This report presents data on selected social and economic characteristics of the population by type of residence (central cities, suburban areas, nonmetropolitan areas) for 1974 and 1970, from the March 1974 Current Population Survey (CPS) and from the one-in-one hundred sample of the 1970 Census of Population. The definition of metropolitan territory used in this report corresponds to that for the 243 standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSA's) used in the 1970 Census of Population. Since the 1970 census, an additional 25 SMSA's have been defined by the Office of Management and Budget, additional territory has been added to some existing SMSA's, and a few SMSA's have been consolidated. Data for this new metropolitan territory are included separately in this report, for both 1974 and 1970. Nonmetropolitan population characteristics are presented as well and data are also shown for groups of nonmetropolitan counties, based on the size of the largest place (incorporated city, town, borough) in the county. These groups are counties with no place of 2,500 or more population, counties with a place of 2,500 to 24,999 population, and counties with a place of 25,000 or more population.

The major subjects featured in this report are: population, marital status, household relationship, family size, migration, educational attainment, labor force status, occupation, industry, income and poverty. Most tables present data for the white and black populations, and selected tables have been repeated for the population of Spanish origin as well.