2000 Census SF3 Data

SF3 (Summary File 3) data cover social, economic and housing characteristics compiled from a sample of approximately 19 million households in the United States (about 1 in 6 households) that received the Census 2000 long-form questionnaire.

There are two SF3 databases released for PCensus: SF3 and SF3+.

2000 Census SF3 Data

SF3 Data has 5,300 variables, in hierarchical sequence, down to the Block Group level.  Also included are ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) that are approximate representations of United States Postal Service ZIP Code service areas. The SF3 data includes:

• Population items include basic population totals; urban and rural; households and families; marital status; grandparents as caregivers; language and ability to speak English; ancestry; place of birth, citizenship status, and year of entry; migration; place of work; journey to work (commuting); school enrollment and educational attainment; veteran status; disability; employment status; industry; occupation, and class of worker; income; and poverty status.
   
• Housing items include basic housing totals; urban and rural; number of rooms; number of bedrooms; year moved into unit; household size and occupants per room; units in structure; year structure built; heating fuel; telephone service; plumbing and kitchen facilities; vehicles available; value of home; monthly rent, and shelter costs.

• 2000 SF3 “Standard” template - The most popular variables are compiled into 64 tables. Click here to see these variables.

• 2000 SF3 “Detailed” template - The U.S. Census Bureau has released the relevant SF3 data in 335 tables: 237 Population tables (identified with a “P”); 98 housing tables (identified with an “H”).  Click here to see these variables.

2000 Census SF3+ Data

SF3+ Data has 16,000 variables, in hierarchical sequence, down to the Census Tract level, ZIP Code and County level.

SF3+ Data includes population characteristics for home language, ancestry, marital status by age, income by householder age and family type. Housing characteristics include income by house value and rent, real estate taxes, households with vehicles by race, rent by race and housing values by race. SF3+ Data also includes the variables that are contained in the SF3 Data.

To assist the PCensus user in dealing with 16,000 SF3+ variables, there are two PCensus templates:

• 2000 SF3+ “Standard” template - the most popular variables are compiled into 22 tables. Click here to see these variables.
• 2000 SF3+ “Detailed” template - the U.S. Census Bureau released SF3 data in 404 tables: 196 Population tables (identified with a “P+”); 208 Housing tables (identified with an “H+”). Click here to see these variables.

 
Block Level Data (This is only available for use in PCensus, version 7)

A subdivision of a census tract, a block is the smallest geographic unit for which the Census Bureau tabulates 100-percent data. Many blocks correspond to individual city blocks bounded by streets, but blocks – especially in rural areas – may include many square miles and may have some boundaries that are not streets. The Census Bureau established blocks covering the entire nation for the first time in 1990. Over 8 million blocks versus 208,000 block groups are identified for Census 2000.
 

The data were collected and tabulated by the U.S. Census Bureau for each block. PCensus databases use the block Population and Dwelling Counts as factors to compute values “on-the-fly” for all census variables at the block level and higher. Having a factor of 40 times more census data points allows much greater resolution for calculating profiles of user defined areas (circles, polygons, drive times).

Technical Documentation

To help you to understand and use the 2000 Census SF3 Data, we

are supplying reference material prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau:

• “Summary File 3, 2000 Census, Technical Documentation”, August 2002. This document is supplied on a CD-ROM as a .PDF file. The publication, with 1,244 pages, contains complete background material on the 2000 Census including collection and processing procedures, variable name and definitions, geographic terms and concepts and the actual Census Questionnaire.

• “Census 2000 ZCTAs ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, Technical Documentation” May 2001. This document is supplied on a CD-ROM as a .PDF file. The publication, with 22 pages, contains complete background material on ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) that are approximate representations of United States Postal Service ZIP Code service areas.
   

Note: the SF3+ Data includes the census variables in the SF3 Data.

*Users with PCensus, version 7 will have the capability to tabulate profiles at the block level.

**When you order SF3+ data, together with the SF3 Block Group data, take 50% off the price of SF3+ Census Tract data.

Download the 2000 Census Data Catalog