A Look At Some Of Our Big Cities - The Problems

August 20, 2001

Though Census 2000 has been finished for a while now, the information we are learning from the data continues to surface. This past week, three major cities (Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C.) released reports detailing some of their findings from the Census 2000 data. Despite aggressive attempts to raise census response rates from 1990, Los Angeles city officials estimate that 76,000 people were missed, which will result in a loss of at least $184 million in state and federal funding during the next decade (Annette Kondo, Times Staff Writer). According to this statement, what is the average dollar amount in state and federal funding per person, to the nearest cent?

Chicago Tells A Little About Cincinnati: According to a Chicago report, the Chicago area has added enough new people to fill more than two cities the size of Cincinnati, surging to 8 million residents for an increase of roughly 830,000 people. From this information, by what percent did the population of Chicago increase, to the nearest whole percent? In addition, within what range does it appear Cincinnati’s population fits? (For example, between 250,000 and 325,000 people?)

Looking At The Extremes: According to D.C. census numbers, the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” seems to be increasing. Apparently, one in nine households has an annual income of $125,000 or more, while one in five households take in $15,000 or less annually. What fraction of the D.C. population takes in between $15,000 and $125,000?