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In 1978, Congress established the first week of May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week to coincide with two important historical milestones: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States on May 7, 1843, and the contributions of Chinese workers to the building of the transcontinental railroad, completed on May 10, 1869. In 1992, Congress expanded this week observance into a month-long celebration. 252,000 The number of Asian residents in North Carolina on…
Ten cities have passed the million population mark according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 municipal population estimates. With San Jose entering these ranks, California now has three cities with a million or more residents (Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose), tying Texas (Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas). Among the ten largest cities, population growth trends vary widely. Chicago gained a mere 82 new residents between 2013 and 2014 according to the estimates, while…
A few months ago, I saw someone retweet a map with the title “Who houses more people – colleges or prisons?” In many Southern and Western states, the answer to this question was prisons. Shortly thereafter, the Washington Post published a piece on Wonkblog with the headline, “The U.S. has more jails than colleges. Here’s a map of where those prisoners live.” Taken together, these two headlines suggest that there may be more prisoners in…
“In 2011, the first of the baby boomers reached what used to be known as retirement age. And for the next 18 years, boomers will be turning 65 at a rate of about 8,000 a day. As this unique cohort grows older, it will likely transform the institutions of aging — just as it has done to other aspects of American life. Will boomers redefine this life stage, or will it redefine them? We’ll explore that question in…
The USDA Economic Research Service produces a lot of data about our nation's farms and food stuffs. Recently, they made their series of "the essentials" into an easy to navigate portal, filled with 70 charts and maps that highlight key information about everything from food prices and consumption to the interplay between agriculture and natural resources. While it's well worth exploring on your own, here were three of my favorites: The number of U.S. farms…
Although marriage patterns in the United States have changed considerably over the past half-century, when placed within a larger global context there is still evidence that Americans value marriage. Compared with other industrialized countries, Americans have higher marriage rates and marry somewhat earlier. Marital disruption is higher in the United States compared with European nations. We see a pattern of marriage, divorce, and remarriage, or “marriage-go-round.” This pattern in the United States, along with various…
Between 1820 and 2013, nearly 79.5 million immigrants have become lawful permanent residents of the United States according to the Department of Homeland Security’s records. The chart below shows the volume of U.S. immigration by immigrant continent of origin for each decade since 1820. (Note that the volume of immigration drops for 2010-2013 because the decade is only partially complete.) There have been three major waves of immigration into the United States since 1820, marked…
Analysis using total tax or per capita tax as a measure of tax burden on the citizens of a particular state can be misleading and misinterpreted. Different states use different approaches to taxation, and comparing only the total taxes collected by each state is not enough to understand the economic impact of those states’ taxes. The Census Bureau’s statistics on state tax revenues reflect the taxes a state collects from activity within the state, not…
Quite frequently, North Carolina’s trends mirror national averages. Nationwide, 53% of U.S. counties lost population between 2010 and 2014. In North Carolina, 49% did. North Carolina differs slightly from the nation, however, in the county distribution of the underlying demographic processes driving population growth—or decline. In North Carolina counties it was more common for both demographic processes to move in tandem than it was nationwide. One-third of NC counties had population growth from both natural…
The map below highlights population change and components of change for North Carolina counties between 2010 and 2014. The dark teal shows counties with population growth from both natural increase (more births than deaths) and net in migration. With few exceptions—such as Watauga in the northwestern portion of the state—these counties are located within metropolitan regions. Counties with natural decrease, more deaths than births, are relatively older, and highlight rural/urban differences in the impacts of…
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