The U.S. Census Bureau’s Facts for Features and Special Editions consist of collections of statistics from the Census Bureau’s demographic and economic subject areas intended to commemorate anniversaries or observances or to provide background information for topics in the news. The most recent edition is for Earth Day. Below are some of the facts they cite.
$715 million
Estimated revenue for “residential nonhazardous recyclable collection services” in 2010 for U.S. employer firms was up 26.5 percent from 2009.
Source: 2010 Service Annual Survey <http://www.census.gov/services/sas/data_summary56.html>
38,010
Estimated number of occupied housing units across the country heated by solar energy in 2010.
Source: 2006-2010 American Community Survey five-year estimates, Table B25040. <http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml>
88%
Estimated percent of newly built single-family homes across the country with air-conditioning in 2010. In 1974, it was 48 percent.
Source: 2010 Characteristics of New Housing <http://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalac.pdf>
25.3 minutes
Estimated average time for workers 16 years and older across the country spent getting to work in 2010, up from 25.1 minutes in 2009.
Source: 2010 American Community Survey <http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/cb11-158.html>
2,392 square feet
The average size of a single-family house built in 2010, down from 2,438 square feet in 2009.
Source: 2010 Characteristics of New Housing <http://www.census.gov/construction/chars/highlights.html>
