Metarea in 1960: Any updates?

USA
1

Hello,

I apologize for the redundancy in this question, but are there any updates on when metarea will be made available in the 1960 Census microdata?

Thanks in advance,

Mitch

2

IPUMS-USA plans to release a 1960 5% sample by the end of 2015. This new sample will contain the METAREA geographic identifier.

Hope this helps.

3

Are there any other sources that we can derive this information from? Or is IPUMS the only one? I have a similar research need.

4

We are unaware of any alternate sources of 1960 Census microdata that identify metro areas; however, users can request access to the preliminary 1960 5% IPUMS file by emailing ipums@umn.edu. While the preliminary file does not contain the METAREA variable, it does provide the PUMA and Mini-PUMA geographies, which act as the building blocks for METAREA.

If summary tables are sufficient for your purposes, the Census provides a limited number of tables for Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, which can be accessed in PDF format here. As well, we are currently working with the Census Bureau to recover lost data from the 1960 Census of Population and Housing. This will allow us to offer new summary tables through the NHGIS website, including 1960 metropolitan area summary tables. We anticipate these new tables will be released in the near future.

Hope this helps.

5

I’m sorry if my question is redundant. I know there is now the updated 1960 version available. However, the METAREA is in all cases “not identified”. Is there a way to convert/cross-walk the MINI-Puma to the METAREA variable?

Thanks,
Nick