1990 and 2000 FactFinder
Finding Data


The Census Bureau made the move to the internet in the 1990s, replacing paper reports with the online American FactFinder. The FactFinder is now the primary source of public census data covering 1990 and 2000.

The site is incredibly user-friendly and powerful, two things one rarely finds together on the web. Statistics can be downloaded as tables, graphs, or mapped across the country down to the block level. In an effort to protect privacy, limits are placed on data at smaller geographic levels. As you zoom in you will see a noticeable decrease in data specificity. The Census Bureau's goal is to prevent any one individual from being identified based on their unique data.

Although there is a lot to look around in, the site should be easy to understand if you're first equiped with a few essential facts. The census survey forms come in two forms: the short form and the long form. (The long form was replaced in 2000 by the American Community Survey, which is also taken between the censuses. For our purposes, we will still refer to it as the long form.) Everyone receives the questions on the short form. The long form is sent to 1 out of every 6 households, or about 17%. This long form contains special questions in addition to those found on the short form. In fact, more questions are asked on the long form than the short form.

When you use American Factfinder, depending on how you use it, it will probably ask you which data set, or "summary file" you would like to use. The difference summary files are different sets of data. They were created from the two different forms - long and short - and further divided between (1) sets with more general questions combined with smaller geographical areas and (2) sets with more specific questions but less specific geographical areas.

To learn more about how to navigate the American FactFinder site, go to the next page..

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