The data on value (also referred to as "price asked" for vacant units) were obtained from answers to long-form questionnaire Item 51, which was asked on a sample basis at owner-occupied housing units and units that were being bought, or vacant for sale at the time of enumeration. Value is the respondent's estimate of how much the property (house and lot, mobile home and lot, or condominium unit) would sell for if it were for sale. If the house or mobile home was owned or being bought, but the land on which it sits was not, the respondent was asked to estimate the combined value of the house or mobile home and the land. For vacant units, value was the price asked for the property. Value was tabulated separately for all owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale housing units, owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale mobile homes, and specified owner-occupied and specified vacant-for-sale housing units.
Specified owner-occupied and specified vacant-for-sale units
Specified owner-occupied and specified vacant-for-sale housing units include only 1-family houses on less than 10 acres without a business or medical office on the property. The data for "specified units" exclude mobile homes, houses with a business or medical office, houses on 10 or more acres, and housing units in multiunit buildings.
Median and quartile value
The median divides the value distribution into two equal parts: one-half of the cases falling below the median value of the property (house and lot, mobile home and lot, or condominium unit) and one-half above the median. Quartiles divide the value distribution into four equal parts. Median and quartile value are computed on the basis of a standard distribution (see the "Standard Distributions" section under "Derived Measures"). Median and quartile value calculations are rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. Upper and lower quartiles can be used to note large value differences among various geographic areas. (For more information on medians and quartiles, see "Derived Measures".)
To calculate aggregate value, the amount assigned for the category "Less than $10,000" is $9,000. The amount assigned to the category "$1,000,000 or more" is $1,250,000. Aggregate value is rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. (For more information on aggregates, see "Derived Measures".)
To calculate aggregate price asked, the amount assigned for the category "Less than $10,000" is $9,000. The amount assigned to the category "$1,000,000 or more" is $1,250,000. Aggregate price asked is rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. (For more information on aggregates, see "Derived Measures".)
In Census 2000, this question was asked on a sample basis. In previous decennial censuses, the question on value was asked on a 100-percent basis. In 1980, value was asked only at owner-occupied or vacant-for-sale 1-family houses on less than 10 acres with no business or medical office on the property and at all owner-occupied or vacant-for-sale condominium housing units. Mobile homes were excluded. Value data were presented for specified owner-occupied housing units, specified vacant-for-sale-only housing units, and owner-occupied condominium housing units.
Beginning in 1990, the question was asked at all owner-occupied or vacant-for-sale-only housing units with no exclusions. Data presented for specified owner-occupied and specified vacant-for-sale-only housing units include 1-family condominium houses but not condominiums in multiunit structures.