Simpler Path to 2010 Census Data

The U.S. Census Bureau debuts a reinvented American FactFinder today, making online access to 2010 Census data -- and many more statistics -- easier than ever.

The new American FactFinder offers a fresh look, new tools and easier access to a wide range of Census Bureau statistics. Online today, you will find population estimates for 2008 and earlier years and findings from the 2000 Census. When fully implemented, the new FactFinder is projected to have about 250 billion data cells in more than 40,000 tables.

"Our goal is to give users a simpler path to 2010 Census data," said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. "With this new and improved incarnation of the American FactFinder, the American people will be able to really understand the value of their participation and learn from it."

The 2010 Census form was one of the shortest in our lifetime, asking just 10 questions and taking about 10 minutes to complete. After conducting a census intended to be so easy for every household, the next step was making the results easy to access.

"By April 1, the American people will have 2010 Census data for more than 9 million census blocks and more than 74,000 census tracts across the country right at their fingertips," Groves said.

The launch of this revamped tool was timed for the release, starting in February, of local-level 2010 Census data on race, Hispanic origin and the voting-age population that state governments use to redraw the boundaries of their congressional and state legislative districts. Eventually, it will also be the primary means of accessing data from other major data sets, such as the American Community Survey, the economic census and population estimates.

Users should note that American Community Survey, 2007 Economic Census and other economic survey data are not in the new version of American FactFinder at the present. These data sets can be accessed from the American FactFinder homepage and will be loaded to the new American FactFinder during the coming year.

The Census Bureau plans to run the new and old versions of American FactFinder in parallel until fall 2011. You can access 2009 American Community Survey and 2007 Economic Census data from the old system until the conversion has been made.

Among the enhanced features and functions of the new version are:

-- A more robust, powerful search engine, making searches for statistics simpler and more topic-driven. Users can select predefined topics, geographies, population groups or industry codes and then quickly obtain search results, including tables to view or download.

-- Enhanced table manipulation features, allowing users to quickly modify a table, permitting them to show or hide rows or columns, collapse or expand groups of data in the table, rearrange the rows and columns, sort rows in ascending and descending order, and filter rows of a table.

-- Advanced mapping capabilities, permitting users to see geographic patterns in the data by viewing the data on a map, manipulating the map with a zoom tool and personalizing the map by changing colors, displaying boundaries and features, and adding points or text to the map.

-- Enhanced address search functions, allowing users to enter a street address and see all the data available for that area.