The census was developed in 1790 to provide politicians with an accurate count of the nation's population for apportioning representatives to Congress. The census is more than a bunch of numbers. The portion of that money your city gets depends on how many people the census finds there.
Businesses also rely on the census.
For example, supermarket managers use census data to decide how much ethnic food and produce to stock in their stores. Most important, the census can tell you almost anything you want to know about your community, from how fast it grew, to how ethnically diverse your block is, to how many grandparents are raising kids in your neighborhood. The easiest way is to use the Internet. If you don't have a computer, or want more detailed information, see the phone numbers listed above. According to officials, the 2000 census is the most accurate ever.