2010 United States Census

The Twenty-Third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or 2010 Census was a count of the population of the United States. It was done by the Census Bureau. It found that the population of the United States on April 1, 2010 was 308,745,538. This was an increase of 9.7 percent over the 281,421,906 people counted during the 2000 Census. This was the twenty-third federal census.

The Census Bureau did not use a long form for the 2010 Census. The 2010 Census used only a short form asking ten basic questions. 

 Cost 

The 2010 census cost $13 billion. It cost about $42 per capita. To compare, the 2010 census per-capita cost for China was about US$1; for India, the cost was US$0.40. Operational costs were $5.4 billion, under the $7 billion budget. In December 2010 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that the cost of doing the census has doubled each decade since 1970. In a detailed 2004 report to Congress, the GAO asked the Census Bureau to fix cost and design problems. They estimated the 2010 Census cost to be $11 billion.

In August 2010, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said that the census operational costs were a lot less than what they thought it would be. Their budget was almost $7 billion, but they saved:
$650 million was saved in the budget for the door-to-door questioning (NRFU) phase because 72% of households returned mailed questionnaires;
$150 million was saved because of lower-than-planned costs in areas including Alaska and tribal lands; and
the $800 million emergency fund was not needed.

 References 

 Other websites 

2010 Census
2010 United States Census Form
U.S. Census Bureau
The 2010 Census: Winners and Losers  – slideshow by Life magazine
How to deep link into US Census Bureau FactFinder2 , see FactFinder2 info
Census: As Red States Grow, So Do Hispanic Populations Within – video report by Democracy Now!

Category:2010 in the United States
Category:United States Census