NEWS UPDATE
SEPTEMBER
2013
WELCOME to the Tennessee State Data Center News Update -- helping you keep abreast and understand the most recent data releases concerning Tennesseeans.
In This Issue
TN COUNTY POP PROJECTIONS
INDUSTRY STATISTICS PORTAL
UPCOMING RELEASES
2012 ACS 1-Year Estimates Now Available

Fewer Tennessee adults are living below the poverty level in 2012, according to the American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates just released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The percentage of Tennessee adults below the poverty level decreased from 15.8 percent in 2011 to 15.5 percent in 2012, continuing a pattern of decline since 2010 when the rate was 17.7 percent. The percent of the elderly Tennessee population in poverty also declined, from 10.7 percent to 10.0 percent in 2012. An even larger decrease was seen in the poverty rate for related children under age five, which declined to 28.9 percent in 2012, from a previous-year level of 30.8 percent. This is good news for the state, considering the adult poverty rate for the nation remained the same in 2012 at 13.9 percent, while the national percentage of elderly adults increased slightly from 9.3 percent to 9.5 percent.

 

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The ACS provides updated information about the nation's changing and diverse population every year providing socio-economic data relating to income, poverty, educational attainment, commuting statistics, disabilities, language spoken at home and many other characteristics. The 1-year estimates are available for geographic areas with total populations of 65,000 or more.

For Tennessee, data was released for all congressional districts; 20 counties; the cities of Chattanooga, Clarksville, Franklin, Jackson, Knoxville, Memphis, Murfreesboro, and Nashville/Davidson County Metro; 17 unified school districts; metropolitan statistical areas; and several other geographies with populations of 65,000 or more. Note, Franklin City was added to the 1-year ACS estimates this year, having attained the 65,000 population threshold.

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The median household income in Tennessee outpaced the nation in 2012, growing 2.5 percent to $42,764, compared to 1.7 for that of the nation. However, Tennessee remains well below the national income of $51,371 and holds a ranking of 44th in the nation. The state saw improvement among Tennesseans aged 25 and older who completed at least high school, moving from 40th to 38th in the nation at 85.1 percent. This remains slightly lower than the national rate of 86.4 percent, but indicates a slight narrowing of the gap. Additionally, 24.3 percent of the 25-and-older population in Tennessee indicates they have obtained at least a bachelor's degree, compared to 29.1 percent for the nation. This also showed improvement from 2011, with Tennessee moving from 42nd to 41st nationally.

 

Other statistics of interest from the 2012 ACS show that median values of owner-occupied homes declined in Tennessee, as well as the nation in 2012. Tennessee saw the median value decline 0.4 percent to $137,800, remaining well below the median value for the nation ($171,900). The median gross rent (rent plus utilities) in the state saw a slight increase to $730, compared to $884 for the nation, which also inched up in 2012. The mean travel time to work increased slightly for Tennesseans in 2012, from 24.2 to 24.4 minutes, and remains below the national average of 25.7 minutes.

 

Find these and many other 2012 ACS 1-year statistics for geographies greater than 65,000 population, on the American FactFinder 

  
  

 

The 2012 ACS estimates are based on an annual, nationwide household sample of about 295,000 addresses per month, or nearly 3 percent of the population per year. The estimates aggregate the sample responses from Tennessee households collected from January 1, 2012 to December 31,2012. They are different from, and should not be directly compared to the previously released ACS multi-year estimates.

 

 

  

The Tennessee State Data Center is always available to help with your specific data needs. TN SDC Serves as the lead state data center for the State of Tennessee and is housed at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Please contact us with your specific data needs. 
  
Sincerely,
  
Joan Snoderly, Director
Tennessee State Data Center
INDUSTRY STATISTICS PORTAL

 

 

The  Industry Statistics Portal  application provides easy access to all Census Bureau programs that release statistics for a user-selected industry, as classified by the North American Industry Classification System. Census Bureau business and industry statistics dating back to 1997 (according to the 2007 classification) will be available on the new application.


The Industry Statistics Portal provides direct links to the relevant statistics released on American FactFinder, as well as a direct link to the Industry Snapshot for the industry. The application also provides industry definitions and information on historical comparability. Internet address: www.census.gov/econ/industry.

 

Click here for Tips and Tricks on using the ISP.

  

ACS COMPARISON CAUTION

 

     While the ACS annual update provides users the opportunity to make detailed comparisons over time for a variety of socioeconomic characteristics, caution should be used when comparing pre- and post-2010 ACS estimates

 

     Prior to the 2010 release, ACS estimates used population estimate controls that are based on the 2000 census counts. The 2010 through 2012 releases controlled to estimates that used the 2010 Census counts as a base. Therefore the change in population estimates between 2009 and 2010 may significantly influence the change over time of ACS estimates.

 

UPCOMING
 RELEASES

 

2010-2012 ACS 3-Year Estimates 

(October 2013)

Three-year estimates will be available for all geographies with a population of 20,000 or more.

 

2008-2012 ACS 5-Year Estimates

(December 2013)

Five-year estimates will be available for all Tennessee geographies down to the block group
level.

 

  
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