Hi!
I am trying to find birthplace data by US county for Cuba (1950 and 1960) and Puerto Rico (1950-1990). I found these birthplaces in the IPUMS USA micro data files but did not find the equivalent in the NHGIS csv county level files. What am I doing wrong?
Is there any way how I can get county level birthplace data at the same granularity in terms of birthplaces as available in the IPUMS USA micro data?
Thank you very much for your help!
The aggregate data available through IPUMS NHGIS is restricted to the aggregations generated by the Census Bureau. This has the benefit of representing the entire data collection (as opposed to the sample data available through IPUMS USA), but is less flexible than the microdata. Unfortunately, the Census Bureau did not create a table for detailed place of birth at the county level in 1950. More recent years tend to have more tables and more detailed breakdowns. For example, 1990 includes a very detailed place of birth table (for foreign born individuals). It is also worth noting that place of birth tables are usually separated by foreign versus native born, and Puerto Rico is considered a native birth place while Cuba is not, so you will not likely find tables that include both Puerto Rico and Cuba.
I’m sorry I don’t have better news.