- African Americans
see Blacks.
- American Community Survey
The American Community Survey is a recently introduced annual survey that the U.S. Census Bureau began administering nationally in a demonstration phase in 2000-2004 and became fully implemented in 2005. The sample involves approximately three million addresses throughout the United States and about 36,000 addresses in Puerto Rico. Self-administered questionnaires are mailed to the sample, and non-respondents are interviewed by telephone or in person.
- American Housing Survey
The American Housing Survey is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It collects data on apartments, single-family homes, mobile homes, vacant housing units, household characteristics, income, housing and neighborhood quality, housing costs, equipment and fuels, size of housing unit, and recent movers. It began in 1973 as the Annual Housing Survey and was renamed the American Housing Survey in 1984. Since 1981, it has been conducted biennially in odd-numbered years at a sample of approximately 55,000 housing units. A U.S. Census Bureau interviewer visits or telephones the household occupying each housing unit in the sample. Information for unoccupied units is obtained from landlords, rental agents, or neighbors. The American Housing Survey returns to the same housing units on repeat surveys to analyze the flow of households through housing.
- Annual Homelessness Assessment Report
The Annual Homelessness Assessment Report is published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It reports data from two sources. The first is a national sample of local communities that have implemented Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), a computerized data collection method that allows HUD to assess the use of emergency shelters and transitional housing over time. The second focuses on the number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a given night (point-in-time counts) as reported by communities as part of their Continuum of Care program grant applications. The Annual Homelessness Assessment Report has been published since 2005.
- Central cities
Since 1985, the American Housing Survey has used the official list of central cities published on June 27, 1983, by the Office of Management and Budget as OMB Bulletin 83-20. That list was developed from definitions published January 3, 1980, in the Federal Register, Volume 45, pages 956–963. AHS still uses these 1983 boundaries for data in the 2007 national microdata file to measure change consistently over time. However, AHS uses the 1990 census-based geography for the data in the 2007 national publication.
- Children
Persons less than age 18 (unless otherwise specified).
- Chronic disease
Conditions that are not cured once acquired (such as heart disease, diabetes, and birth defects in the original response categories, and amputee and old age in the ad hoc categories) are considered chronic, whereas conditions related to pregnancy are always considered not chronic. In addition, other conditions must have been present 3 months or longer to be considered chronic. An exception is made for children less than 1 year of age who have had a condition since birth, as these conditions are always considered chronic.
- Chronic homeless
See Chronic homelessness.
- Chronic homelessness
Long or repeated episodes of homelessness. The Annual Homelessness Assessment Report defines a chronically homeless person as “an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years. To be considered chronically homeless, a person must have been on the streets or in emergency shelter (i.e., not in transitional or permanent housing) during these stays.”
- Continuum of Care program
Continuum of Care (CoC) programs are local homelessness services planning bodies, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which must provide "point-in-time" estimates of homeless persons to be eligible for HUD McKinney-Vento funding. The application data includes a count of the number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a given night in January.
- Cost burdens
See Housing cost burdens.
- Current Population Survey Food Security Module
The Food Security Supplement (questions) added to the The Current Population Survey, a national household survey sponsored jointly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. The sample targets the civilian non-institutionalized household population (a sample of approximately 50,000-60,000 households). The food security module includes a series of ten questions posed to all households and an additional eight questions posed to households with children
- Fair or poor
See Fair or poor health
- Fair or poor health
In the National Health Interview Survey, self-reported health status was measured by asking the family respondent about his or her health or the health of a family member: "Would you say _____’s health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?" The proportion who answered "fair" or "poor" is reported here. Studies have shown that answers to this question correlate with the prevalence of major chronic diseases, limitations in activity due to illness, and decreased productivity and function.
- Family
The householder and all (one or more) other people living in the same household who are related to the householder by blood, marriage, or adoption.
- Family income
In the National Health Interview Survey (prior to 1997), family income was defined as the total income received by members of a family (or by an unrelated individual) in the 12 months before the interview. Starting in 1997, the NHIS collected family income data for the calendar year prior to the interview (e.g., 2006 family income data were based on calendar year 2005 information). Family income includes wages, salaries, rents from property, interest, dividends, profits and fees from their own businesses, pensions, and help from relatives. Family income data are used in the computation of poverty level. Starting with Health, United States, 2004 a new methodology for imputing family income data for NHIS data was implemented for data years 1997 and beyond. Multiple imputations were performed for survey years 1997 and beyond with five sets of imputed values created to allow for the assessment of variability caused by imputation. Family income was missing for 24%–29% of persons in 1997–1998 and 31%–35% in 1999–2006. A detailed description of the multiple imputation procedure and data files for 1997 and beyond are available from:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhis/quest_data_ related_1997_forward.htm
- Food insecurity
Food security is defined by household survey responses to the Current Population Survey food security module. Households are classified as food secure if they report no food insecure conditions or if they report only one or two food-insecure conditions. They are classified as food insecure if they report three or more food-insecure conditions. Food-insecure households are further classified as having either low food security or very low food security. Households classified as having low food security have reported multiple indications of food access problems, but typically have reported few, if any, indications of reduced food intake. Very low food security applies in households in which food intake of one or more members was reduced and eating patterns disrupted because of insufficient money and other resources for food. Households without children are classified as having very low food security if they report 6 or more food-insecure conditions. Households with children are classified as having very low food security if they report 8 or more food-insecure conditions, including conditions among both adults and children. Households with children are further classified as having very low food security among children if they report 5 or more food-insecure conditions among the children. In most but not all households with very low food security, the survey respondent reported that he or she was hungry at some time during the year but did not eat because there was not enough money for food.
- Food security
See Food Insecurity.
- Hispanic
People who identify themselves on surveys as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish-American. There is no intent to include people of Brazilian or Portuguese ancestry. Hispanics may be of any race. Most identify themselves as White or Black.
In the National Health Inteview Survey, Hispanic or Latino origin includes persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American, and other or unknown Latin American or Spanish origins. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
- Homeless
In the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, homeless persons are defined as those living in homeless facilities or in places not meant for human habitation. They include the sheltered homeless (e.g., people residing in homeless shelters, transitional housing) and the unsheltered homeless who reside in places not meant for human habitation (e.g., those residing in abandoned buildings, parks, automobiles). Expanded definitions, not used for most of the data reported on this website, include people living in "doubled-up" conditions, those living in hotels and motels, and other unstable conditions.
- Homeless Management Information System
The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a database maintained by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that examines shelter use by the homeless, and its data are therefore focused on the sheltered homeless. The data are obtained through a computerized data collection method involving a nationally representative sample of communities in the United States.
- Homelessness
Residing in homeless shelters, on the streets, or in other similar settings (e.g., abandoned buildings, parks, automobiles). This category of literal homelessness differs from precarious housing (see Precarious housing). (This classic definition of the homeless, used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to collect most of the data reported on this website, does not include people in "doubled-up" living conditions, those who reside in hotels and motels, and others who are classified as homeless in other Federally mandated and other safety net programs.)
- Household
A household consists of all people who occupy a particular housing unit as their usual residence, or who live there at the time of the interview and have no usual residence elsewhere. The usual residence is the place where the person lives and sleeps most of the time. This place is not necessarily the same as a legal residence, voting residence, or domicile. Households include not only occupants related to the householder but also any lodgers, roomers, boarders, partners, wards, foster children, and resident employees who share the living quarters of the householder. It includes people temporarily away for reasons such as visiting, traveling in connection with their jobs, attending school, in general hospitals, and in other temporary relocations. By definition, the count of households is the same as the count of occupied housing units (from American Housing Survey).
- Householder
As used in the American Housing Survey, the householder is the first household member listed on the questionnaire who is an owner or renter of the sample unit and is 18 years or older. An owner is a person whose name is on the deed, mortgage, or contract to purchase. A renter is a person whose name is on the lease. If there is no lease, a renter is a person responsible for paying the rent. If no one meets the full criteria, the age requirement is relaxed before the owner/renter requirement. Where the respondent is one of several unrelated people who all could meet the criteria, the interviewer will select one of them to be listed first who then becomes the householder.
- Housing cost burdens
The proportion of household income devoted to housing costs. Housing cost burdens are classified as moderate (spending between 31% and 50% of household income on housing) or severe (more than 50% of household income).
- Housing costs
Monthly housing costs for owner-occupied units include the sum of monthly payments for all mortgages or installment loans or contracts, except reverse annuity mortgages and home-equity lines of credit. Costs also include real estate taxes (including taxes on manufactured/mobile homes, and manufactured/mobile home sites if the site is owned), property insurance, homeowner association fees, cooperative or condominium fees, mobile home park fees, land rent, and utilities. Costs do not include maintenance and repairs. Monthly housing costs for renter-occupied housing units include the contract rent, utilities, property insurance, and mobile home park fee. For rental units subsidized by a housing authority, the federal government, or state or local governments, the monthly rental costs reflect only the portion paid by the household and not the portion subsidized. The figures do not adjust for lost security deposits or the benefit of free rent offered by some owners (from American Housing Survey).
- Housing unit
A housing unit is a house, apartment, group of rooms, or single room occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters (from American Housing Survey).
- Hunger
An individual-level physiological condition that may result from food insecurity. Hunger also occurs among people who are food secure and is not considered a precise metric for tracking sustained difficulty with having enough food to eat. See Food Insecurity.
- Margin of error
± values that accompany statistics on this website refer to the margin of error. The margin of error is a measure of a sample statistic's precision. Margins of error in this report refer to 90% confidence limits. For example, 40% (±10%) means that the best estimate for the true percentage is 40% but the precision of this estimate is such that we can be 90% confident that the true percentage lies anywhere between 30% and 50%. In general, the margin of error is not reported on this website unless it exceeds 5% of the estimate.
- Mathematics proficiency
A mastery of skills and understanding in the science of numbers. The NAEP reports proficiency levels for mathematics with scores ranging from 0 to 500. Higher or increasing scores over time indicate improved math comprehension and analysis capabilities among students.
- Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines metropolitan statistical areas according to published standards that are applied to U.S. Census Bureau data. The standards are periodically revised, generally prior to the decennial census. In the 2000 standards, an MSA is a county or group of contiguous counties that contains at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population. In addition to the county or counties that contain all or part of the urbanized area, an MSA may contain other counties that are economically and socially integrated with the central county or counties as measured by commuting. Counties that are not within an MSA are considered to be nonmetropolitan. For additional information, see: http://www.census.gov/population/www/ estimates/metrodef.html and http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ bulletins/b03-04_attach.pdf.
- Midwest
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota (from American Housing Survey).
- Moderate physical problems
See Physical problems (with housing units).
- Morbidity
A diseased state, disability, or poor health due to any cause.
- Mortality
See What is Mortality and Premature Death? page.
- Mortality rate
Death rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths in a population in a year by the midyear resident population. Death rates are expressed as the number of deaths per 100,000 population. The rate may be restricted to deaths in specific age, race, sex, or geographic groups or from specific causes of death (specific rate), or it may be related to the entire population (crude rate).
- Physical problems
(with housing units). According to the American Housing Survey, a housing unit has severe physical problems if it has any of the following four problems: (1) Lacking hot or cold piped water or a flush toilet, or lacking both bathtub and shower, all inside the structure (and for the exclusive use of the unit, unless there are two or more full bathrooms); (2) Having been uncomfortably cold last winter for 24 hours or more because the heating equipment broke down, and it broke down at least three times last winter for at least 6 hours each time; (3) Having no electricity, or all of the following three electric problems: exposed wiring, a room with no working wall outlet, and three blown fuses or tripped circuit breakers in the last 90 days; or (4) Having any five of the following six maintenance problems: (a) water leaks from the outside, such as from the roof, basement, windows, or doors; (b) leaks from inside structure, such as pipes or plumbing fixtures; (c) holes in the floors; (d) holes or open cracks in the walls or ceilings; (e) more than 8 by 11 inches of peeling paint or broken plaster; or (f) signs of rats in the last 90 days.
A unit has moderate physical problems if it has any of the following four problems, but none being severe: (1) On at least three occasions during the last 3 months, all the flush toilets were broken down at the same time for 6 hours or more; (2) Having unvented gas, oil, or kerosene heaters as the primary heating equipment; (3) Lacking a kitchen sink, refrigerator, or cooking equipment (stove, burners, or microwave oven) inside the structure for the exclusive use of the unit; or (4) Having any three or four of the six upkeep problems listed above for "severe" physical problems.
- Poverty level
See Poverty threshold.
- Poverty line
See Poverty Threshold.
- Poverty threshold
Following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14, the U.S. Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. Tables are available on the U.S. Census Bureau website to determine the poverty threshold for a particular family size and composition. If a family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty. The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or noncash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid, and food stamps).
- Precarious housing
Housing conditions that are substandard for habitation, unaffordable, or overcrowded, including circumstances in which occupants are temporarily “doubled up” with family or friends. Precarious housing is a condition in which literal homelessness is more likely or imminent.
- Premature death
See What is Mortality and Premature Death? page.
- Prevalence
Prevalence is the number of cases of a disease, infected persons, or persons with some other attribute present during a particular interval of time. It is often expressed as a rate (e.g., the prevalence of diabetes per 1,000 persons during a year).
- Race
The race of an individual (or householder responding to a household survey) generally adheres to definitions adopted by the U.S. Census Bureau, which does not denote a clear-cut scientific definition of biological stock. Adopted in 1997, the categories for race selected by respondents include American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White. The categories for ethnicity include Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino. Hispanics and Latinos may be of any race and are tallied separately. Most Hispanics report themselves as White, but some report themselves as Black or other categories. The question on race was modifed for Census 2000 to allow respondents to identify one or more races. The Asian and Pacific Islander category was split into two categories Asian, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. There are six specified Asian and three detailed Pacific Islander categories shown on the Census 2000 questionnaires, as well as Other Asian and Other Pacific Islander which have write-in areas for respondents to provide other race responses. Finally, the category Some Other Race, which is intended to capture responses such as Mulatto, Creole, and Mestizo, also has a write-in area. In surveys such as the American Housing Survey, when respondents refuse to answer, the interviewer decided on a race only for people she or he sees, and others may be imputed by computer. People who indicate only one race are referred to as the race alone population, or the group who reported only one race. For example, respondents who marked only the White category would be included in the ‘‘White alone population.’’ Respondents who reported they were White and Black or African American, or White and American Indian, or Alaska Native and Asian2 would be included in the Two or more races category.
In the National Health Interview Survey, starting with 2002, race-specific estimates were tabulated using the 1997 Standards for data year 1999 and beyond and are not strictly comparable with estimates for earlier years. The 1997 Standards specify five single-race categories plus multiple-race categories. Estimates for specific race groups are shown when they meet requirements for statistical reliability and confidentiality. The race categories white only, black or African American only, American Indian or Alaska Native only, Asian only, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only include persons who reported only one racial group; the category 2 or more races includes persons who reported more than one of the five racial groups in the 1997 Standards or one of the five racial groups and ‘‘some other race.’’ Prior to data year 1999, data were tabulated according to the 1977 Standards with four racial groups, and the Asian only category included Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Estimates for single-race categories prior to 1999 included persons who reported one race or, if they reported more than one race, identified one race as best representing their race. Differences between estimates tabulated using the two standards for data year 1999 are discussed in the footnotes for each NHIS table.
- Reading proficiency
A mastery of skills and understanding in school reading curricula. The NAEP reports proficiency levels for reading with scores ranging from 0 to 500. Higher or increasing scores over time indicate improved reading comprehension and literary capabilities among students.
- Respondent
On household surveys, any knowledgeable adult household member is technically eligible to act as the respondent. That is, the one who is the most knowledgeable household member who appears to know—or might reasonably be expected to know—the answers to all or the majority of the questions.
- Rooms
In the American Housing Survey, rooms counted include whole rooms used for living purposes, such as bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, recreation rooms, permanently enclosed porches that are suitable for year-round use, lodger’s rooms, and other finished rooms. Also included are rooms used for offices by a person living in the unit.
- Seniors
See Older adults.
- Serious psychological distress
The K6 instrument is a measure of psychological distress associated with unspecified but potentially diagnosable mental illness that may result in a higher risk for disability and higher utilization of health services. In the National Health Interview Survey, the K6 was asked of adults 18 years of age and older. The K6 is designed to identify persons with serious psychological distress using as few questions as possible. The six items included in the K6 are, "During the past 30 days, how often did you feel: (1) So sad that nothing could cheer you up? (2) Nervous? (3) Restless or fidgety? (4) Hopeless? (5) That everything was an effort? (6) Worthless?" Possible answers are all of the time (4 points), most of the time (3 points), some of the time (2 points), a little of the time (1 point), and none of the time (0 points).
To score the K6, the points are added together yielding a possible total of 0 to 24 points. A threshold of 13 or more is used to define serious psychological distress. Persons answering some of the time to all six questions would not reach the threshold for serious psychological distress, because to achieve a score of 13 they would need to answer most of the time to at least one item. The version of the K6 used in the NHIS provides one-month prevalence rates because the reference period is the past 30 days.
For more information, see Kessler RC, Barker PR, Colpe LJ, et al. Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:184–189.
- Severe cost burden
See Housing cost burdens.
- Severe physical problems
See Physical problems (with housing units).
- Sheltered homeless
See Homeless.
- Societal distress
See What is societal distress? page.
- South
Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas (from American Housing Survey).
- Status dropout rate
The percentage of 16- to 24-year olds that are not enrolled in high school and have not yet received high school completion credentials (high school diploma or GED).
- Street homeless
The unsheltered homeless. See Homeless
- Suburb
The portion of a metropolitan area that is not in the central city.
- Uncomfortably cold housing conditions
A measure examined in the American Housing Survey, which refers to having been uncomfortably cold last winter for 24 hours or more because the heating equipment broke down, and it broke down at least three times last winter for at least 6 hours each time.
- Uninsured
In the National Health Interview Survey, respondents without any indicated coverage were considered uninsured. The uninsured are persons who did not have coverage under private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, public assistance, a state-sponsored health plan, other government-sponsored programs, or a military health plan. Persons with only Indian Health Service coverage were considered uninsured. Estimates of the percentage of persons who were uninsured based on the NHIS may differ slightly from those based on the March Current Population Survey (CPS) because of differences in survey questions, recall period, and other aspects of survey methodology.
In the NHIS less than 2% of people age 65 years and over reported no current health insurance coverage, but the small sample size precludes the presentation of separate estimates for this population. Therefore, the term uninsured refers only to the population under age 65.
- Unsheltered homeless
See Homeless.
- Urban
The American Housing Survey reported that, in the 1980 and 1990 censuses, each urbanized area comprised an incorporated place and adjacent densely settled area (1.6 or more people per acre, or 1,000 or more people per square mile) that together had a population of at least 50,000. It also included some less dense adjacent land such as industrial parks and golf courses inside city limits (AHS report).
In the National Health Interview Survey, urbanization is defined as the degree of urban (city-like) character of a particular geographic area. Urbanization can be measured in a variety of ways. In this report, the two measures used to categorize counties by urbanization level are the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) metropolitan statistical area (MSA) classification and the 2006 NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties.
The 2006 NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties is a six-level classification scheme developed by NCHS to categorize the 3,141 U.S. counties and county-equivalents based on their urban and rural characteristics. The classification scheme includes four metropolitan (or urban) categories and two nonmetropolitan (or rural) categories. The county classifications are based on the following information: (1) the 2003 OMB definitions of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties (with revisions through 2005); (2) the 2003 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes developed by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; (3) 2004 postcensal county population estimates; and (4) county-level data on several settlement density, socioeconomic, and demographic variables from Census 2000. The six categories of the 2006 NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties are large central metro (central counties of metro areas of 1 million or more population), large fringe metro (outlying counties of metro areas of 1 million or more population), medium metro (metro areas of 250,000 to 999,999 population), small metro (metro areas of 50,000 to 249,000 population), nonmetropolitan micropolitan, and nonmetropolitan noncore. For more information on this classification scheme, see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/r&d/rdc_urbanrural.htm.
- Usual source of care
Usual source of care was measured in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in 1993 and 1994 by asking the respondent ‘‘Is there a particular person or place that ____ usually goes to when ____ is sick or needs advice about ___ health?’’ In the 1995 and 1996 NHIS, the respondent was asked ‘‘Is there one doctor, person, or place that ____ usually goes to when ____ is sick or needs advice about health?’’ Starting in 1997 the respondent was asked ‘‘Is there a place that ____ usually goes when he/she is sick or you need advice about (his/her) health?’’ Persons who report the emergency department as their usual source of care are defined as having no usual source of care in this report.
