Our population statistics cover age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, migration, ancestry, language use, veterans, as well as population estimates and projections.
The U.S. Census Bureau is the official source of statistical data tracking the national economy.
Business is a large part of America's diverse economy. This section provides key information about businesses in your community.
This section provides information on a range of educational topics, from educational attainment and school enrollment to school districts, costs and financing.
We measure the state of the nation's workforce, including employment and unemployment levels, weeks and hours worked, occupations, and commuting.
Our statistics highlight trends in household and family composition, describe characteristics of the residents of housing units, and show how they are related.
Health statistics on insurance coverage, disability, fertility and other health issues are increasingly important in measuring the nation's overall well-being.
We measure the housing and construction industry, track homeownership rates, and produce statistics on the physical and financial characteristics of our homes.
Income is the gauge many use to determine the well-being of the U.S. population. Survey and census questions cover poverty, income, and wealth.
The U.S. Census Bureau is the official source for U.S. export and import statistics and regulations governing the reporting of exports from the U.S.
The U.S. Census Bureau provides data for the Federal, state and local governments as well as voting, redistricting, apportionment and congressional affairs.
Geography is central to the work of the Bureau, providing the framework for survey design, sample selection, data collection, tabulation, and dissemination.
Find resources on how to use geographic data and products with statistical data, educational blog postings, and presentations.
The Geographic Support System Initiative will integrate improved address coverage, spatial feature updates, and enhanced quality assessment and measurement.
Work with interactive mapping tools from across the Census Bureau.
Find geographic data and products such as Shapefiles, KMLs, TIGERweb, boundary files, geographic relationship files, and reference and thematic maps.
Metropolitan and micropolitan areas are geographic entities used by Federal statistical agencies in collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal statistics.
Find information about specific partnership programs and learn more about our partnerships with other organizations.
Definitions of geographic terms, why geographic areas are defined, and how the Census Bureau defines geographic areas.
We conduct research on geographic topics such as how to define geographic areas and how geography changes over time.
Official audio files from the Census Bureau, including "Profile America," a daily series of bite-sized statistics, placing current data in a historical context.
Read briefs and reports from Census Bureau experts.
Read research analyses from Census Bureau experts.
Find information using interactive applications to get statistics from multiple surveys.
Find a multitude of DVDs, CDs and publications in print by topic.
These external sites provide more data.
Download software to display, extract, map, process, and/or tabulate census and survey data.
Learn more about our data from this collection of e-tutorials, presentations, webinars and other training materials. Sign up for training sessions.
Learn more about our data from this collection of e-tutorials, presentations, webinars and other training materials. Sign up for training sessions.
Explore Census data with interactive visualizations covering a broad range of topics.
If you have received a survey, this site will help you verify that the survey came from us, understand and complete the form, and know how we protect your data.
This is the 2020 Census redirect
This is the 2020 Census redirect
National and state population totals from the 2010 Census were released on December 21, 2010
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a mandatory, ongoing statistical survey that samples a small percentage of the population every year.
The AHS is sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Economic Census is the U.S. government's official five-year measure of American business and the economy.
Collects data and measures change for many topics including: economic well-being, family dynamics, education, assets, health insurance, and childcare.
Most recent releases from the Newsroom.
Find media toolkits, advisories, and all the latest Census news.
The Census Bureau's Director writes on how we measure America's people, places and economy.
Find media toolkits, advisories, and all the latest Census news.
See what's coming up in releases and reports.
Find media toolkits, advisories, and all the latest Census news.
Access to embargoed releases for news and media outlets.
Information about the U.S. Census Bureau.
Information about what we do at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Our researchers explore innovative ways to conduct surveys, increase respondent participation, reduce costs, and improve accuracy.
The regional offices are responsible for all data collection, data dissemination, and geographic operations under a new service area boundary.
Learn about other opportunities to collaborate with us.
Explore the rich historical background of an organization with roots almost as old as the nation.
Explore prospective positions available at the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Census Bureau is hiring across the United States, search temporary positions
Learn about other opportunities to collaborate with us.
On January 19, 1919, a chemical company storage tank in Boston, MA, flooded the city's North End neighborhood with 2.3 million gallons of molasses. The sticky wave demolished everything in its path.
Return in January to learn more about the molasses disaster using census records and data.
Eight years after the Wright Brother's historic 1903 flight, Calbraith Perry Rodgers piloted a Wright Model EX across the United States from Brooklyn, NY, to Long Beach, CA.
On May 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh completed the first nonstop solo trans-Atlantic flight on May 21, 1927. Five years later, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
Today, the Federal Aviation Administration oversees the transit of approximately 2.6 million passengers flying aboard nearly 42,000 flights in 24.1 million square miles of American airspace every day!
On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made history when they piloted their Wright Flyer airplane in the world's first powered and controlled flights across the sand dunes of Dare County, NC's Kill Devil Hills. In the decades that followed, aircraft have flown faster, farther, and higher than Orville and Wilbur Wright could have imagined. Aircraft from the 21st century look much different compared to the early flying machines built by the Wright Brothers. Today's military jets, passenger airlines, and even the space shuttle rely on the ideas and principles proven by these two bicycle shop owners who realized their dreams of flight 115 years ago this month.
Wilbur Wright was born in Millville, IN, in 1867, and his brother Orville was born in Dayton, OH, in 1871. Neither received their high school diploma, but had a lifelong interest in tinkering and studying machinery. Following an unsuccessful newspaper printing career (using a press the brothers designed and built themselves in December 1892), the Wright brothers opened a bicycle sales and repair shop in Dayton. In 1896, they began building bicycles using lightweight materials and tubing that would prove crucial to the construction of flying machines.
In the late 1890s, the brothers began experimenting with kites. By 1900, had graduated to larger unmanned and manned gliders. Calm winds near their Dayton, OH, home led the Wrights to Dare County, NC, and the coastal dunes at Kill Devil Hills. Through trial and error, Orville and Wilbur devised a "wing warping" technique that allowed aircraft to climb, dive, and move left and right while maintaining stability. Successful kite modeling of the idea led to manned glider flights in 1901, and testing of aerodynamics and flight control in 1902. By late 1903, the Wrights added a motor and dual propellers of their own design to the flyer and began testing the aircraft in North Carolina.
At 10:35 on the morning of December 17, 1903, Orville made the world's first successful powered flight. Aircraft and pilot remained aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Both brothers successfully piloted the airplane during subsequent flights that day, with Wilbur's final flight covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. The historic flights garnered little attention, as most experts believed such short flights did not prove the viability of powered, sustained flight. The Wrights spent the next decade refining their designs, performing demonstration flights in the United States and Europe, and pursuing lawsuits against those who copied their patented designs.
In 1912, Wilbur died from typhoid fever, leaving control of the aircraft business to Orville. Following his brother's death, Orville Wright spent most of his life defending their 1903 achievement against criticism. After a decades-long feud with the Smithsonian (which claimed Samuel Langley constructed a flyable aircraft before the Wrights), the Institute finally apologized to Orville Wright in 1942. Orville Wright died in Dayton, OH, 6 years later. He is buried alongside his brother and sister Katharine at Dayton's Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum.
Today, the Wright Flyer I which made that historic first flight on December 17, 1903, is on display at the Smithsonian Institute's National Air & Space Museum, in Washington, DC. The exhibit states that, "By original scientific research, the Wright brothers discovered the principles of human flight. As inventors, builders, and flyers, they further developed the aeroplane, taught man to fly, and opened the era of aviation." In 2017, 849 million airline passengers took to the skies—thanks to the research, courage, and tenacity of Orville and Wilbur Wright.
You can learn more the Wright Brothers and the history of flight using census data and records. For example:
On December 24, 1927, Santa Claus received his pilot's license at the U.S. Department of Commerce (parent agency of the U.S. Census Bureau).
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, William P. McCracken (seated) and Director of Aeronautics Clarence M. Young (right) provided Santa with airway maps and their assurances that airway lights would remain burning that night to guide the "jolly old elf's" sleigh.
A few years earlier, McCracken received the first federal pilot license in the United States. McCracken offered Orville Wright the first license, but he declined because he was no longer flying.
Skyhaven Airport operated on the site of the Suitland Federal Complex, in Suitland, MD, from 1938 to 1941.
Congress considered the airfield as the site for the new National Capital airport; however, President Franklin Roosevelt chose land along the Potomac River as the home for today's Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Construction of government office buildings replaced the airfield in late 1941, and the Census Bureau moved into Federal Office Building #3 in Spring 1942.