Realty Times - Census Charts 100 Years of Changes

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Census Charts 100 Years of Changes

by Lew Sichelman

A lot has changed in the last 100 years.

At the beginning of the 20th century, most of the U.S. population was male, under 23 years old, lived outside metropolitan areas and rented their homes. Nearly half lived in a household with five or more other persons.

Fast forward 10 decades and most of the population was female, at least 35 years old, lived in metro areas and owned their homes. Most lived alone or in a household with one or two other people.

These are some of the changes included in a special Census Bureau report that analyzes data gathered in 11 censuses stretching from 1900 to 2000 and tracks trends in population, housing and household data for the nation, regions and states.

Here are some highlights:

The U.S. population grew by more than 205 million people during the century, more than tripling from 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000.

As the population grew, the geographical population center shifted 324 miles west and101 miles south, from Bartholomew County, Ind., in 1900 to its current location in Phelps County, Mo.

In every decade of the century, the West's population grew faster than the populations of the other three regions.

Florida's population rank rose more than that of any other state, catapulting it from 33rd to 4th place in state rankings. Iowa's population ranking plummeted the furthest, from10th in the nation in 1900 to 30th in 2000.

In 1950, for the first time, more than half of all occupied housing units were owned instead of rented. The home ownership rate increased until 1980, decreased slightly in the1980s and then rose again to its highest level of the century in 2000 66 percent.

The 1930s was the only decade when the proportion of owner-occupied housing units declined in every region. The largest increase in ownership rates for each region then occurred in the next decade when the economy recovered from the Depression and experienced post-World War II prosperity.

Between 1950 and 2000, married-couple households declined from more than three-fourths of all households to just over one-half.

The proportional share of one-person households increased more than households of any other size. In 1950, one-person households represented 1-in-10 households; by 2000, they comprised 1-in-4.

Children under 5 years old represented the largest five-year age group in 1900 and again in 1950. By 2000, the largest groups were 35 to 39 and 40 to 44.

The percentage of the population age 65 and over increased in every census from 1900 (4.1 percent) to 1990 (12.6 percent), then declined for the first time in Census 2000 to 12.4 percent.

From 1900 to 1960, the South had the highest proportion of children under 15 and the lowest proportion of people 65 and over, making it the country's "youngest" region. The West grabbed that title in the latter part of the century.

At the beginning of the century, 1-in-8 U.S. residents was of a race other than white; at the end of the century, the ratio was 1-in-4.

Published: January 2, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

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