Northeast Region - Households: Total Households

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States. It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the decennial census determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities.

• Measurements:
  • Unitary count (#)
  • Thousands of persons (Ths. #)
  • Percent (%)
  • U.S. dollars (USD)
• Adjustment: Not applicable
• Native frequency: Censal (10 years)
• Start date:
• Geo coverage:
  • Country (IUSA)
  • Census region and division (C^^^)
  • State (^^)
  • State-like and insular areas (^^)
  • County (aannn)
  • ZIP Code area (Znnnnn)
  • CBSAs, 1990 delineations:
    • MSA (^^^)
  • CBSAs, 2000 delineations:
    • MSA (M^^^)
    • Metro division (DM^^^)
    • Micropolitan area (O^^^)
  • CBSAs, 2010 delineations:
    • MSA (IUSA_M^^^)
    • Metro division (IUSA_DM^^^)
    • Micropolitan area (IUSA_O^^^)
    • (IUSA_CS^^^)
  • Census place (aannnnn)

The 2010 Census represented the most massive participation movement ever witnessed in our country. Approximately 74 percent of the households returned their census forms by mail; the remaining households were counted by census workers walking neighborhoods throughout the United States. National and state population totals from the 2010 Census were released on December 21, 2010. Redistricting data, which include additional state, county and local counts, will be released starting in February 2011.

For the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau is committed to counting every person. Just as important, however, is the Census Bureau's commitment to counting every person in the correct place. The fundamental reason the decennial census is conducted is to fulfill the Constitutional requirement (Article I, Section 2) to apportion the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the states. Thus, for a fair and equitable apportionment, it is crucial that people are counted in the right place during the 2010 Census.

Planners of the first U.S. decennial census in 1790 established the concept of "usual residence" as the main principle in determining where people were to be counted. This concept has been followed in all subsequent censuses and is the guiding principle for the 2010 Census. Usual residence is defined as the place where a person lives and sleeps most of the time. This place is not necessarily the same as the person's voting residence or legal residence.

Determining usual residence is easy for most people. Given the U.S.'s wide diversity in types of living arrangements, however, the usual residence for some people is not as apparent. A few examples are people experiencing homelessness, snowbirds, children in shared custody arrangements, college students, live-in employees, military personnel, and people who live in workers’ dormitories.

Applying the usual residence concept to real living situations means that people will not always be counted at the place where they happen to be staying on Thursday, April 1, 2010 (Census Day). For example, people who are away from their usual residence while on vacation or on a business trip on Census Day should be counted at their usual residence. People who live at more than one residence during the week, month, or year should be counted at the place where they live most of the time. People without a usual residence, however, should be counted where they are staying on Census Day.

The residence rule is used to determine where people should be counted during the 2010 Census. The rule says:

• Count people at their usual residence, which is the place where they live and sleep most of the time.
• People in certain types of facilities or shelters (i.e., places where groups of people live together) on Census Day should be counted at the facility or shelter.
• People who do not have a usual residence, or cannot determine a usual residence, should be counted where they are on Census Day.

Moody's Analytics Calculated Series:

• Homeownership rate:
• The proportion of households that are owners is termed the homeownership rate. It is computed by dividing the number of households that are owners by the total number of occupied households.
• HOWNRC.IUSA = (HSTKOOC.IUSA/HSTKOC.IUSA)*100

The Census Bureau established the 2010 Census Count Question Resolution (CQR) Program by which State, local and Tribal area elected officials may challenge their jurisdiction's 2010 Census counts. On June 1, 2011, the Count Question Resolution (CQR) Program began accepting 2010 Census challenge submissions. All challenges must be received by the Census Bureau no later than June 1, 2013.

The U.S. Census Bureau partnered with state, local and tribal governments across the nation to help ensure a complete and accurate count in the 2010 Census. The Census Bureau's goal was to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place. There are historically a small percentage of cases where a wrong geographic boundary or coding of a housing unit was used to produce the official census population and housing counts for a local area. There may also be processing errors. The Census Bureau will not collect any additional data during the challenge process.

If a challenge results in a change, the Census Bureau will issue official revised counts to the affected governments. These changes can be used by the governments for future programs that require official 2010 Census data. They will also be used to calculate subsequent population estimates for that community. To view the current list of jurisdictions that have submitted a 2010 CQR Challenge, click here: 2010 CQR Challenges [PDF, 50kb]. To view a document that provides a summary of the Census Bureau's CQR challenge processing activities, click here: CQR Challenge Process Stages [PDF, 208kb]

To view the CQR Changes by State, Governmental Unit, Tabulation Tract and Block, click here: 2010 Census Notes and Errata [PDF, 1,182 kb]. This document is updated on a weekly basis.

• The Census 2010 did not use the Long Form, only the Short Form.  As a result, all the socio-economic detail previously available from the decennial census has been discontinued.  For this information, users should use the American Community Survey (ACS). The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographic survey of the United States. It provides the detailed demographic, economic and housing data that was once supplied by the Decennal Census Long Form.

• The ACS is only sent to 3 million households each year, a statistically small sample especially when compared to the Census 2000 Long Form which was sent to 18 million households in 1 year. So to produce the detailed demographic data, the ACS combines data from several years to produce multi-year estimates. For example, the ACS combines data collected from 2006 + 2007 + 2008 to get 3-year ACS estimates for geographies with at least 20,000 persons. ACS 5 year estimates, which will be out in December 2010, will provide data for geographies with fewer than 20,000 persons.

• 1980 Educational Attainment for Counties (counties only) in the U.S. was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau's USA Counties website (http://censtats.census.gov/usa/usa.shtml).  USA Counties is part of a series of products featuring county-level data. The data files include all of the data published for counties in the latest editions of the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and the County and City Data Book, as well as a number of data items not previously published. Emphasis has been placed on extending time series in contrast to most other statistical files, which feature data for the recent period.