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 United States
Data followed by an * indicates a Significant Difference at the 90 percent level between that data and the data from the most current year.  Data followed by a "c" indicates the estimate for that year and the current year are both controlled; a statistical test is not appropriate.
TABLE 2. SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
  2003
Estimate		 2002
Estimate		 2001
Estimate		 2000
Estimate
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
Population 3 years and over enrolled in school
75,128,957
74,649,109 *
73,187,876 *
72,556,563 *
Nursery school, preschool
6.14%
6.18%
5.96% *
5.97% *
Kindergarten
5.32%
5.37%
5.41% *
5.45% *
Elementary school (grades 1-8)
43.53%
44.27% *
45.26% *
45.36% *
High school grade (grades 9-12)
22.09%
21.71% *
21.72% *
21.70% *
College or graduate school
22.92%
22.47% *
21.66% *
21.52% *
 
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Population 25 years and over
184,395,128
182,686,266 *
179,959,220 *
177,532,915 *
Less than 9th grade
6.45%
6.68% *
6.70% *
6.97% *
9th to 12th grade, no diploma
9.94%
10.69% *
11.22% *
11.48% *
High school graduate (including equivalency)
29.80%
29.59% *
29.57% *
29.57% *
Some college, no degree
20.29%
20.36%
20.37%
20.53% *
Associate degree
6.99%
6.76% *
6.62% *
6.46% *
Bachelor's degree
16.89%
16.56% *
16.33% *
16.03% *
Graduate or professional degree
9.65%
9.37% *
9.19% *
8.96% *
 
Percent high school graduate or higher
83.6
82.6 *
82.1 *
81.6 *
Percent bachelor's degree or higher
26.5
25.9 *
25.5 *
25.0 *
 
MARITAL STATUS
Males 15 years and over
107,432,675
106,102,671 *
104,352,108 *
102,807,473 *
Never married
30.41%
30.11% *
30.01% *
30.11% *
Now married, except separated
56.57%
56.92% *
57.04% *
56.72%
Separated
1.70%
1.79% *
1.82% *
1.82% *
Widowed
2.46%
2.43%
2.43%
2.53% *
Divorced
8.86%
8.75%
8.69% *
8.82%
 
Females 15 years and over
114,911,030
113,945,212 *
112,373,447 *
110,810,409 *
Never married
24.76%
24.46% *
24.26% *
24.35% *
Now married, except separated
51.60%
51.80%
51.91% *
51.69%
Separated
2.60%
2.68% *
2.66%
2.63%
Widowed
9.73%
9.78%
9.94% *
10.18% *
Divorced
11.31%
11.27%
11.23%
11.16% *
 
FERTILITY
Number of women 15 to 50 years old who had a birth in the past 12 months
3,966,840
4,255,235 *
4,287,391 *
4,272,782 *
Unmarried women (widowed, divorced, and never married)
29.26%
28.53%
29.22%
29.44%
Per 1,000 unmarried women
34
36 *
37 *
38 *
As a percent of all women with a birth
29.3
28.5
29.2
29.4
Per 1,000 women 15 to 50 years old
54
58 *
59 *
59 *
Per 1,000 women 15 to 19 years old
30
34 *
38 *
41 *
Per 1,000 women 20 to 34 years old
103
110 *
110 *
110 *
Per 1,000 women 35 to 50 years old
20
22 *
23 *
22 *
 
GRANDPARENTS
Number of grandparents with own grandchildren under 18 years in households
5,505,115
5,777,430 *
5,680,274 *
5,581,784
Responsible for grandchildren
42.67%
42.73%
42.80%
42.15%
 
Characteristics of grandparents responsible for own grandchildren under 18 years
Percent Responsible for grandchildren
less than 1 year
22.20%
22.23%
21.70%
22.88%
1 or 2 years
22.78%
23.67%
25.55% *
24.05%
3 or 4 years
16.22%
15.90%
15.26%
17.68% *
5 or more years
38.81%
38.20%
37.50%
35.38% *
 
Percent who are female
63.3
61.7 *
62.5
62.1 *
Percent who are married
71.1
72.3
72.1
72.6 *
Percent who are in labor force
57.8
58.6
58.1
57.1
Percent who are in poverty
19.8
18.2 *
20.0
18.7
 
VETERAN STATUS
Civilian population 18 years and over
209,628,197
207,348,585 *
204,113,872 *
201,045,200 *
Civilian veterans
11.45%
11.88% *
12.14% *
12.46% *
 
RESIDENCE 1 YEAR AGO
Population 1 year and over
279,117,736
276,956,477 *
273,446,689 *
270,185,904 *
Same house
84.94%
84.71% *
84.89%
83.94% *
Different house in the U.S.
14.51%
14.68%
14.39%
15.29% *
Same county
9.38%
9.47%
9.16% *
9.59% *
Different county
5.13%
5.21%
5.23%
5.70% *
Same state
2.91%
2.92%
2.85%
3.14% *
Different state
2.22%
2.29%
2.39% *
2.56% *
Abroad
0.55%
0.61% *
0.72% *
0.77% *
 
PLACE OF BIRTH, CITIZENSHIP, AND YEAR OF ENTRY
Total population
282,909,885
280,540,330 c
277,017,622 c
273,643,273 c
Native
88.15%
88.22%
88.64% *
88.94% *
Born in United States
86.92%
86.97%
87.35% *
87.70% *
State of residence
59.61%
59.68%
59.78%
59.80%
Different state
27.30%
27.28%
27.57%
27.89% *
Born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parent(s)
1.23%
1.25%
1.28% *
1.24%
Foreign born
11.85%
11.78%
11.36% *
11.06% *
Naturalized citizen
41.43%
40.96% *
40.47% *
40.49% *
Not a citizen
58.57%
59.04%
59.53% *
59.51% *
Entered 1990 or later
49.42%
47.40% *
45.35% *
43.14% *
Entered before 1990
50.58%
52.60% *
54.65% *
56.86% *
 
REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN
Foreign-born population with region of birth reported
33,533,945
33,048,849 *
31,482,090 *
30,271,370 *
Europe
14.24%
14.70% *
15.38% *
15.72% *
Asia
27.28%
26.87% *
26.93% *
27.30%
Africa
3.10%
3.07%
3.12%
2.82% *
Oceania
0.57%
0.59%
0.63%
0.56%
Latin America
52.29%
52.29%
51.27% *
50.84% *
Northern America
2.53%
2.49%
2.67%
2.76% *
 
LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME
Population 5 years and over
263,230,104
261,013,660 *
257,752,048 *
254,571,610 *
English only
81.61%
81.74%
82.15% *
82.51% *
Language other than English
18.39%
18.26%
17.85% *
17.49% *
Speak English less than "very well"
8.36%
8.04% *
7.78% *
7.57% *
Spanish
11.28%
11.11% *
10.83% *
10.46% *
Speak English less than "very well"
5.48%
5.23% *
5.02% *
4.86% *
Other Indo-European languages
3.61%
3.69%
3.67%
3.69%
Speak English less than "very well"
1.24%
1.22%
1.20%
1.21%
Asian and Pacific Islander languages
2.83%
2.78% *
2.69% *
2.66% *
Speak English less than "very well"
1.42%
1.38% *
1.34% *
1.32% *
Other languages
0.67%
0.69%
0.67%
0.67%
Speak English less than "very well"
0.21%
0.22%
0.21%
0.19%
 
ANCESTRY (TOTAL REPORTED)
Total Population
282,909,885
280,540,330 c
277,017,622 c
273,643,273 c
Arab
0.44%
0.46%
0.47% *
0.45%
Czech
0.50%
0.50%
0.51%
0.51%
Danish
0.51%
0.52%
0.54% *
0.55% *
Dutch
1.79%
1.85%
1.91% *
1.90% *
English
10.04%
10.12%
10.21% *
10.31% *
French (except Basque)
3.42%
3.51% *
3.55% *
3.58% *
French Canadian
0.77%
0.79%
0.81% *
0.81% *
German
16.91%
17.21% *
17.24% *
16.97%
Greek
0.43%
0.43%
0.42%
0.43%
Hungarian
0.53%
0.56% *
0.53%
0.55%
Irish
12.02%
12.21% *
12.15% *
12.08%
Italian
5.91%
5.93%
5.92%
5.82%
Lithuanian
0.25%
0.26%
0.25%
0.26%
Norwegian
1.59%
1.65%
1.66%
1.65%
Polish
3.29%
3.31%
3.33%
3.30%
Portuguese
0.48%
0.49%
0.48%
0.48%
Russian
1.05%
1.07%
1.05%
1.09% *
Scotch-Irish
1.80%
1.89% *
1.86% *
1.90% *
Scottish
2.05%
2.04%
2.03%
1.98% *
Slovak
0.29%
0.29%
0.31% *
0.30%
Subsaharan African
0.67%
0.60% *
0.59% *
0.56% *
Swedish
1.50%
1.56%
1.58% *
1.59% *
Swiss
0.35%
0.37%
0.34%
0.36%
Ukrainian
0.31%
0.31%
0.32%
0.31%
United States or American
6.96%
7.11%
7.43% *
7.34% *
Welsh
0.67%
0.66%
0.71% *
0.69%
West Indian (excluding Hispanic origin groups)
0.75%
0.69% *
0.62% *
0.70% *
 
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  Demographic - Table 1
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  Economic - Table 3
  Housing - Table 4

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See footnotes below.

Footnotes

The profile universe is limited to the household population and excludes the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters. Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability.

Ancestry listed in this table refers to the total number of reports; for example, the estimate given for Russian represents the number of people who listed Russian as either their first or second ancestry. This table lists only the largest ancestry groups; see the Detailed Tables for more categories. Race and Hispanic origin groups are not included in this table because official data for those groups come from the Race and Hispanic origin questions rather than the ancestry question (see Table 1).

1. An '-' entry in an Estimate column indicates that no sample observations were available to compute an estimate.
2. An '-' following a median estimate means the median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution.
3. An '+' following a median estimate means the median falls in the upper interval of an open-ended distribution.
4. An 'N' entry in an Estimate column indicates that data for this geographic area cannot be displayed because the number of sample cases is too small.

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau  |  American Community Survey Office  |  Page Last Modified: August 29, 2007