By the numbers Survey shows what Americans do, where they go

WASHINGTON -- Americans are on the road more than ever. Drivers in a typical household log enough miles every year to travel between New York and Los Angeles almost eight times -- 21,200 miles.

On those road trips, they might snack on cheese. Americans consume almost 31 pounds of it a year. Lots of people -- almost 29 million -- try to burn off those calories by joining health clubs.

Those and myriad other facts and figures can be found in the latest edition of the Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States, a 1,000-page tome on life in America.

"It's Uncle Sam's almanac," said Glenn King, the bureau economist who oversees production of the annual compendium.

The tables are compiled from government and private sources, and range from the serious -- 9 percent of high school students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in 2001 -- to the sublime -- about one-quarter of Americans visited an art museum at least once in 2002.

Some other tidbits:

When it comes to home prices, the West isn't best. Existing one-family homes in the West sold for a median price of $234,200 last year, while the national median was $170,000.

Americans are nuts about cheese. The 31 pounds eaten per person in 2002 was up about 75 percent from 1980. Mozzarella is hot -- the average person eats nearly 10 pounds per year, triple the amount two decades ago. But the "big cheese" on the block remains good old American -- we eat about 13 pounds of it a year.

Health experts point to regular physical activity as the key to losing weight and keeping it off. The top sporting activity for Americans? "Exercise walking," done by 82 million people in 2002. Camping, swimming and exercising with equipment were the next most popular activities.

That's partly a reflection of the decades-long trend of people moving farther away from their jobs to find larger or more affordable homes, said Alan Pisarski, author of "Commuting in America." Plus, more families own two or more cars.

"And as many jobs move out to the 'burbs to be near the workers, that gives the opportunity for workers to move even farther out," Pisarski said. The average drive to work one-way is about 12 miles.

The Statistical Abstract includes new tables each year to keep up with Americans' changing habits. Among the new items this year is data on where people performed volunteer work last year: 35 percent at religious organizations, 27 percent for school or youth services, and 12 percent social or community service.

Short on holiday stocking stuffers? Softbound and hardcover abstracts an be obtained by calling the U.S. Government Printing Office at (202) 512-1800 or the National Technical Information Service at (800) 553-6847.

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On the Net:

Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/