Population Definitions

Unless otherwise specified, all numbers and rates pertain to place of residence (not occurrence).

Age

Ages are presented by Detailed Age Groups and Lifestages. Also, note that selecting "all ages" will supercede any start and end age selection. Uncheck "all ages" to make an age-specific selection.

Census Tract

Tract-level data are available for year 2000 only. Census tracts are small, relatively permanent areas delineated to cover entire counties, primarily those in metropolitan areas. They are designed by local census statistical areas committees to be relatively homogeneous with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions at the time they are established. Census tracts average 4,000 people, but generally range from fewer than 2,500 to more than 8,000. They do not cross county boundaries, and spatial size depends on density of settlement. Tract boundaries are delineated with the intention of being maintained over a long period of time so that statistical comparisons can be made over time. The tract number in the query result is the 2-digit state FIPS code, followed by the 3-digit county FIPS code, followed by the 6-digit census tract FIPS code.

Ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino includes persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Non-Rural

Any county with 35,000 or more total population per year 2000 Census.

Population Estimates

Population data for years 1994-1999 are the National Center for Health Statistics Bridged-race estimates. These estimates replaced the Census' post-censal estimates on 1.12.04. However, single-year estimates were prepared is from the actual Census count, prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Documentation and file layouts are available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census web site. Census populations include military, students, and institutionalized persons if in their usual and customary residence. For years 2001 and higher, population estimates data in 5-year groups are also prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. However, single-year estimates were prepared from Census data by the Department of Public Health. NOTE: Cross-tabulated population data were not available from the U.S. Census for year 2001 until September 2003: Before September 2003 the Department of Public Health used 2000 data in year 2001 as well. However, these 2001 population data were updated 11.13.03 with the 2001 Census data described above.

Race

Per the Federal Office of Management and Budget, Directive 15 (1997),

• White is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa;
• Black or African-American is a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;
• Asian is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam;
• American Indian/Alaska Native is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central American), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment;
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands;
• Multiracial is a person declaring 2 or more of these races.

Despite this, the U.S. Census was allowed to capture "some other" race in addition to the Federal specifications above in the Census years of 2000 and 2010. As "some other" race does not translate to the OMB specifications above, you will find roughly 2% of the state population as Unknown race in 2000, and ~4% of the state population Unknown race in 2010. Concomitantly, you will see a decrease in the count of White race in years 2000 and 2010 (and therefore an increase in White rates that use population denominators in those 2 years).

 
Note: Rates for years prior to year 2000 use population estimates for the denominator that adhere to a different Federal standard for race: White, Black, Asian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native. So, unlike years 2000 and after, Multiracial is not included. Also, Asian by itself is not available because it was grouped with Pacific Islander (After 1999 Asian is separate from Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander).

Rates that use Census Population Estimates in the denominator are not calculated when a selected race is not available in the denominator, or zero.

Nevertheless, selections available in OASIS' Race query box reflect the 1997 Race classifications described above. Most of the numerators used in indicators in Oasis *do* have the year 2000 race selections. Therefore, selections of multiple years that span <2000 and 2000+ will return a *number(count)* for all race selections, but the *rates* may be limited by the change in racial classifications the federal government used as noted above. In these cases you will see NA₁ in the output cell (NA₁ therefore by definition will only show up in rates for the years before 2000).

In some cases, the numerator's race classification may be more precise, or up to date, than the Census population estimate counterpart used in the denominator. You may find that there are a number of births of a given race for a county/age-group selection, but no count of population estimated for the denominator. In such cases where the race selection was available for both the numerator and the denominator, but the denominator's estimate was zero, you will see a NA₂. If the numerator was greater than the denominator, but the denominator was > 0, you will see a NA₃ returned.

Rural

Any county with less than 35,000 total population per year 2000 Census.

V1.8 (12/01/2011)