City
of Philadelphia
Kenneth
Erhart
SOC
101
Instructor:
Megan Reid
July
07, 2015
The
locality chosen is the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the following is
the general socio-economic information on the location as per the 2010 United
States Census.
The
population at the time was estimated to be around 1,526,006 people who
comprised 590,071 households, and an aggregate of 352,272 families that was
permanently living in the consolidated city-county of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. The population density for the city was around 4,337.3/km²
(11,233.6/mi²). The male population was 731,161 while the female population was
estimated to be 813,388.The percentage change observed in the population since
the year 2001 was 31.1%, this decreased to 1.1% in since the year 2010 (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2001).
The
racial constitution of the city as at the year 2013 when the census was being
conducted comprised 45.5% White which
translates to about 637,842, 44.2% Black which represents a figure of about
665,332 , 6.9% Asian which in numbers is equivalent to 99,962, 88,827 which in
percentage form is 2.3% were from other races, 38,949 which in percentage form
is 2.4% constituted of the Mixed Race, 0.8% Native American which is 4,433 and 194,714 which in percentage form is 13.3% of
the population were Hispanic or Latino (Fields, 2004).
The
average number of housing units at an average density of 1,891.9/km²
(4,900.1/mi²) was estimated to be were 661,958.Among the 590071 housing units
that were profiled in the survey, at least 27.6% had children under the age of
eighteen that were cohabiting with them. Among this 32.1% were legally married
couples that were still sharing a home. It was observed that at least 22.3% of
the housing units had a female occupant that was yet to be married and 40.3%
were non-families.3.8% of this housing units comprised solely of individuals
and 11.9% had a solitary occupant who averaged in age over 65 years. The mean
household size was 2.48, and the average family size was 3.22 (National Research
Council U.S. Et al, 2010).
The
income per household in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania averaged at $30,746 and the
median income for a family was $37,036.The males in the society had a higher
median income of $34,199 while the women had $28,477. The city has a relatively
high per capita income of $16, 509, considering the population. The population
consisted of at least 22.9% of individuals and 18.4 family units that ranked
below the poverty line. In terms of age groups that wee under the poverty line,
it was estimated that 31.3% of the individuals under the age of eighteen and
16.9% for the senior citizens above 65years old, lived primarily under the
poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).
The
population disparity concerning age was 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.1% were
in the age group 18 to 24, 29.3% aged between 25 to 44, 20.3% were found to be
45 to 64, and 14.1% consisted of the senior citizens that were 65 years of age
or older. The median age was rightly approximated at 34 years. The females outnumbered
the males as for every 86.8 men there were 100 women (Ennis Et al, 2011).This
could be further proved y zoning down into those aged 18 and over whom for
every 100 women, 81.8 males were observed. The gender disparity in the
population of the city was astounding as the male to female ratio was 86.8 to
100.If these figures were to be changed into percentages, males would be 46.5%
of the population while females were 53.5%.Amongst all the regions in the
country that were profiled at the same time with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
city that averaged an excess of a hundred thousand people, this was the third
lowest in the United States. Only Indiana, Alabama. Gary and Birmingham had a
high proportion of women abiding in the city (Fronczek, 2009).
The
housing units that were profiled in the census comprised of those that were
currently occupied and those that were vacant. Those that had people living in
them were 590,071 which when converted into a percentage was 89.1%, and those
that were considered vacant were 71,887 which when converted into a percentage
was 10.9%.The houses that were occupied could be divided into those that were
owner occupied and those that were tenant occupied. Those, where the occupant
was the landlord, were 349,633 which in percentage form were 59.3% and where
rent had to be paid 240,438 which in percentage form were 40.7% (Ennis Et al,
2011).
The
population is divided in the means they use in getting to work. Most of those
that lived near the workplaces preferred just to walk to work. This was
especially the case for Centre City residents. Overall, the population that
walked to walked was approximately 9.22%.Of the population that commuted to
work, at least 63.97% of all Philadelphians were observed to drive an
automobile or carpool to work while at least 25.93% preferred to use the public
service vehicles to commute to work (National Research Council U.S. Et al,
2010). A negligible number got to work by riding a bicycle. Of the households
that were profiled at least 35.74 of these did not have automobiles for one
reason or another. In comparison to other major cities in the United States of
America, the proportion of Philadelphians that do not commute by automobiles is
relatively higher. But cities like New York and Washington have higher
percentages of those that do not commute by automobile as compared to
Philadelphia. The survey carried out in the city, came to the revelation that
the average time it took an individual that was at least sixteen years of age
or older to get to work was approximately thirty-two minutes. However in
comparison to residents that lived away from the city centre, those that were
from the centre city had much shorter commutes thus shorter arrival times to
work. Amongst all the cities that were profiled, Philadelphia was ranked as the
city with the most individuals that lived in downtown areas, this was
especially the case in Centre City, which was ranked number three overall for
largest downtown residential population in the country (Fields, 2004).
The
education attainment rate for high school level students or higher is put at
81.2%.In relation to other cities, Philadelphia city has a relatively higher
figures when it comes to school enrolment; These figures are observed across
all age groups. The city of Philadelphia is endowed with massive resources that
are geared toward the provision of quality education facilities for all the
students. The leadership in the city is committed towards the constant
improvement of their education systems. The city is ranked the 8th largest
school district in America with at least 300000 college students, numerous
parochial and private high schools (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).
The
city of Philadelphia is a multicultural society that consists of the Hispanic,
white majority and the black people among other peoples. The education system
is robust, and systems are continually being introduced to ensure improvement.
These education institutions cater for all the races and cultures that are
present in the city. The housing sector is continually under pressure to grow
due to the growing population. The housing sector in the city is manned by the
city council of Philadelphia. The dominant age group as observed from the
statistics above consists mostly of the senior youth who are above 33.6 years.
The income patterns of the city residents indicate a robust and steadily
growing economy.
References
Ennis, S. R., Ríos-Vargas, M., & Albert, N. G. (2011).The hispanic population: 2010.
US Department of Commerce,
Economics and Statistics Administration, US Census Bureau.
Fields, J. M. (2004).America’s
families and living arrangements: 2003. US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics
Administration, US Census Bureau.
Fronczek, P. (2009).Income,
earnings, and poverty from the 2004 American Community Survey. DIANE Publishing.
National Research Council
(U.S.)., In Schirm, A. L., & In Kirkendall, N. J. (2010).Developing and evaluating methods for using
American Community Survey data to
support the school meals programs: Interim report.
U.S. Census Bureau,. (2011).American Community Survey 5-year
estimates 2006-2010: Population and
housing characteristics: ACS DVD (2006-2010).
U.S. Census Bureau. (2001).Meeting 21st century demographic
data needs: Implementing the
American Community Survey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S.
Census Bureau.
