Each week the U.S. Census Bureau is featuring a new data visualization on the census.gov website. These visualizations will highlight various datasets and variables provided by the U.S. Census Bureau with a new visualization posted each week.

Explore visualizations on the following:

• Increasing Urbanization
• Gaining and Losing Shares
• Top 20 Cities
• I-95 Population Density Profile
• and more are added each week!

Explore the most recent data visualizations from the U.S. Census Bureau at: http://www.census.gov/dataviz/

Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions for 1st Quarter 2012 Now Available

This U.S. Census Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions (formerly known as the Finances of Selected State and Local Government Employee Retirement Systems Survey) provides national summary statistics on the revenues, expenditures and composition of assets of the 100 largest state and local public employee retirement systems in the United States. These 100 systems comprise 89.4 percent of financial activity among such entities, based on the 2007 Census of Governments.

This survey presents the most current statistics about investment decisions by state and local public employee retirement systems, which are among the largest types of institutional investors in the U.S. financial markets. These statistical tables are published three months after each calendar quarter and show national financial transactions and trends for the past five years.

To view this data, summary report, and download the data visit http://www.census.gov/govs/qpr/.

The nation’s elementary-secondary public school systems spent an average of $10,615 per pupil in fiscal year 2010, up 1.1 percent from the previous year, according to statistics released on June 21, 2012 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The state of Connecticut’s public schools spent $14,906 per student in 2010, placing Connecticut 7th in the nation in per student spending in 2010 with the District of Columbia public schools having the highest per student expenditure of $18,667 in 2010. A complete table with rankings by state is available from the U.S. Census Bureau (See table 11. Excel | PDF).

These updated statistics are included in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Public Education Finances: 2010 report, a report the provides data on revenues, expenditures, debt and assets of elementary and secondary public school systems from across the nation for the 2010 fiscal year. The tables include detailed statistics on spending — such as instruction, student transportation, salaries and employee benefits — at the national, state and school district levels.

Other highlights from this report include:

• States that spent the least per pupil were Utah ($6,064), Idaho ($7,106), Arizona ($7,848) and Oklahoma ($7,896).
• All nine states in the Northeast region of the U.S. were ranked among the top 15 in per pupil spending in 2010. Out of the 16 states with the lowest per pupil spending, 15 were in the South or West regions. The remaining state, South Dakota, is in the Midwest.
• Of the 50 largest school systems by enrollment in the U.S., New York City School District ($19,597), Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland ($15,582), Baltimore City Public Schools in Maryland ($14,711), Milwaukee Public School in Wisconsin ($14,038) and Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland ($14,019) had the highest per pupil spending in 2010.
• Instructional expenditures accounted for the largest spending category for public education, totaling $317.8 billion in 2010, of which $211.1 billion (66.4 percent) went to instructional salaries and wages.
• Public school systems in North Dakota (22.0 percent), Mississippi (21.2 percent), New Mexico (20.7 percent) and Idaho (20.4 percent) received the highest percentage of their revenues from the federal government, while public school systems in New Hampshire (6.6 percent), New York (6.7 percent) and the District of Columbia (6.7 percent) received the lowest.
• Property taxes accounted for 64.8 percent of revenue from local sources for public school systems.
• Total school system debt increased by 1.9 percent to $406.9 billion in 2010. 

U.S. Employer Businesses Show Declines in Establishments and Employees in 2010, Census Bureau Reports

In 2010, U.S. businesses with paid employees numbered 7.4 million, a decline of 36,800 establishments from 2009, marking the third consecutive year of decline, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In comparison, between 2008 and 2009 there was a decline of 168,000 establishments.

These findings are from County Business Patterns: 2010, which provides the only detailed annual information on the number of establishments, employees, and first-quarter and annual payroll for most of the 1,100 industries covered at the national, state and county levels. The statistics are broken down according to employment-size classes (for example, number of establishments with one to four employees) and legal form of organization (for example, corporations and partnerships).


In 2010, total employment from all sectors was 112.0 million, a decline of 2.5 million employees from 2009. In comparison, between 2008 and 2009 there was a decline of 6.4 million employees.


“This year’s release of the County Business Patterns shows the overall decline in employment is slowing,” said William G. Bostic Jr., associate director for economic programs at the Census Bureau. “In contrast, 2009 coincided with the height of the recession and showed higher declines in employment and establishments.”


Between 2009 and 2010, only Alaska showed a rise in employment from the previous year, having increased 0.7 percent. All other states showed declines in employment, led by Wyoming’s 4.5 percent decline from 2009.


Among the top 50 counties in the United States by number of establishments, the largest decline in total annual payroll was Los Angeles County, Calif., with a decrease of nearly $2 billion. This was a decrease of 1.1 percent from 2009. Only Kings County, N.Y., showed an increase in the number of employees with an additional 4,400 from the previous year.


The retail trade sector had the highest number of establishments (1.1 million). Next were professional, scientific and technical services (851,506); health care and social assistance (812,860); other services (except public administration) (725,488); construction (682,684); and accommodation and food services (643,960).


The construction sector showed the largest percentage decline in establishments, decreasing 4.2 percent from 2009 to 2010. The finance and insurance sector had the second largest decline, falling 3.2 percent from 2009 to 2010. The remaining top five sectors that showed the largest decline in establishments were manufacturing (2.9 percent), management of companies and enterprises (1.4 percent), and wholesale trade (1.2 percent).


Among industries that showed an increase in establishments, both utilities and health care and social assistance saw the largest increase, rising 1.7 percent from the previous year. The remaining top five industries that showed the largest increase in establishments were educational services (1.5 percent); accommodation and food services (1.4 percent); and professional, scientific, and technical services (1.1 percent).

County Business Patterns excludes business owners who were self-employed, employees of private households, railroad employees, agriculture production workers and most government employees. Information on businesses without paid employees is released as part of the upcoming 2010 Nonemployer Statistics report. County Business Patterns data by five-digit ZIP codes will be released this summer.

County Business Patterns 2010 – Connecticut Data


For Connecticut, users can view data at the state and county levels for 2010 from the County Business Patterns Homepage at: http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/. From this page you will be able to access data on the total number of paid employees by NAICS code, view payroll information, identify the total number of establishments, and more. Included below is a brief table of the number of establishments in Connecticut by employment-size class based on the 2010 County Business Patterns dataset.



Number of establishments by employment-size class (2010) – Connecticut