United States Census
Encyclopedia
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
mandated by the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats (congressional apportionment
United States congressional apportionment
United States congressional apportionment is the process by which seats in the United States House of Representatives are redistributed amongst the 50 states following each constitutionally mandated decennial census. Each state is apportioned a number of seats which approximately corresponds to its...
), electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
(officially the Bureau of the Census, as defined in Title 13 U.S.C. § 11) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. Some states or local jurisdictions also conduct local censuses.
The census is performed by the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
. The first census after the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
was taken in 1790, under Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
; there have been 22 federal censuses since that time. The current national census was held in 2010 and the next census is scheduled for 2020. For years between the decennial censuses, the Census Bureau issues estimates made using surveys and statistical models, in particular, the American Community Survey
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey is an ongoing statistical survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, sent to approximately 250,000 addresses monthly . It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census...
.
Title 13 of the United States Code
Title 13 of the United States Code
Title 13 of the United States Code outlines the role of the United States Census in the United States Code.-External links:*, via United States Government Printing Office*, via Cornell University...
governs how the Census is conducted and how its data is handled. Included among the Title's important features are laws mandating confidentiality of information.
Decennial U.S. Census figures are based on actual counts of persons dwelling in U.S. residential structures. They include citizens, non-citizen legal residents, non-citizen long-term visitors and illegal immigrants
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
. The Census Bureau bases its decision about whom to count on the concept of usual residence. Usual residence, a principle established by the Census Act of 1790, is defined as the place a person lives and sleeps most of the time. The Census Bureau uses special procedures to ensure that those without conventional housing are counted; however, data from these operations are not considered as accurate as data obtained from traditional procedures. The practice of including non-citizens in the official census figures is controversial because the census is used for the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, and derived from that, of electors to the Electoral College. The Census also employs the practice of hot deck imputation
Imputation (statistics)
In statistics, imputation is the substitution of some value for a missing data point or a missing component of a data point. Once all missing values have been imputed, the dataset can then be analysed using standard techniques for complete data...
to assign data to housing units where occupation status is unknown. This practice has effects across many areas, but is seen by some as controversial because it may increase representation for reliably Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
districts. However, the practice was ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in Utah v. Evans
Utah v. Evans
Utah v. Evans, 536 U.S. 452 , was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the use of certain statistical techniques in the census....
. Groups like the Prison Policy Initiative
Prison Policy Initiative
The Prison Policy Initiative is a criminal justice oriented public policy think tank based in Easthampton, Massachusetts. It is a non-profit organization, designated 501 by the IRS...
assert that the census practice of counting prisoners as residents of prisons, not their pre-incarceration addresses, leads to misleading information about racial demographics and population numbers. Certain American citizens living overseas are specifically excluded from being counted in the census even though they may vote. Only Americans living abroad who are "Federal employees (military and civilian) and their dependents living overseas with them" are counted. "Private U.S. citizens living abroad who are not affiliated with the Federal government (either as employees or their dependents) will not be included in the overseas counts. These overseas counts are used solely for reapportioning seats in the U. S. House of Representatives."
History
Censuses had been taken prior to the Constitution's ratification; in the early 17th century, a census was taken in VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and people were counted in nearly all of the British colonies that became the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Throughout the years, the country's needs and interests became more complex. This meant that statistics were needed to help people understand what was happening and have a basis for planning. The content of the decennial census changed accordingly. In 1810, the first inquiry on manufactures, quantity and value of products occurred; in 1840, inquiries on fisheries were added; and in 1850, the census included inquiries on social issues, such as taxation, churches, pauperism, and crime. The censuses also spread geographically, to new states and territories added to the Union, as well as to other areas under U.S. sovereignty or jurisdiction. There were so many more inquiries of all kinds in the census of 1880 that almost a full decade was needed to publish all the results. In response to this, the census was mechanized in 1890, with tabulating machine
Tabulating machine
The tabulating machine was an electrical device designed to assist in summarizing information and, later, accounting. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census...
s made by Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM.-Personal life:Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New...
. This reduced the processing time to two and a half years.
For the first six censuses (1790–1840), enumerators recorded only the names of the heads of household and a general demographic accounting of the remaining members of the household. Beginning in 1850, all members of the household were named on the census. The first slave schedules were also completed in 1850, with the second (and last) in 1860. Censuses of the late 19th century also included agricultural and industrial schedules to gauge the productivity of the nation's economy. Mortality schedules (taken between 1850 and 1880) captured a snapshot of life spans and causes of death throughout the country.
The first nine censuses (1790–1870) were not managed by the Executive branch, but by the Judicial branch. The United States federal court districts assigned U.S. marshals, who hired assistant marshals to conduct the actual enumeration. The census enumerators were typically from the village or neighborhood and often knew the residents. Before enabling self-identification on the censuses, the US Census Bureau relied on local people to have some knowledge of residents. Racial classification was made by the census enumerator in these decades not by the individual.
| Num | Year | Date Taken | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1790 | August 2, 1790 | 3,929,326 | |
| 2 | 1800 | August 4, 1800 | 5,308,483 | |
| 3 | 1810 | August 6, 1810 | 7,239,881 | |
| 4 | 1820 | August 7, 1820 | 9,638,453 | |
| 5 | 1830 | June 1, 1830 | 12,866,020 | |
| 6 | 1840 | June 1, 1840 | 17,069,453 | The census estimated the population of the United States at 17,100,000. The results were tabulated by 28 clerks in the Bureau of the Census. |
| 7 | 1850 | June 1, 1850 | 23,191,876 | The 1850 census was a landmark year in American census-taking. It was the first year in which the census bureau attempted to record every member of every household, including women, children and slaves. Accordingly, the first slave schedules were produced in 1850. Prior to 1850, census records had only recorded the name of the head of the household and tabulated the other household members within given age groups. |
| 8 | 1860 | June 1, 1860 | 31,443,321 | The results were tabulated by 184 clerks in the Bureau of the Census. This was the first census where the American Indians officially were counted, but only those who had 'renounced tribal rules'. The figure for the nation was 40,000. |
| 9 | 1870 | June 1, 1870 | 39,818,449 | |
| 10 | 1880 | June 1, 1880 | 50,189,209 | This was the first census that permitted women to be enumerators. |
| 11 | 1890 | June 2, 1890 Taken one day late because June 1 was a Sunday. | 62,947,714 | Because it was believed that the frontier region of the United States no longer existed, the tracking of westward migration was not tabulated in the 1890 census. This trend prompted Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner was an American historian in the early 20th century. He is best known for his essay "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", whose ideas are referred to as the Frontier Thesis. He is also known for his theories of geographical sectionalism... to develop his milestone Frontier Thesis Frontier Thesis The Frontier Thesis, also referred to as the Turner Thesis, is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that the origin of the distinctive egalitarian, democratic, aggressive, and innovative features of the American character has been the American frontier experience... . The 1890 census was the first to be compiled on a tabulating machine Tabulating machine The tabulating machine was an electrical device designed to assist in summarizing information and, later, accounting. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census... , developed by Herman Hollerith Herman Hollerith Herman Hollerith was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM.-Personal life:Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New... . The introduction of this technology reduced the time taken to tabulate the census from seven years for the 1880 census to two and a half years for the 1890 census. The total population of 62,622,250 was announced after only six weeks of processing. The public reaction to this tabulation was disbelief, as it was widely believed that the "right answer" was at least 75,000,000. This census is also notable for the fact it is one of only three for which the original data is no longer available. Almost all the population schedules were destroyed following a fire in 1921. |
| 12 | 1900 | June 1, 1900 | 76,212,168 | |
| 13 | 1910 | April 15, 1910 | 92,228,496 | |
| 14 | 1920 | January 5, 1920 | 106,021,537 | This was the first census that recorded a population exceeding 100 million. |
| 15 | 1930 | April 1, 1930 In the Alaska Territory Alaska Territory The Territory of Alaska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 24, 1912, until January 3, 1959, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alaska... , census-taking began on October 1, 1929. |
122,775,046 | This is the most recent Census for which individuals' data have been released to the public. |
| 16 | 1940 | April 1, 1940 | 132,164,569 | Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2012. |
| 17 | 1950 | April 1, 1950 | 150,697,361 | Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2022. |
| 18 | 1960 | April 1, 1960 | 179,323,175 | Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2032. |
| 19 | 1970 | April 1, 1970 | 203,302,031 | Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2042. |
| 20 | 1980 | April 1, 1980 | 226,545,805 | Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2052. |
| 21 | 1990 | April 1, 1990 | 248,709,873 | Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2062. |
| 22 | 2000 | April 1, 2000 | 281,421,906 | Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2072. |
| 23 | 2010 | April 1, 2010 | 308,745,538 | For the first time since 1940, the 2010 Census is a short-form-only census, as the decennial long form has been replaced by the American Community Survey American Community Survey The American Community Survey is an ongoing statistical survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, sent to approximately 250,000 addresses monthly . It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census... .Because of a 72-year rule, this census will be available for public inspection on April 1, 2082. |
Respondent confidentiality
The principal purpose of the census is to divide the house seats by population. In addition, collected data is used in aggregate for statistical purposes. Replies are obtained from individuals and establishments only to enable the compilation of such general statistics. The confidentiality of these replies is very important. By law, no one neither the census takers nor any other Census Bureau employee is permitted to reveal identifiable information about any person, household, or business. Without such protections, those living illegally in the United States or hiding from the government would be deterred from submitting census data.Historical FBI use of data
Under the Roosevelt administrationRoosevelt Administration
There have been two Presidents of the United States with the surname "Roosevelt":*Theodore Roosevelt Administration, the 26th President of the United States, 1901 - 1909*Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration, the 32nd President of the United States, 1933 - 1945...
the FBI, using primarily census records, compiled (1939–1941) the Custodial Detention Index ("CDI") on citizens, enemy aliens, and foreign national
Foreign national
Foreign national is a term used to describe a person who is not a citizen of the host country in which he or she is residing or temporarily sojourning. In Canada, a foreign national is defined as someone who is not a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident of Canada...
s, who might be dangerous. The Second War Powers Act of 1941
War Powers Act of 1941
The War Powers Act of 1941, also known as the First War Powers Act, was an American emergency law that increased Federal power during World War II. The act was signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and put into law on December 18, 1941, less than two weeks after the Japanese attack on...
repealed the legal protection of confidential census data, which was not restored until 1947. This information facilitated the internment of Japanese-Americans
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
, following the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
attack on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on December 7, 1941 and the internment of Italian-
Italian American internment
Italian American internment refers to the internment of Italian Americans in the United States during World War II.-Terms:The term "Italian American" does not have a legal definition...
and German-Americans
German American internment
German American Internment refers to the detention of people of German citizenship in the United States during World War I and World War II.-Civilian internees:...
following the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's entry into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 1980, four FBI agents went to the Census Bureau's Colorado Springs office with warrants
Search warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
to seize Census documents, but were forced to leave with nothing. Courts upheld that no agency, including the FBI, has access to Census data.
Data analysis
The census records and data specific to individual respondents are not available to the public until 72 years after a given census was taken, but aggregate statistical data derived from the census are released as soon as they are available. The 72-year rule is not law, but a rule posed by Roy V. Peel, Census Bureau DirectorDirector of the United States Census Bureau
The Director of the Census Bureau is the chief administrator of the United States Census Bureau. The director is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate...
, in a letter to Wayne C. Grover
Wayne C. Grover
Wayne C. Grover served as Third Archivist of the United States.Grover joined the National Archives staff in 1935. During World War II he earned the Legion of Merit for the management of Army wartime records as chief of the Records Management Branch...
, Archivist
Archivist of the United States
The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The first Archivist, R.D.W. Connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archives was established as an independent federal agency by Congress...
, on August 26, 1952. Every census up to and including 1930 is currently available to the public and can be viewed on microfilm
Microform
Microforms are any forms, either films or paper, containing microreproductions of documents for transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about one twenty-fifth of the original document size...
released by the National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
, the official keeper of archived federal census records. Complete online census records can be accessed for no cost from National Archives facilities and many libraries, and a growing portion of the census is freely available from non-commercial online sources.
Census microdata
Microdata (statistics)
In the study of survey and census data, microdata is information at the level of individual respondents. For instance, a national census might collect age, home address, educational level, employment status, and many other variables, recorded separately for every person who responds; this is...
for research purposes are available for censuses from 1850 forward through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS
IPUMS
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series is the world's largest individual-level population database. IPUMS consists of microdata samples from United States and international census records...
), and scanned copies of each of the decennial census questionnaires are available online from many websites. Computerized aggregate data
Aggregate data
In statistics, aggregate data describes data combined from several measurements.In economics, aggregate data or data aggregates describes high-level data that is composed of a multitude or combination of other more individual data....
describing the characteristics of small geographic areas for the entire period from 1790 to 2000 are available from the National Historical Geographic Information System
National Historical Geographic Information System
The National Historical Geographic Information System is a historical GIS project to create and freely disseminate a database incorporating all available aggregate census information for the United States between 1790 and 2000...
.
Regions and divisions
The bureau recognizes four census regionRegion
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
s within the United States and further organizes them into nine divisions. These regions are groupings of states that subdivide the United States for the presentation of data. They should not be construed as necessarily being thus grouped owing to any geographical, historical, or cultural bonds.
| US Census Regions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1: Northeast Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New... | Region 2: Midwest Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest.... | Region 3: South Southern United States The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States... | Region 4: West Western United States .The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time... |
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See also
- Census-designated placeCensus-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP), a populated community that lacks a separate municipal government - Combined statistical areaCombined Statistical AreaThe United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...
(CSA), an area that combines adjacent µSAs and MSAs - DUALabsDUALabsDUALabs was the name of an American company that created and disseminated microdata and aggregate data files for the 1960 and 1970 censuses. The DUALabs 1960 census microdata file was noteworthy because it was designed to compatible with data from the 1970 census, allowing easy analysis of...
- List of U.S. states by historical population, state-level US Census data, 1790-2010, in table form
- Race and ethnicity in the United States Census
- United States metropolitan areaUnited States metropolitan areaIn the United States a metropolitan statistical area is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are not legally incorporated as a city or town would be, nor are they legal administrative divisions like...
(MSA), an area that includes adjacent communities to major cities - United States micropolitan areaUnited States micropolitan areaUnited States Micropolitan Statistical Areas , as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, are urban areas in the United States based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999. The micropolitan area designation was created in 2003...
(µSA), an urban area based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999
Further reading
- Anderson, Margo J. The American Census: A Social History. New Haven: Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 1988. ISBN 0300040148 - Anderson, Margo J. Encyclopedia of the U.S. Census. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2000. ISBN 1-56802-428-2.
- Dorman, Robert L., “The Creation and Destruction of the 1890 Federal Census,” American Archivist, 71 (Fall–Winter 2008), 350–83.
- Kruger, Stephen. "The Decennial Census", 19 Western State Law Review 1 (1981).
- Lavin, Michael R. "Understanding the Census: A Guide for Marketers, Planners, Grant Writers, and Other Data Users". Kenmore, NY: Epoch Books, 1996. ISBN 0-89774-995-2.
External links
- U.S. Census Bureau official website
- History of the U.S. Census Bureau
- Population Profile of the United States: 2000
- Population Profile of the United States: 2000 (format: Microsoft PowerPointMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
introductory slide show file) - Historical Census of Population and Housing reports
- Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, the main source for census microdataMicrodata (statistics)In the study of survey and census data, microdata is information at the level of individual respondents. For instance, a national census might collect age, home address, educational level, employment status, and many other variables, recorded separately for every person who responds; this is...
for the period 1850 through the present] - CensusScope, from the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN)
- Historical U.S. Census Browser, from the University of Virginia Library
- Census Findings - Questions Asked in Each Census Year, from CensusFinder.com.
- How the Census Works, from HowStuffWorks, Inc.
- Sources of U.S. Census Data, from MIT Libraries