The U.S. Census Bureau provides the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico with population counts to use in their redrawing of congressional and state legislative district boundaries—a process known as “redistricting.”
The Census Bureau released these data on its public FTP site on August 12, 2021. The Census Bureau also released the same data in easier-to-use formats on September 16, 2021.
While the states are responsible for legislative redistricting, the Census Bureau provides the most accurate population counts possible for the geographic areas the states need.
The next 2020 Census results that we release will be counts for the U.S. Island Areas. Each decade, we work with the governments of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to count their populations. In the U.S. Island Areas, the census is also the opportunity to collect detailed demographic, social, economic and housing information (similar to what we collect stateside in the American Community Survey).
We plan to release population and housing unit counts for each Island Area this fall. Later, we plan to release even more detailed information for the Island Areas. We’ll update you as we finalize the schedule for these products.
Thursday, August 12, at 1 p.m. EDT
The U.S. Census Bureau held a news conference to discuss the release of the first local level results from the 2020 Census.
Note: Chapters/time stamps are available in the YouTube description.
Thursday, August 5, at 1 p.m. EDT
The U.S. Census Bureau held a briefing for national partners and stakeholders to share the latest 2020 Census updates ahead of the release of redistricting data.
(The national documentation is only for the limited set of geographic entities which cross state boundaries.)