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Making the Housing Unit Method Work: An Evaluation of 2010 Population Estimates in Florida

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  • Stanley Smith
  • Scott Cody

Abstract

The housing unit (HU) method—in which population estimates are derived from estimates of occupied HUs—is the most commonly used method for making small-area population estimates in the United States. It is widely used because it is conceptually simple, can utilize a wide variety of data sources, can be applied at virtually any level of geography, and often produces reliable estimates. Yet the HU method is more nearly a general approach to population estimation than it is a specific methodology. In this paper, we describe and evaluate several data sources and estimation techniques that can be used in applying the HU method. Using a set of county and subcounty estimates produced by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) at the University of Florida for April 1, 2010, we analyze errors by population size and growth rate, calculate errors for each of the three components of the HU method, and investigate the accuracy of estimates based on several different data sources and estimation techniques. We compare the accuracy of the 2010 estimates with previous BEBR estimates and estimates produced by the U.S. Census Bureau. We conclude that although some data sources and estimation techniques work better than others, the HU method can be tailored to produce reliable population estimates for a wide variety of geographic areas. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Stanley Smith & Scott Cody, 2013. "Making the Housing Unit Method Work: An Evaluation of 2010 Population Estimates in Florida," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(2), pages 221-242, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:32:y:2013:i:2:p:221-242
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-012-9265-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Donald Starsinic & Meyer Zitter, 1968. "Accuracy of the housing unit method in preparing population estimates for cities," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 5(1), pages 475-484, March.
    2. Stanley K. Smith & June M. Nogle, 2004. "An Evaluation of Hispanic Population Estimates," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 85(3), pages 731-745, September.
    3. David Swanson & Jerome McKibben, 2010. "New Directions in the Development of Population Estimates in the United States?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(6), pages 797-818, December.
    4. Stanley Smith & June Nogle & Scott Cody, 2002. "A regression approach to estimating the average number of persons per household," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 39(4), pages 697-712, November.
    5. David Swanson & George Hough, 2012. "An Evaluation of Persons per Household (PPH) Estimates Generated by the American Community Survey: A Demographic Perspective," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(2), pages 235-266, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Annette Jacoby & Peter Lobo & Joseph J. Salvo, 2021. "Estimating Postcensal Household Size for NYC’s Neighborhoods," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 459-474, June.

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