United States Census Bureau
(
1903 Establishments In Washington, D.c.
)
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce and its director is appointed by the president of the United States. Currently, Ron S. Jarmin is the acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau's primary mission is conducting the U.S. census every ten years, which allocates the seats of the U.S. House of Representatives to the states based on their population. The bureau's various censuses and surveys help allocate over $675 billion in federal funds every year and it assists states, local communities, and businesses in making informed decisions. The information provided by the census informs decisions on where to build and maintain schools, hospitals, transportation infrastructure, and police and fire departments.
In addition to the decennial census, the Census Bureau continually conducts over 130 surveys and programs a year, including the American Community Survey, the U.S. Economic Census, and the Current Population Survey.USCB DOC-D1026 QVC Manual 01/03/09 The U.S. Economic Census occurs every five years and reports on American business and the American economy in order to plan business decisions. Furthermore, economic and foreign trade indicators released by the federal government typically contain data produced by the Census Bureau.
Legal mandate
In addition, census data directly affects how more than $400 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education, transportation and more. The Census Bureau is mandated with fulfilling these obligations: the collecting of statistics about the nation, its people, and economy. The Census Bureau's legal authority is codified in Title 13 of the United States Code.
The Census Bureau also conducts surveys on behalf of various federal government and local government agencies on topics such as employment, crime, health, consumer expenditures, and housing. Within the bureau, these are known as "demographic surveys" and are conducted perpetually between and during decennial (10-year) population counts. The Census Bureau also conducts economic surveys of manufacturing, retail, service, and other establishments and of domestic governments.
From 1790 through 1840, the census was taken by marshals of the judicial districts. The Census Act of 1840 established a central office which became known as the Census Office. Several acts followed that revised and authorized new censuses, typically at the 10-year intervals. In 1902, the temporary Census Office was moved under the Department of Interior, and in 1903 it was renamed the Census Bureau under the new Department of Commerce and Labor. The department was intended to consolidate overlapping statistical agencies, but Census Bureau officials were hindered by their subordinate role in the department." History: 1900 Overview". US Census Bureau. .
An act in 1920 changed the date and authorized manufacturing censuses every two years and agriculture censuses every 10 years. In 1929, a bill was passed mandating the House of Representatives be reapportioned based on the results of the 1930 census. History 1920. . US Census Bureau. In 1954, various acts were codified into Title 13 of the U.S. Code. History 1954. . US Census Bureau.
By law, the Census Bureau must count everyone and submit state population totals to the U.S. president by December 31 of any year ending in a zero. States within the Union receive the results in the spring of the following year.
Regional divisions used by the United States Census Bureau:
The current system was introduced for the 1910 census, but other ways of grouping states were used historically by the Census Bureau. The first of these was introduced after the 1850 census by statistician and later census superintendent J. D. B. De Bow. He published a compendium where the states and territories were grouped into five "great divisions", namely the Middle, New England, the Northwestern, the Southern, and the Southwestern great divisions. Unsatisfied with this system, De Bow devised another one four years later, with states and territories grouped into an Eastern, Interior, and Western "great section", each divided into a northern and southern half called "divisions".
In the following decades, several other systems were used, until the current one was introduced in 1910. This system has seen only minor changes: New Mexico and Arizona were both added to the Mountain division upon statehood in 1912, the North region was divided into a Northeast and a North Central region in 1940, Alaska and Hawaii were both added to the Pacific division upon statehood in 1959, and the North Central region was renamed the Midwest in 1984. Statistical Groupings of States and Counties (PDF)
The bureau cannot share responses, addresses or personal information with anyone, including the United States or foreign governments, or law enforcement agencies such as the IRS or the FBI or Interpol. ; Only after 72 years does the information collected become available to other agencies or the general public. Seventy-two years was picked because usually by 72 years since the census is taken, most participants would be deceased.
Despite these guarantees of confidentiality, the Census Bureau has some history of disclosures to other government agencies. In 1918, the Census Bureau released individual information regarding several hundred young men to the Justice Department and Selective Service system for the purpose of prosecutions for draft evasion. During World War II, the United States Census Bureau assisted the government's Japanese American internment efforts by providing confidential neighborhood information on Japanese-Americans. The bureau's role was denied for decades but was finally proven in 2007.
United States census data are valuable for the country's political parties; Democrats and Republicans are highly interested in knowing the accurate number of persons in their respective districts. These insights are often linked to financial and economic strategies that are central to federal, state and city investments for locations of particular populations. Such apportionments are designed to distribute political power across neutral spatial allocations; however,
Such political tensions highlight the complexity of identity and classification; some argue that unclear results from the population data One frequently used example includes ambiguous ethnic counts, which often involves underenumeration and/or undercounting of minority populations. Ideas about race, ethnicity and identity have also evolved in the United States, and such changes warrant examination of how these shifts have impacted the accuracy of census data over time.
The United States Census Bureau began pursuing technological innovations to improve the precision of its census data collection in the 1980s. Robert W. Marx, the Chief of the Geography Division of the USCB, teamed up with the U.S. Geological Survey and oversaw the creation of the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) database system. Census officials were able to evaluate the more sophisticated and detailed results that the TIGER system produced; furthermore, TIGER data is also available to the public. And while the TIGER system does not directly amass demographic data, as a geographic information system (GIS), it can be used to merge demographics to conduct more accurate geospatial and mapping analysis.
In July 2019, the Census Bureau stopped releasing new data via American FactFinder, which was decommissioned in March 2020 after 20 years of being the agency's primary tool for data dissemination. The new platform is data.census.gov.
Surveys conducted between decades:
The Census Bureau headquarters has been in Suitland, Maryland, since 1942. A new headquarters complex completed there in 2007 supports over 4,000 employees.
The bureau operates regional offices in six cities:
New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles. The National Processing Center is in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Additional temporary processing facilities facilitate the decennial census, which employs more than a million people. The cost of the 2000 census was $4.5 billion. During the years just prior to the decennial census, parallel census offices, known as "Regional Census Centers" are opened in the field office cities. The decennial operations are carried out from these facilities. The Regional Census Centers oversee the openings and closings of smaller "Area Census Offices" within their collection jurisdictions. In 2020, Regional Census Centers oversaw the operation of 248 Area Census Offices, The estimated cost of the 2010 census is $14.7 billion.
On January 1, 2013, the Census Bureau consolidated its twelve regional offices into six. Increasing costs of data collection, changes in survey management tools such as laptops and the increasing use of multi-modal surveys (i.e. internet, telephone, and in-person) led the Bureau to consolidate. The six regional offices that closed were Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City and Seattle. The remaining regional offices are New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles.
The Census Bureau also runs the Census Information Center cooperative program that involves 58 "national, regional, and local non-profit organizations". The CIC program aims to represent the interests of underserved communities.
72-year rule
Data collection
Census regions and divisions
+ U.S. Census Bureau Regional Divisions Mid-Atlantic West North Central East South Central West South Central Pacific States
History
Uses of census data
Census data is used to determine how seats of Congress are distributed to states. Census data is not used to determine or define race genetically, biologically or anthropologically. The census data is also used by the Bureau to obtain a real-time estimate in U.S. and World Population Clock. Only peoples whose live in the 50 states and within the District of Columbia are included in the estimation.
Data stewardship
Ongoing surveys
Other surveys conducted
Organizational structure
Computer equipment
Handheld computers
Security precautions
Success and failure
Research studies
Notable figures
See also
External links
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> PDF of Availability of Census Records About Individuals
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> PDF of Letter from Census Bureau Director, Roy V. Peel to Archivist of the United States, Wayne C. Grover, concerning the 72-year lapse between collection and release of decennial census records
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> PDF of Letter from Archivist of the United States, Wayne C. Grover to Census Bureau Director Roy V. Peel, in reply to Peel's August 1952 letter
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