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Glossary

Plain-language definitions of the statistical terms used across CityMetricsUSA.

American Community Survey (ACS)
A continuous nationwide sample survey run by the U.S. Census Bureau. It produces detailed social, economic, housing and demographic estimates every year, unlike the decennial Census, which is a full count taken once every ten years. Almost every figure on this site comes from the ACS 5-year estimates.
5-year estimate
An ACS figure calculated by pooling 60 months of responses. Pooling gives enough sample size to publish data for every place, including small towns, but the number describes a rolling five-year window rather than a single year, so it lags the present by one to two years.
Margin of error (MOE)
Because the ACS is a sample and not a full count, every estimate has a range of uncertainty, published as "± amount" at 90% confidence. A margin of error close to the estimate itself means the true value could be substantially different; this is most common for small places and small population subgroups.
Median household income
The income level that splits all households in an area into two equal halves — half earn more, half earn less. The median is used instead of the average because a few very high incomes would pull an average upward and misrepresent a typical household.
Per capita income
Total personal income in an area divided by every resident, including children and non-earners. It is always lower than median household income and is useful for comparing the overall economic base of two places.
Poverty rate
The share of people whose household income falls below the federal poverty threshold for their household size. Thresholds are set nationally and adjusted for inflation, not for local cost of living.
Regional Price Parity (RPP)
A cost-of-living index from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. 100 is the national average, so an RPP of 110 means prices in that area run about 10% above the national average and 90 means about 10% below. Housing is the component that varies most between states.
Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)
A monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics program that estimates the unemployment rate for states and local areas. The state pages show the most recent LAUS month, which is far more current than the ACS unemployment figure.
Labor force
Everyone aged 16 or older who is either employed or actively looking for work. People who are retired, in school full-time, caregiving, or not seeking work are outside the labor force and are not counted as unemployed.
Place (Census-designated place / incorporated place)
The Census Bureau's unit for a city, town or village. An incorporated place has its own local government; a Census-designated place (CDP) is a populated area the Bureau delineates for statistics but which has no separate government. Both are labelled "city" on this site.
County
The primary legal subdivision of a state. A few states use equivalent units — parishes in Louisiana, boroughs and census areas in Alaska. County-level data is more statistically stable than city-level data because the populations are larger.
Metropolitan statistical area (metro area)
A core urban county plus the surrounding counties tied to it by commuting. Metro areas often match how people actually think about where they live ("the Austin area") better than city limits do.
County Business Patterns (CBP)
An annual Census Bureau dataset counting business establishments, employment and payroll by industry sector for states and counties. It powers the "Business & Industry" section on state and county pages. It is not published for individual cities.
Housing tenure (owner- vs. renter-occupied)
Whether the people living in a housing unit own it or rent it. The homeownership rate is owner-occupied units divided by all occupied units; vacant units are excluded from the denominator.
Median gross rent
The midpoint of what renter households pay each month including rent plus utilities and fuels (electricity, gas, water, sewer) when these are paid by the renter. It is higher than "contract rent", which excludes utilities.

More on sources and limitations is on the About the Data page and the FAQ.