U.S. Statistics

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28-12-00 2000 Census Results Released December 28, 2000

The population of the United States is more than 281 million people, as announced by the U.S. Census Bureau December 28. The total has increased 13.2 percent from the last official census conducted in 1990.

U.S. law requires a census be taken every ten years, an undertaking that's been performed every decade since 1790. It forms the basis for determining how the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are equitably distributed among the 50 states. The census also is critical in determining how federal funds are distributed to states and localities.

The detailed data sought from census participants about age, education, income, family size and households are also used for a variety of academic and analytical endeavors conducted by both government and the private sector. In a brief statement issued upon receiving the 2000 information, President Clinton called the census, "the longest continuous scientific effort in American democracy."

The 2000 census reveals significant regional shifts in population that will change the number of representatives some states hold in the U.S. Congress. The Census Bureau press release reports that the Southern and Western regions gained the most citizens.

Media reports following the announcement indicate the population shifts will mean a two-seat gain in the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas, but a two-seat loss for New York and Pennsylvania. As many as 12 other states will be affected by the new census totals, with a gain or loss of a single congressional seat.

State legislatures will work in the next year to re-draw the boundary lines for congressional districts so that each representative will have about 647,000 constituents.

Following is the text of the Census Bureau announcement:

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NEWS
ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS ADMINISTRATION

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

DECEMBER 28, 2000

Census 2000 Shows Resident Population of 281,421,906; Apportionment Counts Delivered to President

The Commerce Department's Census Bureau released today the first results from Census 2000, showing the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, was 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 persons counted during the 1990 census.

"The participation by the people of this country in Census 2000 not only reversed a three decade decline in response rates, but also played a key role in helping produce a quality census," said Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta. Robert Shapiro, under secretary for economic affairs, echoed Mineta. "Consistently on time and under budget, Census 2000 has been the largest and one of the most professional operations run by government," he said, adding that its conduct had "set a standard for future censuses in the 21st century."

The U.S. resident population includes the total number of people in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The most populous state in the country was California (33,871,648); the least populous was Wyoming (493,782). The state that gained the most numerically since the 1990 census was California, up 4,111,627. Nevada had the highest percentage growth in population, climbing 66.3 percent (796,424 people) since the last census.

Regionally, the South and West picked up the bulk of the nation's population increase, 14,790,890 and 10,411,850, respectively. The Northeast and Midwest also grew: 2,785,149 and 4,724,144.

Additionally, the resident population of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was 3,808,610, an 8.1 percent increase over the number counted a decade earlier.

Prior to this announcement, Mineta, Shapiro and Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt transmitted the Census 2000 apportionment counts to President Clinton three days before the December 31 statutory deadline required by Title 13 of the U.S. Code.

The apportionment totals transmitted to the President were calculated by a congressionally-defined formula, in accordance with Title 2 of the U.S. Code, to reapportion among the states the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The apportionment population consists of the resident population of the 50 states, plus the overseas military and federal civilian employees and their dependents living with them who could be allocated to a state. Each member of the House represents a population of about 647,000. The populations of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are excluded from the apportionment population because they do not have voting seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prewitt noted that since 1790, the first census, "the decennial count has been the basis for our representative form of government. At that time, each member of the House represented about 34,000 residents," Prewitt said. "Since then, the House has more than quadrupled in size, and each member represents about 19 times as many constituents."

President Clinton is scheduled to transmit the apportionment counts to the 107th Congress during the first week of its regular session in January. The reapportioned Congress, which will be the 108th, convenes in January 2003.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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