Key Data Sources

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a survey conducted by the US Census Bureau. It uses a series of monthly samples to produce annually updated data for the same small areas (census tracts and block groups) formerly surveyed via the decennial census long-form sample. Initially, 5 years of samples will be required to produce these small-area data. Once the Census Bureau has collected 5 years of data, new small-area data will be produced annually. The Census Bureau also will produce 3-year and 1-year data products for larger geographic areas. The ACS includes people living in both housing units (HUs) and group quarters (GQs). The ACS is conducted throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico.

The BRFSS is an ongoing, monthly, state-based telephone survey of the adult population. The survey provides state-specific information on behavioral risk factors and preventive health practices. Major changes to BRFSS survey methods began in 2011, meaning that comparison of data prior to 2011 to that after 2011 is not recommended. BRFSS data may be accessed in numerous ways, including Nebraska Public Health Atlas and CDC’s Places.

Historically, this report was published annually and contained state as well as county-level data on child abuse and neglect; more recent reports do not contain county-level data. Data for this report represents the information that is entered in the NFocus (Nebraska Family Online Client User System) information system.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue compiles and reports municipal sales tax data for cities in Nebraska. Data presented are from the City Sales Tax History (historical) file.

County Health Rankings and Roadmaps is a source that provides measures of health for counties across the US. The annual data release is compiled from a variety of national and state data sources. Select measures, based on a conceptual model of population health, are standardized and combined using scientifically-informed weights to provide nearly all counties with overall measures of local Health Factors and Health Outcomes.

CrimeStats is a source for accessing crime data from law enforcement agencies in Nebraska. Law enforcement agencies report arrest and offense data either in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) format or the Nebraska Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) format. Offense data are based upon crimes reported or known to law enforcement. In UCR, offense data are collected on eight crimes: Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Assault, Burglary, Larceny, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson. Homicide is broken down into: Criminal Homicide and Death by Negligence. Assault is broken down into: Aggravated Assault and Simple Assault. An arrest is counted each time a person is taken into custody or issued a citation or summons. In the case of a juvenile (defined as under the age of 18) an arrest is counted when they are merely warned and released without any further action. While an individual may be charged with multiple crimes at the time of arrest, only one arrest is counted. An arrest is counted for the most serious charge at the time of the arrest. While law enforcement agencies are required to submit monthly reports, not every agency does. Therefore, the data presented may be underreported for some jurisdictions.

Dodge County Head Start, like all Head Start programs, collects data to ensure program quality. Data may be collected using a range of strategies, and often use standardized assessment tools like the Teaching Strategies GOLD, which provides a visual representation of a child's development compared to their peers within the expected range.

Data was provided by the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority in response to a data request.

The US Department of Education began publicly releasing privacy-protected student assessment achievement data at the school and LEA level for many subgroups of students, including homeless students. These assessment data are available starting with SY 2009-10 on the EDFacts Initiative website. It was deemed that homeless student enrollment data would be valuable to the public, as well as to agencies and organizations serving homeless children and youth. ED finalized the privacy protection and data quality review methodology for this dataset and began releasing these LEA homeless student enrollment datasets in 2016, starting with SYs 2013-14 and 2014-15. Since then, ED has released the latest available files after they are certified by states in the late spring.

The HIC is a point-in-time inventory of provider programs within a Continuum of Care that provide beds and units dedicated to serve persons who are homeless, categorized by five program types: Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Rapid Re-housing, Permanent Supportive Housing, and Safe Haven.

The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program is a federal-state cooperative effort that produces monthly estimates of total employment and unemployment. These estimates are key indicators of local economic conditions. The concepts and definitions underlying LAUS data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey that is the official measure of the labor force for the nation.

Data and insights were provided upon request by Care Corps’ LifeHouse which provides emergency shelter, prevention services, and supportive housing programming to individuals and families in Dodge County.

Following elections in Nebraska, the Nebraska Secretary of State publishes voting data in this report.

The Nebraska Education Profile is the online portal that provides information and data about Nebraska public schools and student performance. The NEP highlights the performance of students by district and school building in reading, mathematics, writing, and science as well as performance by groups of students, including race and ethnicity, poverty, special education, and English Language Learners.

This report, published annually, provides state and national housing data. This data includes Fair Market Rent, which is typically the 40th percentile of gross rents for standard rental units of recent movers. FMRs are determined by HUD on an annual basis and reflect the cost of shelter and utilities. FMRs are used to determine payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher program and Section 8 contracts. It also includes data on the Average Renter Wage, which is the estimated mean hourly wage among renters, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, adjusted by the ratio of renter household income to the overall median household income reported in the ACS.

In October 2024, Fremont Public Schools shared aggregated student and teacher data. This data was drawn from the Fremont Public Schools Student Information System and the Nebraska Education Profile (NEP).

Nebraska statute requires that records of births and deaths be filed with the Vital Records Office in the Division of Public Health of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Historically, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services publicly reported county-level and state-level birth and death data in its annual Vital Statistics Report. However, since these reports have not been published since 2016, data was provided by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in response to a public records request.

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Program is a federal-state cooperative effort that produces a comprehensive tabulation of employment and wage information for workers covered by State unemployment insurance (UI) laws and Federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Publicly available files include data on the number of establishments, monthly employment, and quarterly wages, by NAICS industry, by county, by ownership sector, for the entire United States. These data are aggregated to annual levels, to higher industry levels (NAICS industry groups, sectors, and supersectors), and to higher geographic levels (national, State, and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).