Summary File 3 contains sample data, which is the information compiled from the questions asked of a sample of all people and housing units in the United States. Population items include basic population totals as well as counts for the following characteristics: urban and rural, households and families, marital status, grandparents as caregivers, language and ability to speak English, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship status, year of entry, migration, place of work, journey to work (commuting), school enrollment and educational attainment, veteran status, disability, employment status, industry, occupation, class of worker, income, and poverty status. Housing items include basic housing totals and counts for 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, and monthly rent and shelter costs. The Summary File 3 population tables are identified with a "P" prefix and the housing tables are identified with an "H," followed by a sequential number. The "P" and "H" tables are shown for the block group and higher level geography, while the "PCT" and "HCT" tables are shown for the census tract and higher level geography. There are 16 "P" tables, 15 "PCT" tables, and 20 "HCT" tables that bear an alphabetic suffix on the table number, indicating that they are repeated for nine major race and Hispanic or Latino groups. There are 484 population tables and 329 housing tables for a total of 813 unique tables.

This dataset was produced in the 1990s by Myron Gutmann and others at the University of Texas to assess demographic change in European- and Mexican-origin populations in Texas from the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries. Most of the data come from manuscript records for six rural Texas counties - Angelina, DeWitt, Gillespie, Jack, Red River, and Webb - for the U.S. Censuses of 1850-1880 and 1900-1910, and tax records where available. Together, the populations of these counties reflect the cultural, ethnic, economic, and ecological diversity of rural Texas. Red River and Angelina Counties, in Eastern Texas, had largely native-born white and black populations and cotton economies. DeWitt County in Southeast Texas had the most diverse population, including European and Mexican immigrants as well as native-born white and black Americans, and its economy was divided between cotton and cattle. The population of Webb County, on the Mexican border, was almost entirely of Mexican origin, and economic activities included transportation services as well as cattle ranching. Gillespie County in Central Texas had a mostly European immigrant population and an economy devoted to cropping and livestock. Jack County in North-Central Texas was sparsely populated, mainly by native-born white cattle ranchers. These counties were selected to over-represent the European and Mexican immigrant populations. Slave schedules were not included, so there are no African Americans in the samples for 1850 or 1860. In some years and counties, the Census records were sub-sampled, using a letter-based sample with the family as the primary sampling unit (families were chosen if the surname of the head began with one of the sample letters for the county). In other counties and years, complete populations were transcribed from the Census microfilms. For details and sample sizes by county, see the County table in the Original P.I. Documentation section of the ICPSR Codebook, or see Gutmann, Myron P. and Kenneth H. Fliess, How to Study Southern Demography in the Nineteenth Century: Early Lessons of the Texas Demography Project (Austin: Texas Population Research Center Papers, no. 11.11, 1989).

Urban areas comprise a densely-settled core of census blocks that meet minimum housing unit density and/or population density requirements. This includes adjacent territory containing non-residential urban land uses. To qualify as an urban area, the territory identified according to criteria must encompass at least 2,000 housing units or a population of at least 5,000. These areas were delineated by the U.S. Census Bureau following the 2020 Decennial Census. For additional information, see: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural.html. For FAQs see: https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/ua/Census_UA_2020FAQs.pdf.

Potential effects of different produce market interventions based on recommended driving distance, financial resources, and service capacity for a rural community in Northwestern Texas.

This statistic shows the 25 largest counties in the United States in 2022, by population. In 2022, about 9.72 million people were estimated to be living in Los Angeles County, California.

Additional information on urbanization in the United States

Urbanization is defined as the process by which cities grow or by which societies become more urban. Rural to urban migration in the United States, and around the world, is often undertaken in the search for employment or to enjoy greater access to services such as healthcare. The largest cities in the United States are steadily growing. Given their size, incremental increases yield considerable numerical gains as seen by New York increasing by 69,777 people in 2011, the most of any city. However in terms of percentage growth, smaller cities outside the main centers are growing the fastest, such as Georgetown city and Leander city in Texas.

Urbanization has increased slowly in the United States, rising from 80.77 percent of the population living in urban areas in 2010 to 82.66 percent in 2020. In 2018, the United States ranked 14th in a ranking of countries based on their degree of urbanization. Unlike fully urbanized countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong, the United States maintains a sizeable agricultural industry. Although technological developments have reduced demands for rural labor, labor in the industry and supporting services are still required.