Making Census

Indicators: June 8

6 Is the number of Guamanian or Chamorro people residing in Santa Fe, according to the 2010 federal census. That’s the race with the lowest representation among the population.

It’s that time of the decade again, wherein census info for the past 10 years begins to trickle in. Though full statistics won’t be available until 2013, late last month the US Census released some fun demographic information for Santa Fe. These figures will be reference points for journalists for years to come, so listen up as we use them—albeit loosely—to prove and disprove a number of assumptions about our city.

Santa Fe is a big city/a one-horse town.
The number of people living in Santa Fe is frequently cited to prove different points about the city. The number of people who live here is 67,947, whatever that means to you.

Everyone in this bar is a dude.
Women outnumber men by more than 3,000 so, if the above is a problem, try another bar. This runs counter to worldwide statistics, which show a roughly equal number of men and women, with men in a slight lead.

Older women flock to Santa Fe.
Perhaps. The median age for women in Santa Fe is 46, while for men it’s 41.

Santa Fe drives young people away
The smallest population groups (aside from those older than 70 ) are those under 24, so few young people are here to begin with.

We’re going to hell.
This is probably true for a number of reasons. Most incendiary to the Christian right (until gay statistics come out) would be our 2,679 unmarried partners.

Santa Fe is one giant retirement community.
It’s not clear if they are retired, but the top-three age groups with the most people are 50-54, 55-59 and 60-64. The median age in Santa Fe is 44.

There are no black people in Santa Fe.
False: There are 1,056 (alone or in combination with other races).

The term Hispanic implies brown.
Nope. Nearly half of the population consider themselves Hispanic or Latino. Most of the population (55,865 out of the total 67,947) also consider themselves white (alone or in combination with other races).

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