The census aims to provide a complete count of the U.S. population along with demographic data.[1] The 2020 census was conducted by the United States Census Bureau. The Bureau is a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce and is overseen by the Economics and Statistics Administration. Statistical information on the population collected through the census every 10 years is used for congressional apportionment and the distribution of federal funds, among other uses.[2] For example, 10 states lost seats and eight states gained seats in the U.S. House of Representatives following the 2010 census.
The decennial census is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, and a census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2020 census was the 24th conducted.[3]
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced in March 2018 that it would include a question on the 2020 census asking about respondents' citizenship status. Following a series of legal challenges, President Donald Trump (R) announced on July 11, 2019, that his administration was ceasing efforts to add a citizenship question to the census. On July 21, 2020, Trump signed a memorandum directing the secretary of commerce to exclude people living in the country illegally from the population count used for congressional apportionment. That memorandum was superseded by an executive order from President Joe Biden (D) directing the secretary of commerce to include people living in the country illegally in the final apportionment report. Read more below.
On January 27, 2021, Kathleen Styles, a Census Bureau official, announced that the bureau intended to deliver its final apportionment report by April 30, 2021. The Census Bureau later announced that it would deliver redistricting data to the states by September 30, 2021 (and, by the terms of a settlement agreement between the Census Bureau and the state of Ohio, the Census Bureau agreed to release redistricting data in a legacy format by August 16, 2021). On April 26, 2021, the Census Bureau released apportionment counts and state-level population data. See below for complete details. On August 12, 2021, the Census Bureau released block-level data, which included county-level demographic information.[4][5][6] The agency was originally scheduled to deliver apportionment counts from the 2020 census to the president of the United States by December 31, 2020, and redistricting data to the states by March 30, 2021.[7]
On April 26, 2021, the Census Bureau released congressional apportionment counts and state-level population data. See the map and table below for further information.
Congressional apportionment after the 2020 census | ||||
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State | 2020 population | Post-2020 apportionment[8] | Post-2010 apportionment[9] | Net change, 2010 to 2020 |
Alabama | 5,030,053 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
Alaska | 736,081 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Arizona | 7,158,923 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
Arkansas | 3,013,756 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
California | 39,576,757 | 52 | 53 | -1 |
Colorado | 5,782,171 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
Connecticut | 3,608,298 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Delaware | 990,837 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Florida | 21,570,527 | 28 | 27 | 1 |
Georgia | 10,725,274 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
Hawaii | 1,460,137 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Idaho | 1,841,377 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Illinois | 12,822,739 | 17 | 18 | -1 |
Indiana | 6,790,280 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
Iowa | 3,192,406 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Kansas | 2,940,865 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Kentucky | 4,509,342 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Louisiana | 4,661,468 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Maine | 1,363,582 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Maryland | 6,185,278 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
Massachusetts | 7,033,469 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
Michigan | 10,084,442 | 13 | 14 | -1 |
Minnesota | 5,709,752 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
Mississippi | 2,963,914 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Missouri | 6,160,281 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
Montana | 1,085,407 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Nebraska | 1,963,333 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Nevada | 3,108,462 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
New Hampshire | 1,379,089 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
New Jersey | 9,294,493 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
New Mexico | 2,120,220 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
New York | 20,215,751 | 26 | 27 | -1 |
North Carolina | 10,453,948 | 14 | 13 | 1 |
North Dakota | 779,702 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Ohio | 11,808,848 | 15 | 16 | -1 |
Oklahoma | 3,963,516 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Oregon | 4,241,500 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Pennsylvania | 13,011,844 | 17 | 18 | -1 |
Rhode Island | 1,098,163 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
South Carolina | 5,124,712 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
South Dakota | 887,770 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Tennessee | 6,916,897 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
Texas | 29,183,290 | 38 | 36 | 2 |
Utah | 3,275,252 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Vermont | 643,503 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Virginia | 8,654,542 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
Washington | 7,715,946 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
West Virginia | 1,795,045 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
Wisconsin | 5,897,473 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
Wyoming | 577,719 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The dates of key developments in the conduct of the 2020 census are provided below in reverse chronological order.
For a detailed timeline covering challenges to the proposed citizenship question on the 2020 census, click here.
The proposed timeline below, from the U.S. Census Bureau website, highlights key projected dates and activities in the development of the census from 2019 through 2020. The image to the right shows the census process from 2013 through 2021; click on the image to enlarge.
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The Census Bureau estimated that 95 percent of households would receive mailed invitations to participate in the census, almost 5 percent would receive an invitation from a census taker (such as households where mail is not delivered), and less than 1 percent would have residents counted in person (including households in rural Maine and Alaska). Most households were invited to participate online, with paper questionnaires only sent if no online response was received after follow-up attempts.[19]
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bureau asked Congress to delay the deadline for delivering apportionment counts to the president to April 30, 2021, and for releasing counts to the states to July 31, 2021. The Bureau also proposed ending its count by October 31, 2020. Congress did not pass legislation changing the statutory deadlines. The Bureau stated it would aim to meet the original statutory deadlines and that it would cease counting on September 30.[7][20]
On September 3, the National Urban League filed an emergency request on behalf of several challengers requesting a court order to extend census counting through October. On September 5, Judge Lucy Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order to stop the Bureau from winding down its count.[20] On September 24, Koh issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Bureau to continue counting until October 31. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal on September 25.[21]
On October 13, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an emergency order granting the U.S. Department of Commerce's request to pause the lower court decision that required the population count to continue through October 31 while the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit looks at the case. The order was unsigned, with the exception of a dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.[22]
The Bureau had published the following proposed adjustments on June 16, 2020:[23]
As a result of the aforementioned operational and timeline adjustments, the U.S. Census Bureau did not deliver apportionment counts to President Donald Trump (R) by December 31, 2020. According to reporting by the Associated Press, the bureau was expected to deliver the counts "in early 2021, as close to the missed deadline as possible."[24]
On January 27, 2021, Kathleen Styles, a Census Bureau official, announced that the bureau intended to deliver its final apportionment report by April 30, 2021. Styles also said the bureau hoped to release redistricting data after July 31, 2021.[6] On February 12, 2021, the Census Bureau announced that it would deliver redistricting data to the states by September 30, 2021. The Census Bureau later announced it would release redistricting data in a legacy format in mid-to-late August, a timeline that was confirmed in a settlement agreement between the Census Bureau and the state of Ohio. Under the terms of that settlement agreement, the Census Bureau agreed to release the redistricting data, in a legacy format, by August 16, 2021.[5]
On August 5, 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it would deliver redistricting data, in a legacy format, on August 12, 2021.[11]
Census results are used to determine congressional apportionment (how many seats in the U.S. House of Representatives a state has). Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution requires that congressional representatives be apportioned to the states on the basis of population. Consequently, a state may gain seats in the United States House of Representatives if its population grows or lose seats if its population decreases, relative to populations in other states. There are 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Several states also use census data for state legislative apportionment.[25]
Census results also affect the number of electoral votes states have in presidential elections, as the number of Electoral College votes allocated to each state is the same as its number of U.S. representatives plus two for its two U.S. senators.[26]
In 1964, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Wesberry v. Sanders that the populations of House districts must be equal "as nearly as practicable."[27][28][29] Each state has its own procedures for drawing congressional and state legislative district lines. Click here for more information on how each state draws its district lines.
At the end of 2019, the Census Bureau released population estimates for all 50 states as of July 1, 2019.[30] Based on the data, several outlets released projections of which states may gain or lose congressional seats, and how many, following the 2020 census. Two projections are shown in the table below.
The two outlets used different methods. The Wall Street Journal analyzed what congressional apportionment would look like if it were based on 2019 population data.[31] Election Data Services, which describes itself as "a political consulting firm specializing in redistricting, election administration, and the analysis and presentation of census and political data," used trend data from 2011-2019, 2015-2019, 2017-2019, and 2018-2019. Each of Election Data Services' data sets yielded the same projection for state gains and losses.[32][33]
Neither outlet projected changes in apportionment for states not included in the tables below.
States projected to gain seats | |||
---|---|---|---|
State | Wall Street Journal (based on 2019 estimates) | Election Data Services (based on trend data) | |
Arizona | +1 | +1 | |
Colorado | +1 | +1 | |
Florida | +1 | +2 | |
Montana | +1 | +1 | |
North Carolina | +1 | +1 | |
Oregon | +1 | +1 | |
Texas | +2 | +3 |
States projected to lose seats | |||
---|---|---|---|
State | Wall Street Journal (based on 2019 estimates) | Election Data Services (based on trend data) | |
Alabama | No projected change | -1 | |
California | -1 | -1 | |
Illinois | -1 | -1 | |
Michigan | -1 | -1 | |
Minnesota | -1 | -1 | |
New York | -1 | -1 | |
Ohio | No projected change | -1 | |
Pennsylvania | -1 | -1 | |
Rhode Island | -1 | -1 | |
West Virginia | -1 | -1 |
Following the 2010 census, 10 states lost seats in the U.S. House and eight states gained seats. The map and table below show the number of seats lost or gained by those states. If a state is not listed below, its number of seats remained constant between census apportionment cycles.[34]
Apportionment after the 2010 census | |||
---|---|---|---|
States that lost seats | States that gained seats | ||
Illinois (-1) | Arizona (+1) | ||
Iowa (-1) | Florida (+2) | ||
Louisiana (-1) | Georgia (+1) | ||
Massachusetts (-1) | Nevada (+1) | ||
Michigan (-1) | South Carolina (+1) | ||
Missouri (-1) | Texas (+4) | ||
New Jersey (-1) | Utah (+1) | ||
New York (-2) | Washington (+1) | ||
Ohio (-2) | |||
Pennsylvania (-1) |
After the 2000 census, 10 states lost U.S. House seats and eight states gained seats.[34]
Apportionment after the 2000 census | |||
---|---|---|---|
States that lost seats | States that gained seats | ||
Connecticut (-1) | Arizona (+2) | ||
Illinois (-1) | California (+1) | ||
Indiana (-1) | Colorado (+1) | ||
Michigan (-1) | Florida (+2) | ||
Mississippi (-1) | Georgia (+2) | ||
New York (-2) | Nevada (+1) | ||
Ohio (-1) | North Carolina (+1) | ||
Oklahoma (-1) | Texas (+2) | ||
Pennsylvania (-2) | |||
Wisconsin (-1) |
Following the 1990 census, 13 states lost U.S. House seats and eight states gained seats.[35]
Apportionment after the 1990 census | |||
---|---|---|---|
States that lost seats | States that gained seats | ||
Illinois (-2) | Arizona (+1) | ||
Iowa (-1) | California (+7) | ||
Kansas (-1) | Florida (+4) | ||
Kentucky (-1) | Georgia (+1) | ||
Louisiana (-1) | North Carolina (+1) | ||
Massachusetts (-1) | Texas (+3) | ||
Michigan (-2) | Virginia (+1) | ||
Montana (-1) | Washington (+1) | ||
New Jersey (-1) | |||
New York (-3) | |||
Ohio (-2) | |||
Pennsylvania (-2) | |||
West Virginia (-1) |
The map and table below present changes in each state's population between the 2010 census and July 1, 2020, estimates by the Census Bureau.[36]
2010-2020 population changes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
State | 2010 census population | July 1, 2020, population estimate | Raw change | Percentage change |
Alabama | 4,779,736 | 4,921,532 | 141,796 | 2.97% |
Alaska | 710,231 | 731,158 | 20,927 | 2.95% |
Arizona | 6,392,017 | 7,421,401 | 1,029,384 | 16.10% |
Arkansas | 2,915,918 | 3,030,522 | 114,604 | 3.93% |
California | 37,253,956 | 39,368,078 | 2,114,122 | 5.67% |
Colorado | 5,029,196 | 5,807,719 | 778,523 | 15.48% |
Connecticut | 3,574,097 | 3,557,006 | -17,091 | -0.48% |
Delaware | 897,934 | 986,809 | 88,875 | 9.90% |
District of Columbia | 601,723 | 712,816 | 111,093 | 18.46% |
Florida | 18,801,310 | 21,733,312 | 2,932,002 | 15.59% |
Georgia | 9,687,653 | 10,710,017 | 1,022,364 | 10.55% |
Hawaii | 1,360,301 | 1,407,006 | 46,705 | 3.43% |
Idaho | 1,567,582 | 1,826,913 | 259,331 | 16.54% |
Illinois | 12,830,632 | 12,587,530 | -243,102 | -1.89% |
Indiana | 6,483,802 | 6,754,953 | 271,151 | 4.18% |
Iowa | 3,046,355 | 3,163,561 | 117,206 | 3.85% |
Kansas | 2,853,118 | 2,913,805 | 60,687 | 2.13% |
Kentucky | 4,339,367 | 4,477,251 | 137,884 | 3.18% |
Louisiana | 4,533,372 | 4,645,318 | 111,946 | 2.47% |
Maine | 1,328,361 | 1,350,141 | 21,780 | 1.64% |
Maryland | 5,773,552 | 6,055,802 | 282,250 | 4.89% |
Massachusetts | 6,547,629 | 6,893,574 | 345,945 | 5.28% |
Michigan | 9,883,640 | 9,966,555 | 82,915 | 0.84% |
Minnesota | 5,303,925 | 5,657,342 | 353,417 | 6.66% |
Mississippi | 2,967,297 | 2,966,786 | -511 | -0.02% |
Missouri | 5,988,927 | 6,151,548 | 162,621 | 2.72% |
Montana | 989,415 | 1,080,577 | 91,162 | 9.21% |
Nebraska | 1,826,341 | 1,937,552 | 111,211 | 6.09% |
Nevada | 2,700,551 | 3,138,259 | 437,708 | 16.21% |
New Hampshire | 1,316,470 | 1,366,275 | 49,805 | 3.78% |
New Jersey | 8,791,894 | 8,882,371 | 90,477 | 1.03% |
New Mexico | 2,059,179 | 2,106,319 | 47,140 | 2.29% |
New York | 19,378,102 | 19,336,776 | -41,326 | -0.21% |
North Carolina | 9,535,483 | 10,600,823 | 1,065,340 | 11.17% |
North Dakota | 672,591 | 765,309 | 92,718 | 13.79% |
Ohio | 11,536,504 | 11,693,217 | 156,713 | 1.36% |
Oklahoma | 3,751,351 | 3,980,783 | 229,432 | 6.12% |
Oregon | 3,831,074 | 4,241,507 | 410,433 | 10.71% |
Pennsylvania | 12,702,379 | 12,783,254 | 80,875 | 0.64% |
Rhode Island | 1,052,567 | 1,057,125 | 4,558 | 0.43% |
South Carolina | 4,625,364 | 5,218,040 | 592,676 | 12.81% |
South Dakota | 814,180 | 892,717 | 78,537 | 9.65% |
Tennessee | 6,346,105 | 6,886,834 | 540,729 | 8.52% |
Texas | 25,145,561 | 29,360,759 | 4,215,198 | 16.76% |
Utah | 2,763,885 | 3,249,879 | 485,994 | 17.58% |
Vermont | 625,741 | 623,347 | -2,394 | -0.38% |
Virginia | 8,001,024 | 8,590,563 | 589,539 | 7.37% |
Washington | 6,724,540 | 7,693,612 | 969,072 | 14.41% |
West Virginia | 1,852,994 | 1,784,787 | -68,207 | -3.68% |
Wisconsin | 5,686,986 | 5,832,655 | 145,669 | 2.56% |
Wyoming | 563,626 | 582,328 | 18,702 | 3.32% |
The Census Bureau states that the population count on the decennial census along with demographic breakdowns by sex, race, age, and other factors is the basis for "distributing more than $675 billion in federal funds annually to support states, counties and communities’ vital programs — impacting housing, education, transportation, employment, health care and public policy."[37]
The 2020 census was the first in which people had the option to respond online. Participants could also respond over the phone or by mail on a paper questionnaire. Households received invitations to participate by April 1, 2020.[38]
As of April 2019, the 2020 census was estimated to cost $15.6 billion, compared to $12.3 billion (in 2020 dollars) in 2010.[39] The Bureau offered the following breakdown of 2020 cost estimates compared to 2010, along with a consideration of contingency funds, on June 10, 2019:
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The actual cost of the 2010 Census in 2020 inflation-adjusted dollars was $92 per housing unit, while Congress appropriated $106 per housing unit. Comparatively, the 2020 Census, as currently designed, is expected to cost $108 per housing unit in 2020 inflation-adjusted dollars including usage of all estimated contingency and $87 per housing unit without estimated contingency. The level of contingency funds ultimately required to conduct a 2020 Census of the highest quality will determine whether the actual inflation-adjusted cost per housing of the 2020 Census is higher or lower than that of the 2010 Census. To optimize operational efficiency while maintaining quality, the Census Bureau will conduct the most automated, modern, and dynamic decennial census in history.[40][18] |
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On July 21, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) signed a memorandum directing the secretary of commerce to exclude people living in the country illegally from the population count used for congressional apportionment. A panel of three federal judges blocked the memo on September 10, 2020.[41]
The memo referred to data on citizenship Trump directed executive departments and agencies to share with the department of commerce in 2019. The memo said, "Current estimates suggest that one State is home to more than 2.2 million illegal aliens, constituting more than 6 percent of the State’s entire population. Including these illegal aliens in the population of the State for the purpose of apportionment could result in the allocation of two or three more congressional seats than would otherwise be allocated."[42]
Common Cause filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on July 23. The complaint read, "This new policy flouts the Constitution’s plain language, which states that '[r]epresentatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state,' excluding only 'Indians not taxed.' ... It also flies in the face of the statutory scheme governing apportionment, which requires the President to include 'the whole number of persons in each State' in the apportionment base—again, excluding only 'Indians not taxed.'"
A group of 20 states and 15 cities filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on July 24. The lawsuit said, "For 150 years — since the United States recognized the whole personhood of those formerly bound in slavery — the unambiguous requirement that all persons be counted for apportionment purposes, regardless of immigration status, has been respected by every executive official, every cabinet officer, and every President. Until now."[43]
California filed a separate lawsuit on July 28.[44]
On September 10, a three-judge panel blocked Trump's memo, ruling that it violated a law that the commerce secretary send a single tabulation to the president. The panel also said that "so long as they reside in the United States, illegal aliens qualify as ‘persons in’ a ‘State’ as Congress used those words."[41]
On September 16, the Department of Justice gave notice that it was appealing the panel's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.[45] The Supreme Court issued its ruling on December 18, finding that "judicial resolution of this dispute is premature."[46][47]
On January 13, 2021, NPR reported that the U.S. Census Bureau had "halted all work on President Trump's directive to produce a state-by-state count of unauthorized immigrants." This largely rendered moot legal challenges to Trump's directive.[48]
On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) issued an executive order directing the Secretary of Commerce to include in the final apportionment report the "tabulation of total population by State that reflects the whole number of persons whose usual residence was in each State as of the designated census date in section 141(a) of title 13, United States Code, without regard to immigration status." This effectively overturned Trump's earlier directive to the contrary.[49]
Trump announced on July 11, 2019, that his administration was ceasing efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Instead, Trump issued an executive order directing federal government agencies to provide citizenship information to the United States Department of Commerce. Trump issued the executive order in response to the United States Supreme Court's June 27 ruling in Department of Commerce v. New York, which held that the Trump administration's decision to add a citizenship question to the census was constitutional, but that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' rationale for the decision was inconsistent with the administrative record. The justices remanded the case to the agency for further review.
Before the United States Supreme Court's decision, three federal district judges had blocked the citizenship question from appearing on the 2020 census forms. The judges ruled separately that the agency process resulting in the addition of the question on the census violated administrative procedure under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), that the question would hinder the federal government's duty under the U.S. Constitution's Enumeration Clause to count every individual living in the United States, and that Ross' decision to add the question violated the Census Act.
Click here for a timeline of challenges to the citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. census.
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