DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS

Except for the few instances noted below, the concepts and definitions used in the 1955 quarterly survey are identical with those used in the 1950 Census. However, the content of the 1955 survey differed slightly from the 1950 Census. In 1955, but not in 1950, information was collected on the number of bedrooms, duration of vacancy, and inclusion of utilities in rent. On the other hand, the 1950 Census included questions on plumbing facilities and year built. In both years, information was obtained on number

of rooms in the unit, number of dwelling units in the structure, condition, status, monthly rent, and sale price.

The major portion of the

1955 definitions

is presented below. More complete definitions and explanations, as well as some discussion of

the development of the concepts, are contained of Housing, Volume I,

in

1950 Census Characteristics.

or

as

General

com

Urban-rural residence.--Urban housing prises all dwelling units in (a) places of 2,500 inhabitants more incorporated boroughs, and villages, (b) incorporated towns of 2,500 inhabitants or more except in New England, New York, and Wisconsin, where "towns" are simply minor civil divisions of counties, (c) the densely settled urban fringe around cities of 50,000 inhabitants or more, including both incorporated and unincorporated areas, and (d) unincorporated places of 2,500 inhabitants or more outside any urban fringe. The remaining dwelling units are classified as rural.

to

nonfarm

Standard metropolitan areas.--Except in New England, a standard metropolitan area is a county or group of contiguous counties which contains at least one city of 50,000 inhabitants or more at the time of the 1950 Census. Counties contiguous to the one containing such a city are included in a standard metropolitan area if according to certain criteria they are essentially metropolitan in character and socially and economically integrated with the central city. In New England, towns and cities were the units used in defining standard metropolitan Here a population density criterion was applied rather than the criteria relating to metropolitan character.

tan areas"

areas.

all

Statistics for "inside standard metropoliin tables 2, 3, and 4 are for vacant dwelling units--urban and rural, farm and nonfarm--which are located within the counties and places comprising standard metropolitan areas. Statistics in table 5 to are limited nonfarm units inside and outside standard metropolitan areas.

For a list of all standard metropolitan areas, and their constituent counties (cities, towns), refer to the individual chapters (or bulletins) in the 1950 Census of Housing, Volume I, General Characteristics; or to the 1950 Census of Population, Volume I, Number of Inhabitants, or Volume II, Characteristics of the Population, Part 1, United States Summary.

The standard metropolitan areas were established at the time of the 1950 Census. Both the

Dwelling units.--In general, a dwelling unit is a group of rooms or a single room occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters by a family or other group of persons living together or by a person living alone.

Ordinarily, a dwelling unit is a house, an apartment, or a flat. A dwelling unit may be

located in a structure devoted to business or other nonresidential use, such as quarters in a warehouse where the watchman lives or a merchant's quarters in back of his shop. Trailers, boats, tents, and railroad cars, when occupied as living quarters, are included in the dwelling unit inventory; if vacant, however, such accommodations are excluded.

A group of rooms, occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters, is a dwelling unit if it has separate cooking equipment or separate entrance. A single room, occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters, is a dwelling unit if it has separate cooking equipment or if it constitutes the only living quarters in the structure. Each apartment in a

regular apartment house is a dwelling unit even though it may not have separate cooking equipment. Apartments in residential hotels are dwelling units if they have separate cooking equipment or consist of two or more rooms. Since it is customary in some localities for the intended occupants to furnish their own cooking equipment, vacant units were considered as having cooking equipment if they were currently equipped with or if the last occupants had such equipment.

Living quarters of the following types are not included in the dwelling unit inventory: Sleeping rooms in rooming houses; transient accommodations (tourist courts, hotels, etc., pretransients); dominantly for and barracks workers (railroad, construction, etc.). Living quarters in institutions (for delinquent the dependent children, handicapped persons, aged, prisoners, etc.), general hospitals, and military installations likewise are excluded from the dwelling unit inventory except dwelling units in buildings containing family quarters for staff members.

or

Nonresident dwelling units.--A nonresident dwelling unit is a unit which is occupied temporarily by persons who usually live elsewhere, provided the usual place of residence was held for the household and was not offered for rent or for sale. For example, a beach cottage occupied during the summer vacation by a family which has a usual place of residence in the city is considered a nonresident unit. Their house in the city would be reported "occupied" and would be included in the count of occupied units since the occupants are only temporarily absent.

Nonresident units in the 1955 statistics are included with "vacant" units--as seasonal, dilapidated, or not dilapidated but held off the market, as the case may be. In the 1950 statistics, the nonresident units are shown as a separate category; for comparison with the 1955 results, however, these units were distributed among seasonal, dilapidated, and not dilapidated units held off the market.

Vacant dwelling units.--A dwelling unit is vacant if no persons were living in it at the time of enumeration, except when its occupants were only temporarily absent. Dilapidated vacant dwelling units were included if they were intended for occupancy as living quarters; however, if the unit was unfit for use and beyond repair so that it was no longer considered living quarters, it was excluded from the inventory. New units not yet occupied were enumerated as vacant dwelling units if construction had proceeded to the point that all the exterior windows and doors were installed and final usable floors were in place; otherwise, potential units under construction were not included.

As indicated above, dwelling units occupied by nonresidents were included with vacant units.

only

Occupied dwelling units.--A dwelling unit is occupied if a person or group of persons was living in it at the time of enumeration or if the occupants were only temporarily absent, as for example, on vacation. dwelling units is the households. (See also dwelling units.")

The count of occupied same as the count of section on "Nonresident

Available vacant units.--This category provides a measure of vacant dwelling units which are on the housing market for year-round use. It consists of units which are for year-round use, are not dilapidated, and are being offered for rent or sale. Excluded are seasonal units, dilapidated units, and units already rented or sold or not on the rental or sale market for other reasons. The count of available vacancies constitutes a more effective measure of the supply of vacant housing than does the count of total vacancies. This category is comparable with the 1950 category "Nonseasonal not dilapidated, for rent or sale."

The category "For rent" consists of vacant units offered for rent as well as those being offered both for rent and for sale. The category "For sale" is limited to units for sale only. If a unit was located in a multi-unit structure which was for sale as an entire structure, and if the unit was not for rent, it was reported as "held off market." However, in a 2- or 3-dwelling-unit structure which was for sale, the unit intended to be occupied by the owner was reported as for sale.

Vacant units held off the market.--Included

in this category are year-round not dilapidated units which were vacant for reasons other than those mentioned above: for example, held for occupancy of a caretaker, janitor, and the like; held for settlement of estate; held for personal reasons of the owner; temporarily used for storage; and temporarily occupied by persons who have a usual place of residence elsewhere. In the 1950 Census, such units are shown in combination with year-round not dilapidated vacant units, rented or sold, as "nonseasonal not dilapidated, not for rent or sale" units.

Number of rooms.--All rooms which are to be used, or are suitable for use, as living quarters were counted in determining the number of rooms in the dwelling unit. Included are kitchens, bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, and per

manently enclosed sunporches of substantial size; and finished basement or attic rooms, recreation rooms, or other rooms suitable for use as living quarters. A kitchenette or half-room which is partitioned off from floor to ceiling was counted as a separate room, but a combined kitchenette and dinette separated only by shelves or cabinets was counted as only one room. Not counted as rooms were bathrooms, strip or pullman kitchens, halls or foyers, alcoves, pantries, laundries, closets or storage space, and unfinished basement or attic rooms not suitable for living quarters.

Statistics are based on the number of vacant dwelling units classified by the number of dwelling units in the structure in which they are located, rather than on the number of residential structures that contain vacant units.

In the 1955 survey, data were obtained on the number of dwelling units in the structure, regardless of the type of structure (detached, attached, or semidetached) in which the unit was located. In the 1950 Census, statistics for 1- and 2-dwelling-unit structures are shown by type of structure as well as by number of dwelling units in the structure. Figures for 1950 "1 dwelling unit" category, for the tables in this report, were derived by combining "l dwelling unit, detached," "1 dwelling unit, attached," and an estimated portion of the "1 and 2 semidetached" category which represents units in semidetached structures containing only 1 dwelling unit. Similarly, the figures for the "2 dwelling unit" category were derived by combining the "2 dwelling unit, other" category and the remaining portion of the "1 and 2 semidetached" category.

Duration of vacancy.--The length of time a dwelling unit was vacant was computed from the day the unit became vacant until the day of enumeration. It should be noted that the time period is not the total time a unit remains unoccupied but is the duration of vacancy up to the day of enumeration. For newly constructed units, it represents the time period since the date when the unit was considered a vacancy, that is, when construction had reached the point that all exterior windows and doors were installed and final usable floors were in place.

The time intervals used in the tables represent one full month calculated from a date in the month to the same date the following month. For example, if the unit became vacant on April 29 and was still vacant on the day of enumeration, June 17, the time reported would be "1 to 2 months," meaning that the unit had been vacant for more than one month but less than two months. Or if the unit became vacant on May 25 and was still vacant on June 17, the time reported would be "less than 1 month."

furniture, heating fuel, electricity, cooking fuel, water, or other services. If the amount of rent were to vary during the year, the rent reported was the monthly amount asked at the time of enumeration. Rent data are limited to nonfarm available vacant units for rent and to nonfarm year-round not dilapidated units rented but not occupied. Rent statistics are not provided for farm units because of the difficulty of separating the rental of the dwelling unit from that for the entire farm unit.

The median monthly rent of the dwelling units is the rent which divides the series into two equal parts, one-half of the units with rents higher than the median and the other half with rents lower than the median. In the computation of the median, a continuous distribution was assumed; and the limits of the class intervals were assumed to of the 1-dollar interval

stand at the midpoints between the end of one of the rent groups and the beginning of the next. For example, the limits of the interval designated $30 to $39 were assumed to be $29.50 and $39.50.

Inclusion of utilities in rent.--The utilities included in this inquiry are heat, light, cooking fuel, and water. The statistics reflect whether all or not all of these utilities are provided for in the amount of rent asked at the time of enumeration, not what could be provided for more or less rent. Data on the inclusion of utilities are limited to nonfarm available vacant units for rent.

Sale price of l-dwelling-unit structures. The sale price is the amount asked for the property, including the structure and its land. Value data are limited to vacant nonfarm units in l-dwelling-unit structures, without business, and with only one dwelling unit included in the property. The statistics are limited to nonfarm available vacant units for sale and to nonfarm year-round not dilapidated units sold but not yet occupied. Values for other available units for sale are not provided because they would reflect varying amounts for farm land, business uses, or for more than one dwelling unit in the property.

The

Since the 1955 statistics presented in this report are based on a sample, they are subject to sampling variability and may be expected to differ from results that would have been obtained from a complete count in which identical enumeration techniques were employed. The standard error is a measure of sampling variability. chances are about 68 out of 100 that the difference due to sampling variability between an estimate and the figure that would have been obtained from a complete enumeration is less than the standard error. The chances are about 95 out of 100 that the difference is less than twice the standard error and about 99 out of 100 that it is less than 21⁄2 times the standard error.

The standard errors of a few of the more important statistics in this report are shown below. To illustrate: The available vacancy rate for the United States is estimated as 2.3 percent. According to the table below, the standard error of this estimate is about 0.1 percent. The chances are, therefore, about 68 out of 100 that a complete enumeration would have yielded an estimate between 2.2 and 2.4 percent.

Table F.--STANDARD ERROR OF SELECTED PERCENTAGES (Range of 68 chances out of 100)

Region

United States. Northeast....

North Central.
South....
West.

In addition to sampling data are subject to biases response and nonreporting. accuracy of reporting are the respondent's knowledge of the facts and the enumerator's ability to obtain accurate information and classify the unit with respect to such items as condition, seasonal status, number of rooms, rent, sale price, and the like. The 1950 data also are subject to such possible biases.