President Biden Joe Biden speaks at a Hispanic Heritage Month 2022 reception at the White House. Just who counts as ‘Hispanic’ in the U.S. is an open question.
Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Countries across the Americas are tweaking their census to better understand their population, allowing them to create more responsive policies. The US still has a ways to go.
Census takers went door to door in 2020, as in past years, seeking to make the count as accurate as possible.
AP Photo/John Raoux
When the Census Bureau’s count of the population is inaccurate, it affects representation and government spending. Correcting errors isn’t always allowed.
This electromechanical machine, used in the 1890 U.S. census, was the first automated data processing system.
Niall Kennedy/Flickr
As the country grew, each census required greater effort than the last. That problem led to the invention of the punched card – and the birth of an industry.
The seats in the House chamber will be filled according to elections in the 50 states.
U.S. House of Representatives
The US Census Bureau has announced which states will gain and lose representation in Congress as a result of the 2020 census. Here’s how it makes the calculations.
A small sliver of a congressional district in Pennsylvania crossed four counties, on a map that was ruled to be a partisan gerrymandering plan.
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
Robin E. Best, Binghamton University, State University of New York e Steve B. Lem, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
When voters in November pick among the candidates for state legislatures, they are choosing the people who will make the new electoral maps for congressional elections.
Community groups, like this one in Phoenix, have been working to get people of color to contribute their information to the census.
AP Photo/Terry Tang
The census will likely count fewer Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, Asian Americans and Americans of Hispanic or Latino origin than there actually are.
The pandemic has stretched out the amount of time the census is being conducted, contributing to worries over accuracy.
Kena Benakur/AFP via Getty Images
Emily Klancher Merchant, a historian of science and technology at the University of California at Davis, shares some of the most interesting stories behind the 2020 census questionnaire
A Seattle man wearing a mask walks past posters encouraging participation in the 2020 Census.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
It’s important to strike a balance between protecting Americans’ privacy and having accurate statistics for governments and businesses to make data-based decisions.
Census Campaign executive director Victoria Kovari looks over a Detroit map showing city neighborhoods that were undercounted in the 2010 census.
AP Photo/Corey Williams
Rebecca Tippett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
How accurate will the 2020 census be? A demographer explains which communities are hard to count, how the coronavirus could affect the process and what’s at stake.
Undocumented immigrants are at risk of an undercount in 2020.
U.S. Census Bureau
Rebecca Tippett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The 2020 census will now count some groups differently than it has in the past. That could make a difference in the final count – affecting which states receive funding and congressional seats.
Howard University students moving out of dorms in Washington.
Patrick Semansky/AP Photo
Census data are used to determine federal funding on everything from highway construction to poverty services. With many students heading back to their parents’ homes, college towns may take a hit.
Alaska Native girls prepare to dance in honor of the beginning of the 2020 Census in rural Alaska. The Census count begins in this state out of necessity and tradition.
AP Images/Gregory Bull