Research Guides: US Census Data: Historic and Future

Population Projections

Population projections attempt to estimate the future population for given areas.

US Population Projections
Projections for individual states and the country as a whole
Components of Change
Births, deaths, and migration used to calculate estimates and projections (listed under characteristics)

Historical Census Datasets

The US Census Bureau provides access to full census data from 2000 to the present on its website. If you need access to older datasets, consult the following resources. When making historical comparisons bear in mind that questions on the census and census geography change over time.

NHGIS
The National Historical Geographic Information System provides nearly full decennial census and ACS data from 1790 to present. You can also download historic census boundaries for use in GIS. Registration is required but is free.

Social Explorer
Allows you to create thematic maps and download current and historical data. Baruch has a subscription to the full database - a more limited version is freely available on the web

Longitudinal Tract Data Base
Project at Brown University that provides normalized census tract boundaries and cross walks for tabulating historic tract-level data (1970-2000) to modern boundaries (2010).

Neighborhood Change Database
Contains census tract data from 1970 to 2010. Offers the original data for each decade as well as normalized data modified to fit Census 2010 boundaries (thus making the geography and data for each census comparable). Create reports that can be downloaded as tables and maps that can be downloaded as shapefiles or saved as images.

Selected Historical Decennial Census
The US Census Bureau provides basic historical census data from 1790 to 1990, as well as some older census reports

Geospatial Data Librarian

Charles Terng

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Subjects: Computer Information Systems, Demography