New Data Sources and Applications for Population and Household Estimates

Linda Jacobsen, Claritas, Inc.
Ken Hodges, Claritas, Inc.
Fred Wilcox, Claritas, Inc.

As the demand has increased for accurate intercensal population and household estimates for small areas, some companies have begun to use national, compiled household databases as a surrogate for the decennial census. Some applied demographers have also begun to use such compiled databases, as well as delivery counts from the U.S. Postal Service, as inputs to their annual household estimates for small geographic areas. This paper analyzes the utility of three potential data sources for intercensal small area estimates by comparing them against data from the 2000 Census. Frozen files from March/April, 2000 for: 1) A national, compiled household database; 2) A national, population database aggregated from Equifax's Consumer Marketing Database; and 3) A national set of delivery counts from the U.S. Postal Service are evaluated. Important geocoding issues in aggregating such databases to census geography are examined along with definitional differences in what constitutes a "household."