U.S. Census of Population and Housing  

Why the U.S. Census of Population and Housing?

• Constitutional requirement that every person in nation be counted at least once every 10 years beginning in 1790;
• Primary purpose of the census is to provide population counts for reapportionment in determining number of representatives in the House of Representatives;
• Primary source of data for small geographic areas;
• Many Federal programs distribute funds based upon data from the census, i.e., population, income and employment.

This is what you'll find in the different tabs of this guide:

• Decennial Census: finding data and statistics from the censuses that have been conducted in the USA every ten years since 1790.
• Intercensal Years: finding data and statistics gathered between the decennial censuses.
• Search: search functions targeted towards census-related web sites, data catalogs, etc.
• Guides: companion information for getting the most out of the Census data resources: terminology, geography, etc.

What you won't find in this guide:

• Resources for genealogical research (finding individuals in the census); for that type of census research, consult this brief guide.