In Census 2000, the nation learned many facts about our 281 million residents:

• About 54 percent of us were married; 10 percent of us were divorced.
• Over 80 percent of us reported having a high school diploma or a higher degree.
• Our median household income was about $42,000.
• Almost 76 percent of us drove alone to work; 12 percent carpooled.
• About 35 percent of our homes were built before 1960.
• Over half of American homes rely on gas as a heating fuel.

We learned all this and more from the data collected on the long form used in Census 2000 – and you can obtain such facts for your community and neighborhood. Of course, in your neighborhood, community, or state, the proportions may differ. For example, commuting patterns in New York City and Los Angeles differ greatly.

Since Census 2000 is our first “Internet census,” all these data are available free to you on the Census Bureau’s Web site www.census.gov.

Employment, home ownership, commuting, education, income and poverty, housing costs and value, disability – these are topics that drive America’s headlines, occupy policymakers and analysts, and concern the public as well. They are likewise among the topics found on the Census 2000 long-form questionnaire.