A Summary of Selected Characteristics of Urban and Rural Populations, by State, 1960

Tables in this report contain information on selected characteristics of the urban, rural-nonfarm, and rural-farm populations of each State as of 1960. The data shown include only a part of the information obtained in the 1960 Censuses of Population and Housing and by no means exhaust the information available. Data were selected to permit rural-urban comparisons in regard to some of the more important social and economic characteristics of the population. This report is intended as a convenient source of comparative data on the farm, and nonfarm populations, and not as an analysis of rural-urban differences. Information is presented under four broad categories: (1) Demographic characteristics, including size of population, median age, average size of family, and measures of fertility and mobility. (2) Economic characteristics, such as measures of unemployment, occupational distributions, and age, earnings, and weeks worked for employed males. In the case of the last three measures, census data were not published by urban-rural residence, and information is shown for the State as a whole. (3) Educational characteristics, including information on school enrollment, retardation in school, estimates of school dropouts, and measures of educational attainment. (4) Housing characteristics and availability of facilities, including the proportion of housing units in deteriorated or dilapidated condition, and the proportion reporting the availability of home freezers, automobiles, and telephones. These three facilities are among the items included in the farm operator level-of-living index and supply a basis for comparing the relative position of the farm and nonfarm populations in regard to availability of the facilities.