[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: US Census data for Boulder

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Cowles, Macon

Sam, thanks for doing this. 

As I understand, the jobs and population data used by the City in the community profile is also based on the American Community Survey data, and the census data for the decadal counts also plays an important part. In 2000, we challenged the census data count of the Boulder population because the census count was too low. And of course if the count is too low, it means that the County and City do not get their fair share of money from federal programs.

Deriving changes in population during only the years 2010 to 2014 is useful, because it focuses on Boulder during a booming economy. 

However, it is also useful to take into account a longer view of population growth in Boulder, as you did with jobs. Below are the derived increases in population growth.

Using the Community Profile:

2000 population estimate:    96,101
2014 population estimate:  104,810
% population change 2000 to 2014: 9.06%
Derived annual population increase rate: 0.65%

Using Census data using your links and mine:

2000 population estimate:    94,673
2014 population estimate:  105,112
% population change 2000 to 2014: 11.03%
Derived annual population increase rate: 0.79%

I do not make excuses for exponential growth. But it can be useful in the policy arena to keep in mind the numbers measured both across short time periods and longer ones.

Macon Cowles
Boulder City Council Member
1726 Mapleton Ave.
Boulder, Colorado 80304
CowlesM at bouldercolorado.gov
(303) 638-6884




On Aug 30, 2015, at 1:10 PM, Weaver, Sam <WeaverS at bouldercolorado.gov> wrote:

Fellow Council members and HOTLINE followers,

Here are some data about Boulder as reported by the US Census Bureau that I thought might interest you in light of our Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update kickoff which is tomorrow night August 21 at 4pm at Chautauqua.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08/0807850.html

2010 population estimate: 97,468

2014 population estimate: 105,112

% Population change 2010 to 2014: 7.8%

Derived annual population increase rate: 1.9%

This would imply the following Boulder residential population figures:

2010   97,468

2011   99,325

2012 101,217

2013 103,146

2014 105,112

Turning to jobs, performing a linear regression on the US Census data for employment in Boulder between 2002 and 2013 shows an employment growth rate (jobs in Boulder) of 0.8% annually.  This does not include self-employment in Boulder.

For those that are interested, the data for employment come from here: http://onthemap.ces.census.gov/ and
 the geographic region is Boulder city, Colorado.  The raw employment data are below as well as the linear regression fit, and the chart of the data is attached with the fit.

Linear regression fit: y=640.78 + 76771, R^2=0.4621.  This smooths out the lumpiness of the data and tells us that on average the Boulder economy has added about 640 jobs per year since 2002, not including self-employment additions.

2002  78,853

2003  74,627

2004  79,394

2005  80,714

2006  77,510

2007  85,842

2008  85,271

2009  81,483

2010  85,088

2011  85,271

2012  80,851

2013  82,838

All the best,

Sam Weaver
Member of Boulder City Council
weavers at bouldercolorado.gov
Phone: 303-416-6130

<Boulder Employment 2002 - 2013.JPG>