America by the Numbers
Poppy
'Uncle Sam's Almanac' Provides Yearly Snapshot of the Average American
By GENARO C. ARMAS, AP
WASHINGTON (Dec. 9) - Americans are on the road more than ever. Drivers
in a typical household log enough miles every year to travel between
New York and Los Angeles almost eight times - 21,200 miles.
On those road trips, they might snack on cheese. Americans consume
almost 31 pounds of it a year. Lots of people - almost 29 million -try
to burn off those calories by joining health clubs.
Those and myriad other facts and figures can be found in the latest
edition of the Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United
States, a 1,000-page tome on life in America.
"It's Uncle Sam's almanac," said Glenn King, the bureau economist who
oversees production of the annual compendium.
The tables are compiled from government and private sources, and range
from the serious - 9 percent of high school students reported being
threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in 2001 - to the
sublime - about one-quarter of Americans visited an art museum at least
once in 2002.
Some other tidbits:
Americans like to keep it short on their cell phones: Last year, the
average call lasted 2.87 minutes, while the average monthly bill was
$49.91.
When it comes to home prices, the West isn't best. Existing one-family
homes in the West sold for a median price of $234,200 last year, while
the national median was $170,000.
Americans are nuts about cheese. The 31 pounds eaten per person in 2002
was up about 75 percent from 1980. Mozzarella is hot - the average
person eats nearly 10 pounds per year, triple the amount two decades
ago. But the "big cheese" on the block remains good old American - we
eat about 13 pounds of it a year.
Some folks lay off cheese as part of their diet. In 2002, 58 percent of
persons age 18 and older were above a healthy weight and 23 percent
were considered obese.
Health experts point to regular physical activity as the key to losing
weight and keeping it off. The top sporting activity for Americans?
"Exercise walking," done by 82 million people in 2002. Camping,
swimming and exercising with equipment were the next most popular
activities.
On average, drivers in a U.S. household got behind a steering wheel for
21,188 miles in 2001, up roughly 75 percent since 1977.
That's partly a reflection of the decades-long trend of people moving
farther away from their jobs to find larger or more affordable homes,
said Alan Pisarski, author of "Commuting in America." Plus, more
families own two or more cars.
"And as many jobs move out to the 'burbs to be near the workers, that
gives the opportunity for workers to move even farther out," Pisarski
said. The average drive to work one-way is about 12 miles.
The Statistical Abstract includes new tables each year to keep up with
Americans' changing habits. Among the new items this year is data on
where people performed volunteer work last year: of the 63.8 million
volunteers, 35 percent at religious organizations, 27 percent for
school or youth services, and 12 percent social or community service.
Short on holiday stocking stuffers? An abstract costs $35 for a
softbound edition and $39 for hardcover, and can be obtained by calling
the U.S. Government Printing Office at 202-512-1800 or the National
Technical Information Service at 800-553-6847.
12/09/04 01:56 EST