Prevention Center of Excellence
U.S. Census 2000 Definitions
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division,
Fertility & Family Statistics Branch
Family. A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the
householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing
together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are
considered as members of one family.
Family household. A family household is a household maintained by a
householder who is in a family (as defined above), and includes any
unrelated people (unrelated subfamily members and/or secondary
individuals) who may be residing there. The number of family households
is equal to the number of families. The count of family household
members differs from the count of family members, however, in that the
family household members include all people living in the household,
whereas family members include only the householder and his/her
relatives. See the definition of family.
Household. A household consists of all the people who occupy a housing
unit. A house, an apartment or other group of rooms, or a single room,
is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied or intended for
occupancy as separate living quarters; that is, when the occupants do
not live and eat with any other persons in the structure and there is
direct access from the outside or through a common hall. A household
includes the related family members and all the unrelated people, if
any, such as lodgers, foster children, wards, or employees who share the
housing unit. A person living alone in a housing unit, or a group of
unrelated people sharing a housing unit such as partners or roomers, is
also counted as a household. The count of households excludes group
quarters. There are two major categories of households, "family" and "non-family".
Householder. The householder refers to the person (or one of the people)
in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented (maintained) or, if
there is no such person, any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders,
or paid employees. If the house is owned or rented jointly by a married
couple, the householder may be either the husband or the wife. The
person designated as the householder is the "reference person" to whom
the relationship of all other household members, if any, is recorded.
The number of householders is equal to the number of households. Also,
the number of family householders is equal to the number of families.
Married couple. A married couple, as defined for census purposes, is a
husband and wife enumerated as members of the same household. The
married couple may or may not have children living with them.
Median income. Median income is the amount which divides the income
distribution into two equal groups, half having incomes above the
median, half having incomes below the median. The medians for
households, families, and unrelated individuals are based on all
households, families, and unrelated individuals, respectively. The
medians for people are based on people 15 years old and over with
income.
Poverty definition. Following the Office of Management and Budget's
(OMB's) Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income
thresholds that vary by family size and composition to detect who is
poor. If a family's total income is less than that family's threshold,
then that family, and every individual in it, is considered poor. The
poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated
annually for inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The
official poverty definition counts money income before taxes and
excludes capital gains and non-cash benefits (such as public housing,
Medicaid, and food stamps).
