Demographic Data in State and Local Policymaking

Dustin Cable, February 4, 2010

The American federal system is a sharing of power between federal, state, and local governments.  Despite the growing power of the federal government throughout the last century, state and local governments have considerable power and autonomy in shaping and implementing law.  State and local governments have the exclusive right to regulate commerce within their borders, conduct elections, and issue licenses; however, much of their power comes from shared powers with the federal government and implementing federal policies.

With their unique position within this system, the data needs of state and local governments often exceed the needs of federal agencies.  To highlight this, there are 50 state governments and over 87,000 thousand local entities, such as counties, school districts, cities, towns, and municipalities.  Even when one excludes the education and health systems, state and local governments employ four times as many civilians as the federal government, 70% of which are employed by local governments - mainly local police, fire, and other city workers.  Local demographic and workforce data, in particular, are crucial for these state and local entities to make sound policy and coordinate all public employees in enforcing and implementing those policies.  These data needs are often on top of what can be offered by federal decennial census data alone.

In particular, law enforcement at the state and local level demands large amounts of demographic data to coordinate activities.  Law enforcement responsibilities are shared between federal, state, and local entities, but local police and state troopers have the primary responsibility for public safety and for enforcing state and federal law.  Even drug trafficking, corporate crime, terrorism and other special types of crime that are under federal jurisdiction heavily rely on state and local resources for enforcement.  The data needs of all of these activities are immense, and demographic and workforce data in particular are crucial in allocating resources among policing entities throughout the country.  For example, demographic data gathered by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics is used by state and local entities to identify crime patterns in localities and shift policing resources.  In Virginia, each county or city receives its funding based on a formula that uses a combination of data on persons enrolled in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, persons in foster care, and population estimates derived by the Weldon Cooper Center.  Even sheriffs' salaries and other officers in the state criminal justice system are determined in part by the Weldon Cooper Center's population estimates.

Another example of the importance of demographic data for state and local governments is the American education system.  Although the federal Department of Education is responsible for broad education policy, the American education system is mostly a state and local responsibility.  For instance, funding the nation's schools is mostly done at the state and local level.  For the national average in 2005-2006 school-year, 34% of school revenues came from local property taxes with another 10% coming from other local sources.  State funds account for about 45% of school revenues with the federal government funding at only 9%.   These numbers vary significantly from school district to school district and from state to state.  For instance, some localities have a greater ability to raise local funds from property taxes and are able to provide nearly all of the revenues for their schools, while other districts may receive most of their funds from federal and state sources.  Generally, whatever cannot be raised locally is covered by the state and federal sources.  States often use local demographic and household data to estimate a school district's need for state and federal funds and assign scores for districts based on their estimated ability to raise revenues on their own.  Local property values, household income, racial demographics, and other data are crucial towards distributing these state and federal funds.  Virginia uses a "composite index" for school districts to determine funding allocations.  Real estate values, gross income, and population estimates derived by the Weldon Cooper Center are all factors that go into calculating composite indices and allocating funds.

In summary, the American federal system relies upon all governmental entities having accurate, timely, and readily accessible demographic data to coordinate the multitude of activities required to make, implement, and enforce law.  In addition to the federal decennial census, sound population estimates, school enrollment projections, and other demographic data produced by states and localities are often a prerequisite for responsible governing and policy making.  The Weldon Cooper Center and its Demographics and Workforce Group help to fulfill these data needs for Virginia's statewide and local entities.