2010 Census

The Census Bureau estimates there will be more than 310 million people living in more than 130 million households across the country by 2010. Partnership is vital to accomplish the feat of counting every person living in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. island areas.

Even though there is an increasingly diverse population, a rise in immigration, and a record number of languages spoken by residents, the Census Bureau will mail or hand-deliver questionnaires to every household in the country to obtain an accurate population count in the next census.

With the 2010 Census only two years away, the U.S. Census Bureau has begun a communications campaign to encourage the most complete census ever.

“Census data drive reapportionment and redistricting decisions and directly affect the distribution of more than $300 billion in federal funding each year,” said Doug Palmer, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “In order to get money for public health, education, transportation, and much more, mayors across the country need to take the lead and work to get a complete count of their city’s population in 2010.”

“The Census Bureau has moved beyond being a ‘pen and paper’ census and is now utilizing new technology in order to improve the speed and accuracy of census operations in the field,” said Census Bureau Deputy Director Preston Jay Waite. “We are mandated by the Constitution to count the population every 10 years, and with the reengineering of the 2010 Census, we will be well equipped to fulfill this mandate.”

Dating back to the nation’s first census in 1790, the 2010 Census will have one of the shortest census questionnaires in the history of the United States. Asking only a few questions, including name, sex, age, race, ethnicity, relationship and whether you own or rent your home, the questionnaire will take respondents only about 10 minutes to fill out.

For more information, visit the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census webpage at http://www.census.gov/2010census/
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