# United States Census Bureau *Federal statistical agency under the United States Department of Commerce* The **United States Census Bureau** (formally the Bureau of the Census) is the federal statistical agency, within the United States Department of Commerce, that produces data on the country's population and economy. The president appoints its director.[^1] As of September 19, 2025, George Cook was acting director.[^1] The bureau's central task is the census taken once a decade. Its population counts apportion seats in the [[United States House of Representatives]] among the states.[^1] The two sections of the Wikipedia account give different funding figures. The lead says the bureau's censuses and surveys help allocate more than $675 billion in federal funds a year. The legal-mandate section says census data shape the allocation of more than $400 billion a year in federal and state funding. No primary source in this record confirms either figure.[^1][^2] Beyond the decennial count, the bureau runs more than 130 surveys and programs each year. These include the American Community Survey, the Current Population Survey, and the Economic Census, which is taken every five years.[^1] The bureau's statutory authority is Title 13 of the United States Code.[^2] The evidence pack for this article contains no primary federal source on the bureau and no Minnesota-specific record of its work. Every statement below rests on the bureau's Wikipedia article.[^2] ## Legal mandate Article One, section II of the Constitution requires a count of the population at least every ten years. The totals fix each state's House delegation and, through it, the state's share of the Electoral College.[^2] The bureau carries out a complete count in each year ending in zero and calls that operation "decennial". In the intervening years it produces population estimates and projections.[^2] Between and during the decennial counts, the bureau conducts demographic surveys for federal and local agencies. These cover employment, crime, health, consumer spending and housing. It also runs economic surveys of manufacturing, retail, service and other establishments, and of domestic governments.[^2] From 1790 through 1840, marshals of the judicial districts took the census. The Census Act of 1840 created a central office, later called the Census Office. Subsequent statutes revised and authorized further censuses, generally ten years apart. In 1902 the still-temporary Census Office was placed under the Department of the Interior.[^2] ## Data collection ### Census regions and divisions For statistical purposes the bureau divides the country into four regions comprising nine divisions. The District of Columbia is included; the territories are not.[^3] The present arrangement dates from the 1910 census and has changed only slightly since: - Arizona and New Mexico joined the Mountain division at statehood in 1912. - The North region was split into Northeast and North Central regions in 1940. - Alaska and Hawaii joined the Pacific division at statehood in 1959. - North Central was renamed the Midwest in 1984.[^3] Earlier groupings included the five "great divisions" that J. D. B. De Bow, later census superintendent, published after the 1850 census.[^3] ### History The 1790 census was published in 1791. It ran to 56 pages and cost $44,377.28.[^3] ## Organizational structure The Bureau of the Census has been the government's official census-taking agency since 1903. A director leads it, supported by a deputy director and an executive staff of associate directors.[^4] Headquarters have been at Suitland, Maryland, since 1942. A complex finished there in 2007 houses more than 4,000 employees. The National Processing Center is in Jeffersonville, Indiana.[^4] The decennial census employs more than a million people. The 2000 census cost $4.5 billion. The Wikipedia account gives an estimated cost of $14.7 billion for the 2010 census. In 2020, Regional Census Centers oversaw 248 Area Census Offices.[^4] On January 1, 2013, the bureau reduced its regional offices from twelve to six. It closed the offices in Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City and Seattle. It kept those in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Los Angeles.[^4] The Wikipedia account attributes the change to three factors: - higher data-collection costs; - new survey-management tools such as laptops; - greater use of internet, telephone and in-person survey modes.[^4] ## Computer equipment The 1890 census was the first to use the electric tabulating machines invented by Herman Hollerith.[^5] In 1946 John Mauchly approached the bureau about early funding for UNIVAC development. The bureau accepted a UNIVAC I computer in 1951.[^5] ## Handheld computers Census takers historically went door to door and recorded information in ledgers. Mailed forms came into use from 1970.[^6] In 2009, during address canvassing for the 2010 census, the bureau used 500,000 single-purpose handheld computers for the first time. Projected savings were put at over $1 billion.[^6] Harris Corporation, a Department of Defense contractor, built the devices under a Department of Commerce contract. Access to each unit required a fingerprint swipe, and the units had GPS capability.[^6] In rural areas, sparse cell-phone coverage impeded data transmission to and from the devices.[^6] Problems with the devices were raised at the 2009 Senate confirmation hearings of Robert Groves, President Obama's nominee for census director.[^6] ## Research studies The bureau's research covers survey innovation, participation and data accuracy, including undercount and overcount. It also covers technology use, multilingual research and cost reduction.[^7] The bureau pretests surveys and digital products before fielding them and evaluates them afterward.[^7] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Census Bureau* (revision 1379292753, retrieved 2026-10-26) — lead section: agency status, director appointment, acting director, apportionment mission, $675 billion figure, 130+ surveys. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Census Bureau* (revision 1379292753, retrieved 2026-10-26) — "Legal mandate" section: constitutional basis, Title 13, $400 billion figure, surveys, 1790–1902 history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Census Bureau* (revision 1379292753, retrieved 2026-10-26) — "Data collection" section: regions and divisions, De Bow, first census. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Census Bureau* (revision 1379292753, retrieved 2026-10-26) — "Organizational structure" section: leadership, headquarters, census costs, 2013 consolidation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Census Bureau* (revision 1379292753, retrieved 2026-10-26) — "Computer equipment" section: Hollerith, Mauchly, UNIVAC I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Census Bureau* (revision 1379292753, retrieved 2026-10-26) — "Handheld computers" section: 2009 deployment, Harris contract, security features, rural transmission problems, Groves hearings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Census Bureau* (revision 1379292753, retrieved 2026-10-26) — "Research studies" section. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau