Census Databases

U.S. Department of Commerce

1990 Census data in LandView® IV are organized by state, county, census tract/block numbering area (BNA), census block group (BG), place, congressional district (CD), American Indian and Alaska Native Area, and minor civil division (MCD).

The census demographic and housing data come from two 1990 Census sources: Summary Tape File 1A (STF1A) and Summary Tape File 3A (STF3A). STF 1A contains information collected on an 100 percent basis (STF1A data are referred to as counts). STF3A contains information collected on a housing unit sample basis (STF3A data are referred to as estimates).

The STF 1A data items included are: counts of persons, household, families. Additional population characteristics are separately provided by age, race, Hispanic, minority, owner/renter status. The STF3A data items included are: urban/rural population, aggregate income, median household income, per capita income, poverty status, school enrollment, attainment of a college bachelor's degree, residence in same house in 1985, median year built, estimate of structures built 1939 or earlier, high mortgage and high renter.

Both STF1A and STF3A data sets are subject to nonsampling errors while only STF3A is subject to sampling errors. Further discussion of these issues are found in Nonsampling Errors and Sampling Errors. Users are cautioned that differences may occur when comparing similar data between STF1A and STF3A because of sampling variability. A fuller discussion of this is provided in Differences Between 100-Percent Counts and Sample Estimates.

Because metadata does not exist for these 1990 Census data products, we are providing links to edited excerpts from the 1990 Census STF technical documentation below. In addition, we provide links to the metadata provided for both the TIGER/Line 1998 and 1990 Census Cartographic boundaries used in this product.