2020 United States census

The 2020 United States census was the 24th time the United States counted its people. The special day used for counting, called Census Day, was April 1, 2020. This census was special because, for the first time, people could answer questions online or by phone, not just on paper.

The census happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made things a little harder. It found that 331,449,281 people lived in the 50 states and Washington, D.C.. This was an increase of 7.4%, or about 22 million more people, compared to the last census in 2010. This growth rate was one of the smallest ever recorded.

The information from this census helped decide how many votes each state would have in the 2024 United States presidential election. It was also the first time that the ten biggest states each had more than ten million people, and the ten biggest cities each had more than one million people.

Background

The United States Constitution says that a census must happen every 10 years, and the first one was in 1790. The census before 2020 was done in 2010. Everyone in the U.S. who is 18 or older must answer questions truthfully, but private information is kept safe and won’t be shared.

On April 1, 2020, the day used as a reference for the census, the population of the United States was estimated to be about 329.59 million people. This was an increase of 6.76% from the census in 2010.

Purpose

See also: United States congressional apportionment

The 2020 census helped decide how many seats each state has in the House of Representatives. This also affects the number of electors each state has in the Electoral College for elections from 2022 to 2032.

The results were announced on April 26, 2021. Some states lost or gained seats in the House of Representatives. California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia each lost one seat. Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon each gained one seat. Texas gained two seats.

See also: 2020 United States redistricting cycle

Local leaders use census data to draw new boundaries for districts, including those for Congress, state governments, and schools.

Census data also help decide how over $675 billion in federal money is shared each year. This money supports roads, schools, hospitals, emergency services, and more for communities.

Major design changes

The 2020 census was the first U.S. census to let people answer online, in addition to the usual paper form and phone options. Every home that didn’t answer online got a paper form, and some areas that didn’t have good internet got paper forms right away.

The census also made it easier for people who don’t speak English to answer. They could choose from 12 other languages online or by phone, and there were guides in 59 languages to help. Instead of sending workers to walk every street to check addresses, the census used satellite pictures and GPS to find where new houses had been built. Workers only went to those places to check in person.

Census workers used special apps on iPhone 8 smartphones to get their work plans, visit homes, talk to their bosses, and send in reports. The software helped make sure they didn’t waste time and could fix problems right away. The census also used data from the government and other sources to learn about empty homes, the best time to visit, and details about people who didn’t answer after several tries.

Questions and data uses

The U.S. Census Bureau asked several important questions during the 2020 census to help count everyone accurately and support important government programs.

The questions included how many people lived at each address on April 1, 2020, whether homes were owned or rented, the age and gender of each person, their racial background, and their relationship to others in the household. This information helps plan services for families, children, older people, and ensures fair treatment for everyone under the law.

The Census Bureau also planned to add a new category for people from Middle Eastern and North African backgrounds but decided not to after discussions about how to best represent this group. All information shared with the census is kept private and protected by law.

The United States Census Bureau makes sure this information is used only for planning and support, never shared with other government agencies.

Timeline

The 2020 United States census was the 24th time the country counted its people. Census Day, the main day for the census, was April 1, 2020. This census was special because, for the first time, people could respond online or by phone, in addition to the usual paper form.

Key events included preparing area offices to help with the census, checking addresses using satellite images and postal records, and starting the count in remote Alaska. On April 1, 2020, households were invited to join the census online, by mail, or by phone. The counting continued through the year, with special efforts to count people experiencing homelessness. The census finished on October 16, 2020, and results were released over the following years, helping to update population data for the country.

Response rates

According to the Census Bureau, 60.0% of all U.S. households had submitted their census questionnaire by May 22, 2020—either online, by mail, or by phone. Most U.S. households were mailed an invitation letter between March 12–20 to self-respond. They account for more than 95% of all U.S. households.

By July 14, 2020, the self-response rate was 62.1% or 91,800,000 households. The self-response rate was 66.5% in 2010 and 67.4% in 2000. In an update published October 19, 2020, the Census Bureau stated 99.98% of addresses had been accounted for. Paper responses postmarked on or before October 15 would be processed, as long as they arrived at the processing center by October 22.

Marketing and partnerships

The 2020 United States census worked with many trusted people and groups to help everyone know about the census and encourage them to take part. Many local groups called "complete count committees" helped with these efforts across the country.

In August 2016, a company called VMLY&R became the main agency for the census campaign. They created a team to help reach different communities, including those that are harder to count. In March 2019, the campaign shared its tagline: "Shape your future. START HERE." This message was chosen because it was shown to encourage many people, including groups that are often missed in censuses.

Implementation problems

The company hired to make census forms went bankrupt shortly after getting the job, and oversight did not catch this early enough.

The coronavirus pandemic made it harder to count people, especially those without stable homes, delaying some work. Despite this, the goal was still to finish the count by the end of the year.

COVID-19 pandemic emergency

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau had to change its plans. On March 18, 2020, they announced that field work for the census would stop for two weeks until April 1, 2020. Later, they decided to stop in-person interviews for other surveys too.

The Census Bureau wanted to keep everyone safe, so they made sure staff had things like masks and ways to keep distance. They also asked Congress for more time to finish the census because of these changes. Instead of ending in October, they planned to finish collecting data by October 31, 2020. This extra time meant they could give results to the president by April 30, 2021, and send important data to states by September 30, 2021.

State rankings

City rankings

See also: List of United States cities by population

Citizenship question debate

The U.S. census helps decide how money and support is given to states. For many years, a question about citizenship was part of the census until it was removed in 1950. In 2018, officials at first said this question was not needed because other records could provide the same information more cheaply and accurately. However, the leader of the U.S. Department of Commerce decided to add a question about citizenship for the 2020 census anyway.

Many people and officials argued against adding this question. They worried it would make some people, especially immigrants, less likely to answer the census. This could lead to some states getting less money than they need. Several lawsuits were started to stop the question from being added. Some leaders even said the real reason for adding the question was to change voting maps in a way that would help certain political groups. The courts had to decide whether the question could be added, and there were many debates and decisions from different judges and courts about this issue.

Apportionment challenges

Some people argued about whether certain people should be counted in the census. In May 2018, the state of Alabama and one of its representatives, Mo Brooks, sued the government, saying that some people should not be counted. Other places, like San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, and King County, Washington, wanted to be counted.

In July 2020, President Trump signed a memo saying that some people should not be counted for deciding how many representatives each state gets. Many groups, including Common Cause and the city of Atlanta, sued to stop this. Courts looked at the issue and decided the matter was not ready for a full decision at that time.

The government also tried to finish the census early, but a judge said they needed to explain why. After some back-and-forth, the census continued until October 31, 2020, ending just before dawn on October 16.

Biden changes

When President Joe Biden first took office, he signed Executive Order 13986 on January 20, 2021. This order stopped using 2020 census data to count citizenship at a very detailed level in cities. He also changed a plan from the previous administration that would have left out people living in the country without permission when figuring out how many seats each state gets in Congress.

Differential privacy

Researchers said that the Census Bureau made some data less exact on purpose. They added extra details to protect people's private information, like their age or where they live. This change could make it hard to know the real numbers of small groups of people or the size of very small towns. For example, a tiny town in Nebraska was shown to have two people instead of one. This also made it harder to create fair voting districts.

Main article: differential privacy
Main articles: majority-minority districts

Accuracy

In March 2022, the Census Bureau shared estimates about how well the census counted different groups of people. They found that some groups, like Hispanic and Black people, were counted less often than they should have been. Other groups, like Asians and Non-Hispanic Whites, were counted a bit more often than they actually were.

The data also showed that some states had fewer people counted than they really had, while other states had more people counted than they really did. These differences help experts understand how to improve future censuses.