United States census

The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 under Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. There have been 23 federal censuses since that time.^[1] The census includes territories of the United States.^[2] The United States Census Bureau is responsible for conducting the census.

United States census

Decennial

4600 Silver Hill Rd.
Suitland, Maryland 20746

United States

August 2, 1790 (1790-08-02)

April 1, 2020 (2020-04-01)

April 1, 2030 (2030-04-01)

www.census.gov

The most recent national census took place in 2020; the next census is scheduled for 2030. Since 2013, the Census Bureau began discussions on using technology to aid data collection starting with the 2020 census.^[3] In 2020, every household received an invitation to complete the census over the Internet, by phone or by paper questionnaire.^[4]^[5] For years between the decennial censuses, the Census Bureau issues estimates made using surveys and statistical models, in particular, the Population Estimates Program and American Community Survey.

The United States census is distinct from the Census of Agriculture, which is no longer the responsibility of the Census Bureau. It is also distinct from local censuses conducted by some states or local jurisdictions.

Legal basis[edit]

The U.S. census is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, which states: "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States... according to their respective Numbers... . The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years".^[a]^[1] Section 2 of the 14th Amendment amended Article I, Section 2 to include that the "respective Numbers" of the "several States" will be determined by "counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed." The United States Census Bureau (officially the Bureau of the Census, as defined in Title 13 U.S.C. § 11) is responsible for the United States census. The Bureau of the Census is part of the United States Department of Commerce.

Title 13 of the United States Code governs how the census is conducted and how its data are handled. Information is confidential as per 13 U.S.C. § 9. The census law, coupled with the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (Title 18 of the United States Code, Sections 3551, 3559, and 3571), provides for penalties of up to $5,000 for not responding or for willfully providing false answers to any question.

Apportionment of federal funding in a large number of programs, estimated at somewhere between $675 billion and $1.5 trillion per year.

[10]

Infrastructure and

transportation planning

Military and disaster response planning

Economic analysis

Commercial investment and marketing decisions

Computer programs that can disambiguate place names based on which has the highest population

General reference works

In addition to its primary purpose of reapportioning the House of Representatives, census data are used for a wide variety of applications, including:

known as "Mr. Census" for having worked as an enumerator on every census from 1960 to 2020

Norman K. Brown

(CDP), a populated community that lacks a separate municipal government

Census-designated place

(CSA), an area that combines adjacent μSAs and MSAs

Combined statistical area

DUALabs

state-level U.S. census data, 1790–2020, in table form

List of U.S. states by historical population

Race and ethnicity in the United States census

State censuses in the United States of America

(MSA), an area that includes adjacent communities to major cities

United States metropolitan area

(μSA), an urban area based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999

United States micropolitan area

The American Census: A Social History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-04014-8

Anderson, Margo J.

Anderson, Margo J. The American Census: A Social History, Second Edition. New Haven: , 2015. ISBN 978-0-300-19542-2

Yale University Press

Anderson, Margo J. Encyclopedia of the U.S. Census. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2000. 1-56802-428-2.

ISBN

Dorman, Robert L. "The Creation and Destruction of the 1890 Federal Census", American Archivist, 71 (Fall–Winter 2008), 350–83.

Krüger, Stephen. "The Decennial Census", , (Fall 1991); available at HeinOnline (subscription required)

19 Western State University Law Review 1

Ruggles, Steven, Diana L Magnuson. 2020. "", Journal of American History 107(1): 19–51.

Census Technology, Politics, and Institutional Change, 1790–2020

Schor, Paul. Counting Americans: How the US Census Classified the Nation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Lavin, Michael R. "Understanding the Census: A Guide for Marketers, Planners, Grant Writers, and Other Data Users". Kenmore, NY: Epoch Books, 1996. 0-89774-995-2.

ISBN

U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. . 2002

Measuring America: the decennial censuses from 1790 to 2000

U.S. Census Bureau official website

Historical Census of Population and Housing reports

a main source for freely downloading census data for the period 1790 through the present

National Historical Geographic Information System

the main source for census microdata for the period 1850 through the present

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series

from the Social Science Data Analysis Network

CensusScope

from the University of Virginia Library

Historical U.S. Census Browser

from CensusFinder.com.

Census Findings – Questions Asked in Each Census Year

from HowStuffWorks, Inc.

How the Census Works

from MIT Libraries

United States census