Written by: Rachel Marks, Chief, Racial Statistics Branch, Population Division and Matthew Spence, Senior Advisor for Disclosure Avoidance, Population Division
Today the Census Bureau released new statistics about our nation’s communities, providing population counts and sex-by-age statistics for approximately 1,500 detailed race and ethnicity groups and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages in the 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A (Detailed DHC-A).
In a blog last week, we explained how the level of detail available for each group depends on its population size and the geographic level. This approach also sets targets for the level of uncertainty related to disclosure avoidance embedded in the statistics and illustrates how we are maximizing the utility and relevance of the data we produce while meeting our obligation to protect responses. In fact, the Detailed DHC-A provides a substantial increase in the number of population counts being published relative to the 2010 Census, where groups had to have a population of at least 100 nationally to be included in tabulations.
In this blog, we explain how well the published statistics fit within those targets, giving us confidence in the accuracy and usefulness of the data. We’ll also explain some situations where we suppressed data for groups, and we’ll provide guidance for calculating numbers (like percentages) that are not available in the published tables and for making comparisons.
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Press Kit: 2020 Census Detailed DHC File A
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About the Census Bureau
We serve as the nation’s leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. The Census Bureau is the federal government’s largest statistical agency. As the world’s premier statistical agency, we are dedicated to making our nation a better place. Policy-makers, businesses, and the public use our data to make informed decisions.
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