The 2010 Census results are now available. Of course, the names and other personal information collected won't be available until 2082. Sometimes, genealogists forget that the purpose of the census is not to record people, but to record the NUMBER of people. A lot of other information is collected as well, but the U.S. Constitution is clear that the primary purpose is to collect information for the apportionment of Congress.
The Census Bureau fulfilled its Constitutional mandate today by releasing the resident population for the nation and states, as well as congressional apportionment totals for each state.
The resident population of the United States on April 1, 2010, was 308,745,538. 300 million plus! That number is no surprise but it is still impressive. The resident population represented an increase of 9.7 percent over the 2000 U.S. resident population of 281,421,906.
The most populous state was California (37,253,956); the least populous, Wyoming (563,626). The state that gained the most numerically since the 2000 Census was Texas (up 4,293,741 to 25,145,561) and the state that gained the most as a percentage of its 2000 Census count was Nevada (up 35.1% to 2,700,551).
Regionally, the South and the West picked up the bulk of the population increase, 14,318,924 and 8,747,621, respectively. But the Northeast and the Midwest also grew: 1,722,862 and 2,534,225.
Additionally, Puerto Rico's resident population was 3,725,789, a 2.2 percent decrease over the number counted a decade earlier.
Texas emerged as the big winner in the congressional reapportionment. Texas will gain four seats in the House of Representatives, based on official population totals from the 2010 decennial census. New York and Ohio will lose two seats each.
California, with the largest delegation in the 435-member House of Representatives, will keep its 53 House seats during the next decade with no changes. Ten states will lose congressional delegations when the 113th Congress takes office in January 2013.
These states registered gains in congressional representation:
- Texas, 4 seats
- Florida, 2 seats
- Arizona, 1 seat
- Georgia, 1 seat
- Nevada, 1 seat
- South Carolina, 1 seat
- Utah, 1 seat
- Washington, 1 seat
These states suffered losses in House seats:
- New York, 2 seats
- Ohio, 2 seats
- Illinois, 1 seat
- Iowa, 1 seat
- Louisiana, 1 seat
- Massachusetts, 1 seat
- Michigan, 1 seat
- Missouri, 1 seat
- New Jersey, 1 seat
- Pennsylvania, 1 seat
You can see an interactive Census Map showing the population changes of 1910 through 2010 at http://www.eogn.com/2010-US-Census-Map.html
