What’s your income? And what about your neighbors’? What do houses sell for around here? Are we growing or losing people? Am I the only Asian living here?
If this sort of data interest you, you should go here. It is the site of the U.S. Census Bureau. There you will find, at present in the right hand column, something called Quick Facts. The resource allows you to set your state. After you do so, a long statistical table, for the state, will appear. But at the top of that table you’ll be able to pick either your county or your city. The cities will be of the larger sort. I happen to live in an inner suburb of Detroit too small to get a table, but it’s possible to look at the nearest largest area, in my case that’s Eastpointe, MI. The place has 33,000 people—and is losing population. Whites are 92 percent, Blacks 5 percent, Asians 0.9, and American Indians 0.4 percent of the population.
Home ownership? 88 percent. The median value of a home? It’s $98,100—over against the average for the state as a whole of $115,600. The median household income is $46,262, and per capita income is $20,665. Household income is higher than in Michigan as a whole, per capita is lower. Some 6.4 percent of all persons live beneath the poverty line.
Intriguing? Inclined to compare this area with another? Fine. Let’s take the much more upscale Rochester Hills, MI. It has 69,800 people, is gaining in population. Whites are 88.8, Blacks 2.4, Asians 6.8, and American Indians 0.2 percent of the population.
Home ownership is 79.1 percent. The median house value is $226,200, nearly twice the Michigan average. Median household income is $74,912, per capita income is $35,070—yet 3.4 percent still live below the poverty line.
Interesting. Have fun. You’ll have fifty data points to examine and always in comparison to the larger entity, the USA in contrast to the state, the State in contrast to the county or the city.
Filed under: Statistics
