with a reservation and/or off-reservation trust lands to delineate tracts without regard to State and/or county boundaries, provided the tribe had a 1990 Census population of at least 1,000. [19]

Census tracts are also used by the Small Business Administration to define boundaries of HUBZones.

Related Research Articles

In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the region. Such regions are not legally incorporated as a city or town would be and are not legal administrative divisions like counties or separate entities such as states. As a result, sometimes the precise definition of a given metropolitan area will vary between sources. The statistical criteria for a standard metropolitan area were defined in 1949 and redefined as a metropolitan statistical area in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Longford</span> County in Ireland

County Longford is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,634 at the 2022 census. The county is based on the historic Gaelic territory of Annaly (Anghaile), formerly known as Teffia (Teathbha).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Census geographic units of Canada</span> Term used in Canada

The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government of their own. They exist on four levels: the top-level (first-level) divisions are Canada's provinces and territories; these are divided into second-level census divisions, which in turn are divided into third-level census subdivisions and fourth-level dissemination areas.

GSS codes are nine-character geocodes maintained by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics (ONS) to represent a wide range of geographical areas of the UK, for use in tabulating census and other statistical data. GSS refers to the Government Statistical Service of which ONS is part.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban area</span> Human settlement with high population density and infrastructure of built environment

An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. This is the core of a metropolitan statistical area in the United States, if it contains a population of more than 50,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micropolitan statistical area</span> Statistical area of the United States

United States micropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), are labor market and statistical areas in the United States centered on an urban cluster with a population of at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000 people. The micropolitan area designation was created in 2003. Like the better-known metropolitan statistical areas, a micropolitan area is a geographic entity used for statistical purposes based on counties and county equivalents. On July 21, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget released revised delineations of the various CBSAs in the United States, which recognized 542 micropolitan areas in the United States, four of which are in Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Dublin Area</span> Metropolitan area in Ireland

The Greater Dublin Area, or simply Greater Dublin, is an informal term that is taken to include the city of Dublin and its hinterland, with varying definitions as to its extent. At the expansive end, it has been defined as including all of the traditional County Dublin and three neighbouring counties, while more commonly it is taken as the contiguous metropolitan area of Dublin plus suburban and commuter towns. The area is defined for strategic planning, and, for example, transport, and it is not a formal administrative or political unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral division (Ireland)</span> Statistical division in Ireland

An electoral division is a legally defined administrative area in the Republic of Ireland, generally comprising multiple townlands, and formerly a subdivision of urban and rural districts. Until 1996, EDs were known as district electoral divisions in the 29 county council areas and wards in the five county boroughs. Until 1972, DEDs also existed in Northern Ireland. The predecessor poor law electoral divisions were introduced throughout the island of Ireland in the 1830s. The divisions were used as local-government electoral areas until 1919 in what is now the Republic and until 1972 in Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Census county division</span> U.S. statistical division of unincorporated areas of counties

A Census County Division (CCD) is a subdivision of a county used by the United States Census Bureau for the purpose of presenting statistical data. A CCD is a relatively permanent statistical area delineated cooperatively by the Census Bureau and state and local government authorities. CCDs are defined in 21 states that do not have well-defined and stable minor civil divisions (MCDs), such as townships, with local governmental purposes, or where the MCDs are deemed to be "unsatisfactory for the collection, presentation, and analysis of census statistics".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 United States census</span> 14th US national census

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human settlement</span> Community of any size, in which people live

In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the date or era in which it was first settled, or first settled by particular people. The process of settlement involves human migration.

A census block is the smallest geographic unit used by the United States Census Bureau for tabulation of 100-percent data. The number of blocks in the United States, including Puerto Rico, for the 2010 Census was 11,155,486.

The United States Census Bureau defines a place as a concentration of population which has a name, is locally recognized, and is not part of any other place. A place typically has a residential nucleus and a closely spaced street pattern, and it frequently includes commercial property and other urban land uses. A place may be an incorporated place or it may be a census-designated place (CDP). Incorporated places are defined by the laws of the states in which they are contained. The Census Bureau delineates CDPs. A small settlement in the open countryside or the densely settled fringe of a large city may not be a place as defined by the Census Bureau. As of the census, 26% of the people in the United States lived outside of places.

Statistical geography is the study and practice of collecting, analysing and presenting data that has a geographic or areal dimension, such as census or demographics data. It uses techniques from spatial analysis, but also encompasses geographical activities such as the defining and naming of geographical regions for statistical purposes. For example, for the purposes of statistical geography, the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the Australian Standard Geographical Classification, a hierarchical regionalisation that divides Australia up into states and territories, then statistical divisions, statistical subdivisions, statistical local areas, and finally census collection districts.

A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns, and villages.

Mesh blocks or meshblocks are a small geographic unit used in the census of several countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drummully</span> Electoral district and pene-enclave in County Monaghan, Ireland

Drummully or Drumully is an electoral division (ED) in the west of County Monaghan in Ireland. Known as the Sixteen Townlands to locals and as Coleman's Island or the Clonoony salient to the security forces, it is a pene-enclave almost completely surrounded by County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Partition of Ireland in the 1920s, the Fermanagh–Monaghan border has formed part of the international border between the United Kingdom and what is now the Republic of Ireland, leaving Drummully as a practical enclave, connected to the rest of the republic only by an unbridged 110-metre (360 ft) length of the Finn River. The area is accessed via the Clones–Butlersbridge road, numbered N54 in the Republic and A3 in Northern Ireland.

References

  1. 1 2 "Meshblock (Concept)". Statistics New Zealand. 2 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Census Tracts and Block Numbering Areas". U. S. Census Bureau. 2000-04-19. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  3. ↑ Domínguez-Berjón, Felícitas; Borrell, Carme; López, Rosario; Pastor, Vicente (2005). "Mortality and socioeconomic deprivation in census tracts of an urban setting in Southern Europe". Journal of Urban Health. 82 (2): 225–236. doi:10.1093/jurban/jti047. PMC   3456560 . PMID   15888637.
  4. ↑ "U.S. Census Bureau definition". Archived from the original on 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  5. ↑ IBGE. "IBGE | censo 2010 | materiais | guia do Censo | operação censitária". censo2010.ibge.gov.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  6. 1 2 3 "IRIS. DEFINITIONS. Publication date: 13/10/2016". INSEE. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  7. ↑ "IRIS. DÉFINITIONS. Date de publication : 13/10/2016". INSEE. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  8. ↑ Seanad Éireann (17 June 1993). "Statistics Bill, 1993: Second Stage". Seanad Éireann debates. Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 "Small Areas Ungeneralised". data.gov.ie. Ireland. 2015. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 "Census 2016 Small Area Population Statistics". Ireland: Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  11. ↑ "2006 Census Enumeration Areas Boundaries". Central Statistics Office. Ireland. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  12. ↑ "Census Reports 1821-2006". Central Statistics Office. Ireland. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  13. 1 2 Longley, Paul; Clarke, Graham (1996). GIS for Business and Service Planning. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp.  80–81. ISBN   0-470-23510-1.
  14. ↑ Robson, Brian Turnbull (1969). Urban Analysis: A Study of City Structure with Special Reference to Sunderland . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.  44. ISBN   0-521-07272-7.
  15. ↑ Exeter, Daniel J.; Boyle, Paul; Feng, Zhiqiang; Flowerdew, Robin; Schierloh, Nick (2005). "The creation of 'Consistent Areas Through Time' (CATTs) in Scotland, 1981–2001" (PDF). Population Trends. 119: 28–36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  16. ↑ "Tracts – Information page". Social and Spatial Inequalities Group, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield. Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  17. ↑ "Beginners' guide to UK geography: Census geography". Office for National Statistics. 2007-10-30. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  18. ↑ Krieger, Nancy (2006). "A century of census tracts: Health & the body politic (1906–2006)". Journal of Urban Health. 83 (3): 355–361. doi:10.1007/s11524-006-9040-y. PMC   2527201 . PMID   16739037.
  19. ↑ "Census Tract Program for the 2010 Decennial Census—Final Criteria" (PDF). Federal Register. U. S. Census Bureau. 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
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