County Attributes
Last updated: April 11, 2008
County Attributes data can be analyzed with the SEER*Stat software. The most common uses of this data would be to create a list of the
county attribute data (such as, median income values by county) using
the case listing session, and to calculate incidence and mortality
rates by county attributes using rate sessions. See the SEER*Stat
County Attributes Tutorials for examples.
Descriptions of the county attributes variables are provided below.
2000 & 1990 Race and Hispanic Ethnicity Percentages
Race/Hispanic percentages for the following variables were obtained from SEER*Stat Population Databases:
- Black
- American Indian/Alaskan Native
- Asian/Pacific Islander
- Non-White (previously percent Minority)
- Minority (including Hispanic-White)
- Hispanic
These populations are calculated from the National Cancer Institute's modified Census populations (see
http://seer.cancer.gov/popdata/).
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2000 County Attributes
The county attribute variables for 2000 are calculated using the Census 2000 SF files.
The technical documentation for the 2000 SF files is available from the Census Bureau at:
http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html.
The following is a brief description of the county attribute variables and the formulas.
The variable labels (e.g., P012003) refer to specific table cells for a given census variable
and are defined in the technical documentation for that variable.
Descriptions
Age
The percent of persons under age 18 and the percent of persons ages 65 and over are calculated using
table P11: Sex by Age from the Census SF1 data. The formulas used to calculate these are:
- <18: ((P012003+…+P012006+P012027+…+P012030)/P012001)*100
- 65+: ((P012020+…+P012025+P012044+…+P012049)/P012001)*100
Crowding
The percent of households with more than one person per room is calculated from the Census SF3 table H20:
Tenure by Occupants per Room. The formula used to calculate this is:
- Crowding: ((H020005+H020006+H020007+H020011+H020012+H020013)/H020001)*100
Educational Attainment
Three education percentage variables are calculated from the Census SF3 table P37: Sex by Educational
Attainment for the Population 25 Years and over. The percent with less than 9th grade, less than high school
graduate and at least a bachelor’s degree are calculated, as follows:
- < 9th grade: ((P037003+…+P037006+P037020+…+P037023)/P037001)*100
- < HS grad: ((P037003+…+P037010+P037020+…+P037027)/P037001)*100
- At least bachelors degree: ((P037015+…+P037018+P037032+…+P037035)/P037001)*100
Employment
The percent of persons ages 16 and over who are unemployed is calculated using the Census SF3 data
in table P43: Sex by Employment Status for the Population 16 Years and Over. The percent unemployed
is calculated for civilians in the labor force. Persons in the armed forces or not in the labor force
are not included in the calculation. The formula used is:
- Unemployed: (P043007+P043014)/(P043005+P043012))*100
The percent of persons who work in white collar occupations is calculated from the Census SF3 data in
table P50: Sex by Occupation for the Employed Civilian Population 16 Years and Over. The formula used
to calculate percent white collar is:
- White collar: ((P050003+P050026+P050050+P050073)/P050001)*100
Foreign Born
The percent of persons who are foreign born is calculated using the Census SF3 table P21: Place of
Birth by Citizenship Status. The formula used for this is:
- Foreign born: (P021013/P021001)*100
Language Isolation
The percent of households that are linguistically isolated is calculated from Census SF3 table P20:
Households Language by Linguistic Isolation. The Census Bureau defines linguistically isolated as a
household in which all members 14 years old and over speak a non-English language and also speak English
less than "Very well" (have difficulty with English). The formula used to calculate percent language
isolation is:
- Language isolation: ((P0200004+P020007+P020010+P020013)/P020001)*100
Median Income
Median household income and median family income were taken from the Census SF3 data. Median household
income is from table P53: Median Household Income in 1999. Median family income is from table P77:
Median Family Income in 1999.
Migration
Table P24: Residence in 1995 for the Population 5 Years and Over-State and County Level of the Census
SF3 data was used to create 5 migration variables. These are percent of persons in the same house
(no migration), moved but in the same county, moved from a different county but in the same state,
moved from a different state in the US and moved from outside the U.S. The formulas for these are:
- Same house: (P024002/P024001)*100
- Moved, same county: (P024005/P024001)*100
- Moved, different county, same state: (P024007/P024001)*100
- Moved, different state: (P024008/P024001)*100
- Moved, outside the US: ((P024013+P024016)/P024001)*100
Poverty
The percent of persons and percent of families whose incomes are below the poverty level using tables P87 and P90 from the
Census SF3 data. Table P87 is Poverty Status in 1999 by age for population for whom poverty status is
determined. Table P90 is Poverty Status in 1999 of Families by Family Type by Presence of Related
Children Under 18 Years by Age of Related Children. The formulas for these are:
- Persons below poverty: (P087002/P087001)*100
- Families below poverty: (P090002/P090001)*100
The percent of persons who are below 150 percent of the poverty level and percent of persons who are below 200 percent of the poverty level are calculated using the Census
SF3 table P88: Ratio of Income in 1999 to Poverty Level. The formula for this is:
- Persons below 150% poverty: ((P088002+…+P088006)/P088001)*100
- Persons below 200% poverty: ((P088002+...+P088009)/P088001)*100
Urban
The percent of persons living in urban areas is calculated from Census SF3 table P5: Urban and Rural.
The formula used to calculate this is:
- Urban: (P005002/P005001)*100
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2000 County Attributes by Race and Hispanic Ethnicity
The race specific county attribute variables for 2000 are calculated using the Census 2000 SF 4 files.
These variables are calculated for the race groups White alone, Black alone, American Indian/Alaska Native alone,
Asian/Pacific Islander alone, Non-Hispanic White alone and Hispanics.
The technical documentation for the 2000 SF files is available from the Census Bureau at:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2003/SF4.html.
The following is a brief description of the county attribute variables and the formulas.
The variable labels (e.g., PCT064003) refer to specific table cells for a given census variable
and are defined in the technical documentation for that variable.
Descriptions
Educational Attainment
Three education percentage variables are calculated from the Census SF4 table PCT64: Sex by Educational
Attainment for the Population 25 Years and over. The percent with less than 9th grade, less than high school
graduate and at least a bachelor’s degree are calculated, as follows:
- < 9th grade: ((PCT064003+...+PCT064006+PCT064020+...+PCT064023)/PCT064001)*100
- < HS grad: ((PCT064003+...+PCT064010+PCT064020+...+PCT064027)/PCT064001) *100
- At least bachelors degree: ((PCT064015+...+PCT064018+PCT064032+...+PCT064035)/PCT064001)*100
Employment
The percent of persons ages 16 and over who are unemployed is calculated using the Census SF4 data
in table PCT79: Sex by Age by Employment Status for the Population 16 Years and Over. The percent unemployed
is calculated for civilians in the labor force. Persons in the armed forces or not in the labor force
are not included in the calculation. The formula used is:
- Unemployed: ((PCT079008+PCT079015+PCT079022+PCT079029+PCT079036+PCT079043+PCT079050+PCT079057+
PCT079064+PCT079071+PCT079078+PCT079085+PCT079092+PCT079100+PCT079107+PCT079114+PCT079121+PCT079128+PCT079135+
PCT079142+PCT079149+PCT079156+PCT079163+PCT079170+PCT079177+PCT079184)/(PCT079006+PCT079013+PCT079020+PCT079027+
PCT079034+PCT079041+PCT079048+PCT079055+PCT079062+PCT079069+PCT079076+PCT079083+PCT079090+PCT079098+PCT079105+
PCT079112+PCT079119+PCT079126+PCT079133+PCT079140+PCT079147+PCT079154+PCT079161+PCT079168+PCT079175+PCT079182))*100
The percent of persons who work in white collar occupations is calculated from the Census SF4 data in
table PCT86: Sex by Occupation for the Employed Civilian Population 16 Years and Over. The formula used
to calculate percent white collar is:
- White collar: ((PCT086003+PCT086061+PCT086062+PCT086129+PCT086187+PCT086188)/PCT086001)*100
Poverty
The percent of persons and percent of families whose incomes are below the poverty level using tables PCT142 and PCT157 from the
Census SF4 data. Table PCT142 is Poverty Status in 1999 by Sex and Age for the population for
whom poverty status is determined. Table PCT157 is Poverty Status in 1999 of Families by Family Type by Presence
of Related Children Under 18 Years by Age of Related Children. The formulas for these are:
- Persons below poverty: (PCT142002/PCT142001)*100
- Families below poverty: (PCT157002/PCT157001)*100
The percent of persons who are below 150 percent of the poverty level and percent of persons who are below 200 percent of the poverty level are and percent of persons who are below 200 percent of the poverty level are calculated using the Census
SF4 table PCT141: Ratio of Income in 1999 to Poverty Level. The formula for this is:
- Persons below 150% poverty: ((PCT141002+...+PCT141007)/PCT141001))*100
- Persons below 200% poverty: ((PCT141002+...+PCT141010)/PCT141001))*100
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1990 County Attributes
The county attribute variables for 1990 are calculated using the Census 1990 STF1 and STF3 files.
The technical documentation for these files is available from the Census Bureau
American FactFinder
web site.
The following is a brief description of the county attribute variables and the formulas.
The variable labels (e.g., P0110001) refer to specific table cells for a given census variable
and are defined in the technical documentation for that variable.
Descriptions
Age
The percent of persons under age 18 and the percent of persons ages 65 and over are calculated using
table P11: Age from the Census STF1 data. The formulas used to calculate these are:
- <18: ((P0110001+…+P0110012)/(P0110001+...+P0110031))*100
- 65+: ((P0110027+…+P0110031)/(P0110001+...+P0110031))*100
Crowding
The percent of households with more than one person per room is calculated from the Census STF3 table H69:
Tenure by Plumbing Facilities by Persons per Room. The formula used to calculate this is:
- Crowding: ((H0690002+H0690003+H0690005+H0690006+H0690008+H0690009+H0690011+H0690012)/(H0690001+...+H0690012))*100
Educational Attainment
Three education percentage variables are calculated from the Census STF3 table P57: Sex by Educational
Attainment for the Population 25 Years and over. The percent with less than 9th grade, less than high school
graduate and at least a bachelor’s degree are calculated, as follows:
- < 9th grade: (P0570001/(P0570001+...+P0570007))*100
- < HS grad: ((P0570001+P0570002)/(P0570001+...+P0570007))*100
- At least bachelors degree: ((P0570006+P0570007)/(P0570001+...+P0570007))*100
Employment
The percent of persons ages 16 and over who are unemployed is calculated using the Census STF3 data
in table P70: Sex by Employment Status for the Population 16 Years and Over. The percent unemployed
is calculated for civilians in the labor force. Persons in the armed forces or not in the labor force
are not included in the calculation. The formula used is:
- Unemployed: (P0700003+P0700007)/(P0700002+P0700003+P0700006+P0700007))*100
The percent of persons who work in white collar occupations is calculated from the Census STF3 data in
table P78: Occupation for the Employed Persons 16 Years and Over. The formula used
to calculate percent white collar is:
- White collar: ((P0780001+P0780002+P0780003+P0780007+P0780009)/(P0780001+...P0780013))*100
Foreign Born
The percent of persons who are foreign born is calculated using the Census STF3 table P42: Place of
Birth. The formula used for this is:
- Foreign born: (P0420009/(P0420001+...+P0420009))*100
Language Isolation
The percent of households that are linguistically isolated is calculated from Census STF3 table P29:
Households Language by Linguistic Isolation. The Census Bureau defines linguistically isolated as a
household in which all members 14 years old and over speak a non-English language and also speak English
less than "Very well" (have difficulty with English). The formula used to calculate percent language
isolation is:
- Language isolation: ((P0290002+P0290004+P0290006)/(P0290001+...+P0290007)*100
Median Income
Median household income and median family income were taken from the Census STF3 data. Median household
income is from table P80A: Median Household Income in 1989. Median family income is from table P107A:
Median Family Income in 1989.
Migration
Table P43: Residence in 1985 for the Population 5 Years and Over-State and County Level of the Census
STF3 data was used to create 5 migration variables. These are percent of persons in the same house
(no migration), moved but in the same county, moved from a different county but in the same state,
moved from a different state in the US and moved from outside the U.S. The formulas for these are:
- Same house: (P0430001/(P0430001+...+P0430010))*100
- Moved, same county: (P0430002/(P0430001+...+P0430010))*100
- Moved, different county, same state: (P0430003/(P0430001+...+P0430010))*100
- Moved, different state: ((P0430004+...+P0430007)/(P0430001+...+P0430010))*100
- Moved, outside the US: ((P0430008+...+P0430010)/(P0430001+...+P0430010))*100
Poverty
The percent of persons and percent of families whose incomes are below the poverty level using tables P117 and P123 from the
Census STF3 data. Table P117 is Poverty Status in 1989 by age for population for whom poverty status is
determined. Table P123 is Poverty Status in 1989 of Families by Family Type by Presence and Age of Children.
The formulas for these are:
- Persons below poverty: ((P1170013+...+P1170024)/(P1170001+...+P1170024))*100
- Families below poverty: ((P1230013+...+P1230024)/(P1230001+...+P1230024))*100
The percent of persons who are below 150 percent of the poverty level and percent of persons who are below 200 percent of the poverty level are calculated using the Census
STF3 table P121: Ratio of Income in 1989 to Poverty Level. The formula for this is:
- Persons below 150% poverty: ((P1210001+...+P1210005)/(P1210001+...+P1210009))*100
Urban
The percent of persons living in urban areas is calculated from Census STF3 table P6: Urban and Rural.
The formula used to calculate this is:
- Urban: ((P0060001+P0060002)/(P0060001+...+P0060004))*100
- Persons below 200% poverty: ((P1210001+...+P1210008)/(P1210001+...+P1210009))*100
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Rural-Urban Continuum Codes
Rural-Urban Continuum Codes were developed by the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Rural-Urban Continuum Codes form a classification scheme that distinguishes metropolitan (metro) counties by the
population size of their metro area, and nonmetropolitan
(nonmetro) counties by degree of urbanization and adjacency
to a metro area or areas. For more information about
using Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, go to
Rural-Urban Continuum Codes in SEER*Stat.
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Cost-of-Living Index and Adjustments
A cost-of-living index has been developed based on the Economic Policy Institute’s Basic Family Budget analysis project. This project estimated the dollar values needed for basic family expenditures (food, housing, transportation, health care, child care, other necessities, and taxes) for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in each state in 2004. Family budget values for a two parent, one child family were used to generate this index.
The index value is the ratio of the local cost-of-living to the US population-weighted mean cost-of-living. Counties with values over 1.0 have higher cost-of-living than the US mean; counties with values less than 1.0 have lower cost-of-living. Counties within the same metropolitan area will have the same cost-of-living index value, as do rural counties in a given state.
Based on this index, we provide adjusted values for median household income and median family income for the 2000 Census. This cost-of-living index can be used to adjust other dollar values used in a given research project by dividing the dollar value by the cost-of-living index.
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Health Service Areas (HSA)
Health Service Areas (HSA) were originally defined by the
National Center for Health Statistics,
part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to be a single
county or cluster of contiguous counties which are relatively self-contained
with respect to hospital care. For further information about their initial use,
please visit the
Atlas of United State Mortality.
To make these groups of geographic areas work with SEER*Stat,
modifications were made when necessary. Additionally, smaller sets of HSAs were
created to match with SEER registry groupings. For more information about using Health
Service Areas, go to Health Service Areas (HSA) in SEER*Stat.
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Contract Health Service Delivery Areas (CHSDA)
A contract health service delivery area (CHSDA) is the geographic area within
which health services are
provided from public
or private medical or hospital facilities at the expense of the Indian Health Service (IHS). Services are provided to members
of an identified Indian community who
reside in the area. When producing statistics using SEER Incidence data for American Indians/Alaska Natives, SEER frequently only includes cases that are in a CHSDA.
The following spreadsheet has the CHSDA 2006 variable definition used in SEER*Stat: [MS Excel File] [PDF File]
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