A new startup airline is offering free round-trip tickets to anywhere to the first 600 people who enter the office on the airline's first day of business. You arrive 24 hours before they are scheduled to open to be sure to get the free tickets, and you buy food from vendors while waiting in line. The cost of the tickets to you is .

The cost of food and the time spent while waiting in line are the opportunity cost involved in the exploitation of the opportunity.

Explanation:

The question is about the costs associated with the exploitation of the opportunity. And concept of opportunity cost can be used to understand the how much an opportunity will cost in financial and non financial terms.

Here, in this question we see that the opportunity would cost me food (financial term) and the time that I will spend to wait for receiving the ticket (non financial item).

the u.s. census bureau produces data on the population and economy nationwide. it can you to analyze the kind of people living in your neighborhood. it does not show you the market of people willing to buy your product or an existing market for your product. that will require more market research. the census bureau only gives you an insight to the demographics in your area.