(2019) More than 300 million people live in the United States and getting an accurate count of each and every one of them is no easy feat. As the U.S. population has grown—from just under 4 million in 1790 to more than 329 million in 2019—the Census Bureau’s enumeration methods (how they count people) have evolved to adapt to new technologies, increase efficiency and accuracy, and help to control rising costs.
The first nation in the world to take a regular population census, the United States has been counting its population every 10 years since 1790—as required by the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 2).
(2020) Census operations are changing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Census Bureau announced on June 18, 2020, that it is reaching out to colleges and universities with significant off-campus student populations to help ensure they are counted in the right place in the 2020 Census.
Project: American Community Survey and Decennial Census Support Services
The addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census may put almost one in 10 U.S. households and nearly 45 million people at greater risk of not being counted―the question has been shown to reduce response rates. Undercount risk is particularly high among young children.
The 2020 Census count of people experiencing homelessness takes place in the middle of peak wildfire and hurricane seasons—and the coronavirus pandemic—making a complicated process even more challenging.
Project: Center for Public Information on Population Research (CPIPR)
The mortality rate for Black Americans in non-pandemic years is higher than the mortality rate for white Americans who died from COVID-19 and all other causes in 2020.
After delays due to the pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau has finally released a new batch of data from the 2020 Census. While the Demographic and Housing Characteristics data isn’t a current snapshot, it still gives us the most comprehensive and granular information available for the U.S. population.
The COVID pandemic impeded data collection for the United States’ premier survey of local communities. How can we measure a changing America?
(2020) The world is better equipped to fight a pandemic today than it was in 1918, when influenza swept the globe and infected up to one-third of the world’s population.1 While science and medical advances have given us new advantages in fighting disease, some demographic trends since 1918 may increase the risk for spreading contagions and our vulnerability to viruses.