America’s Census: The Numbers

Remember that census form you filled out last year? Some of the findings from the annual profile of the U.S. were published last week by the Census Bureau. The New York Times created a fascinating graphic sampling of select statistics. These numbers paint a portrait of the country that can help define where we are, and where we need to go in 2011. Here’s a snippet of interesting facts:

Food

Meat: We ate less red meat: 108.3 lbs. per person in 2008 – down 5.4 lbs. since 2000.

Vegetables: We’re eating fewer veggies: 392.7 lbs person – down more than 30 lbs.

Wine: We’re drinking more wine: 2.5 gallons per person – up from 2.0 gallons in 200.

Family

Marriage: The marriage rate is at the lowest since 1970. 7.3 per 1,000 people – down from 10.6 per 1,00 people.

Divorce: Divorce rate is similar to 1970 levels at 3.6 per 1,000 people

Births: A record 41% of all live births were to unmarried women – up 22% points since 1980.

Land Use

Farmland: There were 4.8 million acres of organic farmland in 2008 – a 170% increase since 2000.

Development: The proportion of developed land reached a new high 5.6% of all land in the continental U.S.

Health

Prescription Drugs: The number of pharmacies increased: 42,300 in 2007 – up 500 from the year before.

Sleep: In 2008, 26% of men and 30% of women had 14 or more days a month where they didn’t get enough sleep.

Lifestyle

There were 400 fewer bookstores: 10,600 in total.

Twice as many young adults bowl as ride bicycles.

Here’s a seemingly unrelated, but fascinating fact:

Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina and South Dakota have more pigs than people.

What do you think we can we learn from these findings as we head into 2011?

Check out the rest of this cool visual here.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Danuta W.

12:24AM PDT on Jun 10, 2012

thanks for sharing

June 10
send a green star

Vanessa S.

8:02PM PDT on Jul 11, 2011

I think it is awesome that the consumption of red meat has went down. That is definitely a win for the environment, the health of the people that lowered their consumption, and the welfare of animals in factory farming situations. I was a little surprised to see that vegetable consumption has went down. A little disappointed too. That is definitely an area the I need to work on as well.