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Census Bureau chief defends new privacy tool against critics
The U.S. Census Bureau’s chief is defending a new tool meant to protect the privacy of people participating in the agency’s questionnaires against calls to abandon it by prominent researchers and demographers.
Wild retains US House seat for Democrats in Pennsylvania
Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, of Pennsylvania, is returning to Congress for a third term following her reelection win over a Republican who runs a manufacturing business.
Hurricane hit areas led US with missing 2020 census data
Two Louisiana parishes devastated by two hurricanes and two rural Nebraska counties had among the highest rates of households with missing information about themselves during the 2020 census that required the U.S. Census Bureau to use a statistical technique to fill in gaps.
Report: Some census takers who fudged data didn't get fired
A watchdog group has determined that some census takers who falsified information during the 2020 census didn’t have their work redone fully, weren’t fired in a timely manner and in some cases even received bonuses.
House OKs bill to curb political interference with census
The House has passed legislation on a party-line vote that aims to make it harder for future presidents to interfere in the once-a-decade headcount that determines political power and federal funding.
Unwed couples grew, US was more wired in COVID's 1st years
During the first two years of the pandemic, the number of people working from home tripled, home values grew and the percentage of people who spend more than a third of their income on rent went up.
AP interview: Census director aims to restore trust in count
The next U.S. census isn’t until 2030, but already Census Bureau leaders are looking for ways to adapt to a roiled civic climate that only seems to be getting more contentious.
Chinatown fears community, business loss in 76ers arena plan
Organizers and members of Philadelphia's Chinatown say they were surprised by the 76ers' announcement that they hope to build a $1.3 billion arena just a block from the community’s gateway arch.
Bill attempts to prevent political meddling in US head count
A U.S. Census Bureau director couldn’t be fired without cause and new questions to a census form would have to be vetted by Congress under proposed legislation that attempts to prevent in the future the type of political interference into the nation’s head count that took place during the Trump administration.
Arizona county had largest white, Black, Hispanic growth
Metro Phoenix’s Maricopa County had among the biggest growth in white, Black and Hispanic residents last year, as well as the biggest increase overall of any U.S. county.
Feds taking first steps toward revising race, ethnic terms
The federal government is taking preliminary steps toward revising racial and ethnic classifications that haven't been changed in a quarter century following calls for better categories for how people identify themselves in federal data gathering.
In 2 states, 1 in 20 residents missed during US head count
Around 1 in 20 residents in Arkansas and Tennessee were missed during the 2020 census, and four other U.S. states had significant undercounts of their populations which could shortchange them of federal funding in the current decade.
EXPLAINER: Why some states still lack new voting districts
Campaigns for Congress are underway for this year’s elections, but lingering disagreements over the final shape of new voting districts have left some candidates — and would-be candidates — in limbo.
Gov. DeSantis vetoes Florida redistricting maps, calls for special legislative session
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he has formally vetoed the redistricting maps approved by the Florida legislature, prompting him to call for a special session to redraw the maps again.
Time to retool census? Some think so after minorities missed
Policymakers and demographers have been asking whether it's time to rethink the census after results released last week that showed Black, Hispanic and American Indian residents were undercounted in greater rates in 2020 than a decade ago.
US Black population: The biggest growth is in smaller cities
The largest African American growth in pure numbers over the past decade didn’t take place in traditional hubs of Black life such as Atlanta or Houston, but rather in smaller cities with lower profiles.
Native Americans fret as report card released on 2020 census
The U.S. Census Bureau will release reports Thursday that show how good of a job the agency believes it did in counting every U.S. resident during the 2020 census.
New Census director has faith in quality of 2020 numbers
The new U.S. Census Bureau director says he is listening to the concerns of data users and policymakers, and the agency is making permanent community outreach efforts, in an effort to restore any trust that was lost following attempts by the Trump administration to politicize the nation’s head count.
Survey: Parents increased quality time at pandemic's start
A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that parents shared more meals and spent more quality time together with their children at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic than they had in previous years.
People, homes vanish due to 2020 census' new privacy method
A statistical method used by the U.S. Census Bureau for the first time in 2020 to protect confidentiality has made people and occupied homes vanish, at least on paper, when they actually exist in the real world.
Illinois Dems embrace gerrymandering in fight for US House
In the fight to keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats need help from the few places where state lawmakers can make 2022 difficult for Republicans.
Researchers worry about Census' gap in 2020 survey data
Researchers are worried about coronavirus-related disruptions to one of the U.S. Census Bureau’s most important surveys about how Americans live, saying a gap in the 2020 data will make it more difficult to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and measure year-to-year changes.
In South Texas, aging water system meets growing population
Designed more than a century ago, the Rio Grande Valley’s canal system in South Texas was built to irrigate the booming agricultural industry that once dominated the local economy.
Texas GOP advances new maps that would tighten slipping grip
Texas lawmakers are on the brink of finishing redrawn U.S. House maps that would shore up their eroding dominance as voters peel away from the GOP in the state’s booming suburbs.
Puerto Rico ponders race amid surprising census results
The number of people in Puerto Rico who identified as “white” in the most recent census plummeted almost 80%, sparking a conversation of identity on an island breaking away from a past where race was not tracked and seldom debated in public.
Census ponders producing less granular data in next release
U.S. Census Bureau officials are pondering whether to produce less granular data in the next release of 2020 census data, dealing with housing and family relationships.
Report: Births decline in pandemic may have turned corner
While there has been a decline in births in the U.S. during the pandemic, a new report suggests the drop may have turned a corner last March as births started rebounding.
Census: Relief programs staved off hardship in COVID crash
Massive government relief passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic moved millions of Americans out of poverty last year, even as the official poverty rate increased slightly.
Census experts find no political influence in state totals
A task force of outside experts has found no evidence of political interference in the 2020 census numbers used for divvying up congressional seats among the U.S. states.
Texas GOP bets on hard right turn amid changing demographics
Republicans in America’s largest conservative state for years racked up victories under the slogan “Keep Texas Red,” a pledge to quash a coming blue wave that Democrats argued was inevitable given shifting demographics.
Texas GOP bets on hard right turn amid changing demographics
Republicans in America’s largest conservative state for years racked up victories under the slogan “Keep Texas Red,” a pledge to quash a coming blue wave that Democrats argued was inevitable given shifting demographics.
Proposed deal could end fight over 2020 census documents
A House oversight committee and the Commerce Department have reached an understanding that could resolve a lawsuit filed after the Trump administration ignored subpoenas for records on 2020 census operations.
After census, citizens panels seek sway in redistricting
New population data from the 2020 census is being used by citizens commissions in some states to try to influence the way voting districts are redrawn for the U.S. House and state legislatures.
Multiracial boom reflects US racial, ethnic complexity
Growth in the number of people who identified as multiracial on 2020 census responses soared over the last decade, rising from under 3% to more than 10% of the U.S. population.
Florida census numbers set stage for redrawing congressional districts
Months overdue, key U.S. Census numbers were released Thursday that will allow Florida lawmakers to begin the process of redrawing congressional and legislative districts for the state’s 21.5 million residents.
Republicans reap biggest redistricting edge in decades, AP reports
An Associated Press analysis shows that Republicans have benefited from the biggest political advantage in decades because of potential gerrymandering in U.S. House districts and state legislative boundaries.
Census: 1 in 5 dorms, prisons had no data at end of US count
By the end of the U.S. head count last year, the Census Bureau lacked data for residents in almost a fifth of the nation's occupied college dorms, nursing homes and prisons.
Watchdog: Little help from Trump officials in census probe
A watchdog agency investigating the origins of a failed attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census form was unable to question top Trump administration officials because they either refused to cooperate or set unacceptable interview terms.
Biden's Census nominee promises independence, transparency
President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. Census Bureau has told a Senate committee that he'd bring transparency and independence to the nation’s largest statistical agency.