Census Data for Colorado

The U.S. Census Bureau released the Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC) Data on May 25, 2023. The State Demography Office is processing these data tables and will post summary excel workbooks, data files, maps, and shapefiles in the next few weeks.

Census Error terms introduced by the applicaiton of Differential Privacy and the Disclosure Avoidance System (DAS)

The 2020 DHC estimates are infused with random noise to prevent reidentification of individuals. The process, known as differeintial privacy, introduces statistical error into all 2020 Census estimates at all levels of geography. The impact of differeintial privacy is measured with two metrics:

• Mean absolute error (MAE): MAE gives insight on accuracy, showing how close the published data point is to the enumerated count on average.
• Mean error (ME): ME gives insight on statistical bias. It shows whether the published data point tends to go higher or lower than the enumerated count and by how much.

The magnitude of these metrics vary by the size of a geographical unit. For example, in a county with a total population size of less than 5,000 people, any population estimate has a MAE of 1.73, meaning that, if the count of women in that county is reported as 2,500 persons, the "true" count of women is between 2,498 and 2,502 persons. In the same sized county, the ME is 0.25, meaning that, the "true" value of the number of women is likely to be above the reported value.

The full list of these error metrics for all geographies is reported in the 2020 Census-Disclosure Avoidance System Detailed Summary Metrics spreadsheet provided by the Census Bureau.
The table shell listing, showing the contents of the tables in the Demographic Profile and the Demographic and Housing Characteristics datasets is available from 2020 Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics Table Shells.
See the U.S. Census Bureau DHC Data Release Announcement for more information.

DHC Materials from the Census Bureau:

• 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics Press Release
• 2020 Demographic Profile Page
• Census 2020 Demographic Profile Interactive Map
• 2020 Census Interactive Age Pyramids
• 2020 Census Interactive Maps by Age Group
• U.S. Census Bureau DHC Data Release Announcement
• 2020 Demographic Profile and Demographic and Housing Characteristics Table Shells
• 2020 Census-Disclosure Avoidance System Detailed Summary Metrics
• Link to Census Colorado Demographic Profile data (data.census.gov)

A collection of static data tables, shapefiles, and other resources for Colorado Regions, Counties, Municipalities, and Census Designated Places. The Public Law 94-171 data is intended to inform the state and local redistricting process. The data set provides tabulations by race and ethnicity, by voting age (for persons age 18 and older), housing occupancy, and the number of residents in Group Quarters facilities.

These tables are compiled by the Colorado State Demography Office. Additional tables will be posted as they are compiled. Please visit this page frequently to get the latest tables.