A Profile Of Americans, According To The Census

Among adults, 97 million Internet users sought news online in 2005, 92 million purchased a product and 91 million made a travel reservation. About 16 million used a social or professional networking site and 13 million created a blog.

The portrait of the American people is drawn from 1,376 tables in the Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States. The Statistical Abstract includes topics as diverse as condo and mobile home sales to new tables on alternative work schedules and the North American cruise industry. Overall, the book features more than 1,400 tables and charts on social, political and economic facts about the United States, and the latest available international statistics.

A few other selected statistics:

• In 2005, homeowners spent $159.5 billion on home improvements and repairs, with $133.7 billion going to contractors. (Table 968)
• In 2005, residents of 3.7 million of the nation's 109 million occupied housing units were bothered by odors in their neighborhood, and people in 1.4 million homes said it smelled so bad they wanted to move. (Table 963)
• There were 3.5 million U.S. millionaires in 2001, more than a half million of them (572,000) in California and about 3,000 in Vermont. (Table 700)
• "More Americans were born in 2004 than in any years except 1960 and 1990. Meanwhile, the national divorce rate, 3.7 divorces per 1,000 people, was the lowest since 1970. Among the states, Nevada still claims the highest divorce rate, which slipped to 6.4 per 1,000 in 2004 from 11.4 per 1,000 in 1990, just ahead of Arkansas's rate." (The New York Times)
• "One thing Americans produce more of is solid waste - 4.4 pounds per day, up from 3.7 pounds in 1980." (The New York Times)

Thanks to Ashwani Vasishth