% Female*

About

Percentage of population identifying as female. The 2024 Annual Data Release used data from 2022 for this measure.

Understanding the percentage of the population that is female is important because of this group’s distinct health care needs. The health of this population can also impact the health of the next generation. The policies, practices, traditions and norms that shape how supports are distributed among women and men have a large impact on communities. Females are more likely than males to have income below the federal poverty line.1 This impacts opportunities for health because income provides access to essential goods and services including nutritious food, quality childcare and transportation.1 Systems of power such as racism, sexism and economic exploitation often interact and create layers of disadvantage for some and advantage for others. As a result, Black women and Native American women experience the largest burden of poor health outcomes compared to women in other racialized groups. Despite the systemic and structural forces that have been constructed to devalue women, women still have a longer life expectancy.2

Data and methods

Data Source

Census Population Estimates Program

The Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program (PEP) uses data on births, deaths, and migration to estimate population changes occurring since the most recent decennial census and produce a vintage, or annual time series of estimates. Each vintage includes the current data year and revised estimates for any earlier years since the last decennial census. 

Because each vintage of estimates includes all years since the most recent decennial census, the latest vintage supersedes all other estimates produced since the previous decennial census. 

See the Population Estimates Program methodology for statements and release notes for each vintage of population estimates. See the Limitations section for specific details pertaining to the current vintage year population estimates.

Website to download data
For more detailed methodological information

Key Measure Methods

% Female is a percentage

% Female is the percentage of the resident population identifying as female.

Numerator

The numerator is the number of resdients identifying as female.

Denominator

The denominator is the total county resident population.

The method for calculating % Female has changed

Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes to confidentiality protections for the 2020 decennial census, the 2020 census could not be used as the base population, or starting point, to estimate changes in the population. For the Vintage 2022 population estimates, the census created a Blended Base using 2020 census data, 2020 Demographic Analysis Estimates, and Vintage 2020 Population Estimates for April 1, 2020. At the national level, the age and sex characteristics for the Blended Base come from the 2020 Demographic Analysis Estimates. At the county level, age and sex estimates for the base population come from a blend of these three datasets.  

There were also methodological changes to the estimates of births, deaths, and migration, partially to adjust for the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.3

Caution should be used when comparing these estimates across years

The population estimates vintage data used for this measure include estimates for all years since the most recent decennial census and therefore supersede all previously produced estimates for those dates. For this reason, population and demographic estimates are best compared within the same vintage series. CHR&R data draw from the most recent vintage available each year and therefore include multiple vintage series over time. 

Measure limitations

The data for this measure come from the Population Estimates Program, which uses survey data from the decennial census and American Community Survey and administrative records such as birth and death certificates. The measure is subject to the limitations of these data sources. 

The decennial census only has two options for sex, male or female, and most states only allow the sexes male or female to be designated on birth certificates.4,5 As a result, population estimates are only created for two biological sexes, male and female. Biological sex is not the same as gender identity, and this measure does not capture gender.  

Finding More Data

Disaggregation means breaking data down into smaller, meaningful subgroups. Disaggregated data are often broken down by characteristics of people or where they live. Disaggregated data can reveal inequalities that are otherwise hidden. These data can be disaggregated by:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Subcounty Area

Population estimates are available by age, sex, race, and subcounty from the U.S. Census Bureau.

References

  1. Bleiweis R, Boesch D, Gaines AC. The basic facts about women in poverty. 2020. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/basic-facts-women-poverty/  
  2. Vespa J, Medina L, Armstrong DM. Demographic turning points for the United States: Population projections for 2020 to 2060. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau; 2020. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2020/demo/p25-1144.pdf  
  3. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program. Methodology for the United States population estimates: Vintage 2022. 2022. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/methodology/2020-2022/methods-statement-v2022.pdf
  4. U.S. Census Bureau. Decennial census of population and housing questionnaires & instructions: 2020 Census. 2021. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/technical-documentation/questionnaires.2020_Census.html  
  5. Srikanth, A. AMA doctors, experts recommend removing sex designation from birth certificates. Changing America. August 7, 2021. https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/566767-ama-doctors-experts-recommend-removing-sex-designation-from/