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 District of Columbia
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
124,674
127,883
131,696 *
136,273 *
Nursery school, preschool
7.65%
7.43%
6.03%
6.87%
Kindergarten
4.90%
3.64%
5.68%
5.50%
Elementary school (grades 1-8)
38.46%
41.35% *
40.67% *
38.83%
High school grade (grades 9-12)
17.28%
16.79%
17.16%
19.43% *
College or graduate school
31.70%
30.78%
30.46%
29.37%
 
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Population 25 years and over
377,677
378,881 *
374,825 *
370,634 *
Less than 9th grade
6.15%
5.85%
6.68%
6.12%
9th to 12th grade, no diploma
12.14%
12.18%
13.18%
12.20%
High school graduate (including equivalency)
19.32%
20.95%
20.47%
21.71% *
Some college, no degree
15.53%
15.12%
14.82%
16.30%
Associate degree
2.69%
3.38%
2.53%
2.68%
Bachelor's degree
21.24%
18.91% *
19.68% *
19.68%
Graduate or professional degree
22.92%
23.61%
22.64%
21.31% *
 
Percent high school graduate or higher
81.7
82.0
80.1
81.7
Percent bachelor's degree or higher
44.2
42.5
42.3 *
41.0 *
 
MARITAL STATUS
Males 15 years and over
200,525
203,085 *
202,496 *
201,781 *
Never married
50.12%
51.56%
51.69%
49.99%
Now married, except separated
35.08%
33.36%
31.65% *
31.77% *
Separated
3.37%
3.20%
3.64%
4.43%
Widowed
2.85%
2.38%
3.26%
3.45%
Divorced
8.57%
9.51%
9.76%
10.36% *
 
Females 15 years and over
235,310
236,830 *
236,256 *
237,936 *
Never married
45.99%
44.93%
46.68%
46.22%
Now married, except separated
28.22%
27.25%
25.83% *
26.25%
Separated
4.83%
4.85%
3.92%
4.39%
Widowed
10.12%
11.14%
12.62% *
11.28%
Divorced
10.85%
11.82%
10.95%
11.86%
 
FERTILITY
Number of women 15 to 50 years old who had a birth in the past 12 months
7,992
8,692
8,339
9,800
Unmarried women (widowed, divorced, and never married)
48.97%
47.14%
55.58%
61.80%
Per 1,000 unmarried women
37
39
42
55 *
As a percent of all women with a birth
49.0
47.1
55.6
61.8
Per 1,000 women 15 to 50 years old
53
57
55
63
Per 1,000 women 15 to 19 years old
32
23
92 *
67
Per 1,000 women 20 to 34 years old
75
77
74
77
Per 1,000 women 35 to 50 years old
29
39
27
47 *
 
GRANDPARENTS
Number of grandparents with own grandchildren under 18 years in households
12,567
12,550
15,589
16,611 *
Responsible for grandchildren
54.57%
51.38%
51.35%
49.94%
 
Characteristics of grandparents responsible for own grandchildren under 18 years
Percent Responsible for grandchildren
less than 1 year
5.69%
11.51%
14.89%
15.75% *
1 or 2 years
17.05%
18.55%
33.75%
10.68%
3 or 4 years
9.58%
18.46%
11.22%
21.14%
5 or more years
67.69%
51.49% *
40.14% *
52.42%
 
Percent who are female
76.1
75.5
69.9
66.8
Percent who are married
48.8
49.8
45.1
64.4
Percent who are in labor force
55.8
51.8
48.3
60.6
Percent who are in poverty
30.7
20.3
23.6
21.7
 
VETERAN STATUS
Civilian population 18 years and over
419,729
424,011 *
420,855 *
420,536
Civilian veterans
8.56%
8.69%
9.13%
9.90% *
 
RESIDENCE 1 YEAR AGO
Population 1 year and over
522,912
528,252 *
529,007 *
529,930 *
Same house
84.29%
85.15%
83.55%
82.38%
Different house in the U.S.
14.43%
13.24%
14.64%
15.89%
Same county
8.41%
8.35%
9.10%
9.39%
Different county
6.02%
4.88% *
5.54%
6.51%
Same state
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Different state
6.02%
4.88% *
5.54%
6.51%
Abroad
1.29%
1.62%
1.80% *
1.73%
 
PLACE OF BIRTH, CITIZENSHIP, AND YEAR OF ENTRY
Total population
528,759
535,632 c
536,260 c
536,497 c
Native
85.08%
85.38%
86.40% *
86.89% *
Born in United States
84.08%
84.01%
85.15%
85.59% *
State of residence
41.47%
42.84%
42.66%
43.54% *
Different state
42.60%
41.17%
42.48%
42.05%
Born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parent(s)
1.00%
1.36%
1.26%
1.29%
Foreign born
14.92%
14.62%
13.60% *
13.11% *
Naturalized citizen
30.33%
33.98%
31.92%
27.26%
Not a citizen
69.67%
66.02%
68.08%
72.74%
Entered 1990 or later
61.25%
55.80%
54.17% *
56.35%
Entered before 1990
38.75%
44.20% *
45.83% *
43.65% *
 
REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN
Foreign-born population with region of birth reported
78,890
78,327
72,912 *
70,356 *
Europe
15.84%
14.94%
16.44%
15.48%
Asia
17.50%
18.04%
17.24%
20.98% *
Africa
11.97%
12.44%
15.16%
13.36%
Oceania
1.55%
0.67% *
0.19% *
0.99%
Latin America
50.77%
52.76%
49.56%
48.11% *
Northern America
2.36%
1.16%
1.41%
1.08% *
 
LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME
Population 5 years and over
495,397
501,168 *
504,279 *
504,337 *
English only
82.21%
83.35%
84.72% *
84.79% *
Language other than English
17.79%
16.65%
15.28% *
15.21% *
Speak English less than "very well"
7.88%
6.94%
5.99% *
5.95% *
Spanish
9.71%
9.81%
8.24% *
8.00% *
Speak English less than "very well"
5.49%
5.02%
3.88% *
4.02% *
Other Indo-European languages
4.64%
3.51% *
3.78% *
3.56% *
Speak English less than "very well"
1.15%
0.56% *
0.89%
0.68% *
Asian and Pacific Islander languages
1.85%
1.64%
1.36% *
1.67%
Speak English less than "very well"
0.68%
0.86%
0.47%
0.74%
Other languages
1.58%
1.71%
1.90%
1.97%
Speak English less than "very well"
0.56%
0.51%
0.76%
0.51%
 
ANCESTRY (TOTAL REPORTED)
Total Population
528,759
535,632 c
536,260 c
536,497 c
Arab
0.64%
0.47%
0.72%
0.68%
Czech
0.29%
0.18%
0.21%
0.20%
Danish
0.13%
0.33% *
0.27%
0.20%
Dutch
0.59%
0.55%
0.57%
0.53%
English
4.76%
4.86%
5.26%
4.98%
French (except Basque)
1.50%
1.55%
1.61%
1.27%
French Canadian
0.28%
0.22%
0.37%
0.14% *
German
5.52%
6.14%
5.87%
6.15%
Greek
0.52%
0.45%
0.39%
0.36%
Hungarian
0.48%
0.28% *
0.34%
0.43%
Irish
5.16%
4.59%
5.00%
5.70%
Italian
2.40%
2.38%
2.17%
2.46%
Lithuanian
0.26%
0.21%
0.22%
0.21%
Norwegian
0.36%
0.30%
0.41%
0.47%
Polish
1.70%
1.31% *
1.47%
1.48%
Portuguese
0.17%
0.11%
0.09%
0.15%
Russian
1.50%
1.81%
1.54%
1.46%
Scotch-Irish
0.84%
0.94%
1.10%
0.89%
Scottish
1.17%
1.47%
1.15%
0.96%
Slovak
0.16%
0.18%
0.16%
0.15%
Subsaharan African
2.57%
2.55%
2.99%
2.52%
Swedish
0.55%
0.77% *
0.58%
0.58%
Swiss
0.39%
0.23%
0.24%
0.23%
Ukrainian
0.40%
0.24%
0.29%
0.18% *
United States or American
1.42%
1.66%
2.01% *
1.54%
Welsh
0.38%
0.41%
0.36%
0.35%
West Indian (excluding Hispanic origin groups)
1.30%
1.52%
1.40%
1.11%
 
Profile Navigation
  
Viewing 2003 Multiyear Profile for District of Columbia
  Demographic - Table 1
  Social - Table 2
  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