Divisions
Community & Economic Development
Data Services
CAPCOG's Community and Economic Development Division provides demographic and socioeconomic data about the Capital Area region. Our most commonly requested regional data sets are available under the tabular data section of the Information Clearinghouse.
In addition, CAPCOG can provide technical assistance to our member entities and organizations who need custom data requests. Please contact Chris Ramser, if you need this type of assistance.
Data Points
In addition to providing regional data sets and technical assistance, CAPCOG's Community and Economic Development division publishes Data Points, a newsletter to highlight some of the data and resources available for regional and local planning. Articles are now posted in a blog format to encourage dialogue and provide more frequent postings. The blog can be accessed at the following site, http://www.datapoints.org, while the original Data Points newsletter can still be accessed here. To suggest a topic for a future issue or for questions, please contact Chris Ramser.
Census 2010
In March 2010, the nation and our 
communities will be counted as part of the Census 2010. Nationwide, the Census is important because data collected will be used to determine federal and state funding allocations, political boundaries, and for planning and economic development.
As a fast growing region, CAPCOG recognizes the need to have an accurate Census and has partnerned with the Census Bureau. CAPCOG will post material related to Census 2010 on this page. For more information about Census 2010, you can visit the Census 2010 website or view one of the presentations given by CAPCOG staff about the Census by clicking here.
In addition, CAPCOG has developed a regional Census 2010 blog for Complete Count Committees and other Census Partners to use for coordinating and sharing outreach activities. The blog is also a good place to find additional resources. We encourage you to check it out at http://www.census-capcog.blogspot.com/.
A robust national media campaign and local efforts of Complete Count Committees, local leaders working at the community level to increase awareness of the Census, will help ensure that most people hear about the Census. But, getting a response from every address in the nation is not assured. Some folks may never feel comfortable answering a Census questionnaire, but perhaps hearing the Census message through a trusted community, political or faith leader may help to alleviate response concerns.
Here are some highlights of the core message for the Census. More information can be found at the Census Bureau’s site http://2010.census.gov/2010census/.
The Census is safe, important, and easy.
Safe
All responses are protected by law and individual responses can only be accessed by Census Bureau employees who are responsible for tabulating the data into statistical areas. Names and other identifying information are stripped from the responses and data is never released that would allow an individual person’s responses to be identified. Information collected from the Census cannot be used to enforce laws against a respondent. For more information about the law that protects census data, please see this brochure.
Important
Census data is used to plan our communities and to distribute over $400 billion in funding each year nationwide. As a fast growing region, it is important that the Capital Area gets counted completely, so that our communities and the region receive our share of funding. Additionally, political representation is determined using Census data. If the Census counts follow current projections, Texas will gain additional Congressional seats.
Easy
Census 2010 consists of only 10 questions including only the most basic information such as age, race, Hispanic origin, whether your residence is owned or rented, & how each person is related to the householder. There is no “long form,” however, important socioeconomic data is collected annually from a small sample of the population through a survey called the American Community Survey.
Householders who do not mail back the first questionnaire will receive a replacement questionnaire in April. Residents not responding to the replacement questionnaire will be visited by a Census worker sometime between May and July 2010. People living in “group quarters” (i.e. college dorms, assisted living facilities, correctional facilities and other managed facilities providing housing and services) will be counted through visits by Census workers occurring between April and May.
Census Jobs
In addition, the Census Bureau will also be hiring hundreds of local temporary workers to help conduct the Census. To apply for Census Jobs, call 1-866-861-2010.
Census in Schools Newsletters
The Census Bureau's Census in Schools program provides K-12 teaching tools for educators. These include lesson plans that correlate with national standards in math, geography, civics and government, history, economics, and language arts and is also designed to increase the awareness of the Census. Each month a new Census in Schools newsletter is published containing many interesting facts, figures, activities, and news items related the Census. Below are all of the newsletters that have been published.
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July/August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
January 2010
February 2010
Census Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP)
CAPCOG participated in the Census Bureau's program to update the Census Tracts and Block Groups for Census 2010. CAPCOG submitted recommendations to the Census Bureau for these boundaries within our region. The Census Bureau will review CAPCOG's recommendations when determining the Census Tract and Block Group boundaries for Census 2010. More information about this project can be found here.
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