The Latest from the U.S. Census

Yesterday the Census Bureau delivered the last of the state-level files from the 2010 Census. That means every state is now armed and ready for redistricting, and many are already knee-deep in it. In addition to more redistricting data, we learned a few other things about the nation's population.

For example, the U.S. mean center of population on April 1, 2010 was Plato, Missouri (37.517534 N, 92.173096 W, to be exact). Wondering what the mean center of population is? The Census Bureau's Twitter account described it as the "Place where flat, weightless, rigid map of US would balance perfectly if all residents were of identical weight."

The new numbers also show that one in six Americans are Hispanic, and Hispanics accounted for more than half the nation's growth (56%) between 2000 and 2010. Like Hispanics, Asians also experienced double-digit increases, and now account for 5% of the nation's residents. African Americans account for 12% of the population, as their numbers remained stable. Meanwhile, non-Hispanic whites diminished as a proportion of the population and are now at 64%.

Many groups are already using the data to point to new trends, such as the rise in the percentage of the nation's black population living in the South. The New York Times reported that it hit its highest point in half a century, attributing the gains to younger and more educated black residents moving out of declining cities in the Northeast and Midwest in search of better opportunities.

Stay tuned, because there's plenty more to come! And if you want to learn more about how your nonprofit can access and use Census data, sign up for our webinar "Power in Numbers: Putting 2010 Census Data to Use."

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