Each month the Census Counts team compiles Census-related news from a wide swath of national and regional media outlets to keep data equity stakeholders informed and engaged.
As always, you can find earlier clips here.
June 30, 2025 Census Coalition Clips
National
Real Clear Investigations | News Who Counts? Trump Poised To Try To Remove Noncitizens From Census
Following a years-long surge in illegal immigration, the Trump administration is poised to challenge a longstanding but legally fraught practice: counting illegal aliens in the U.S. census. President Trump tried to end the practice during his first term, but President Biden overturned his predecessor’s policy before it was implemented. Now, buoyed by red state attorneys general and Republican legislators, the second Trump administration is determined “to clean up the census and make sure that illegal aliens are not counted,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said last month.
Benjamin Weingarten | June 26, 2025
The Washington Post | News Immigrants drive population growth in a graying America, census shows
Immigration is driving U.S. population growth and helping offset a broader demographic shift as the baby boom generation ages, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. children outnumber older adults, but older adults’ share of the population is growing, the census data released Thursday shows. The gap between the two groups “is narrowing,” in part because of a decline in births this decade, said Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau’s population estimates branch, in a statement Thursday.’
Marie-Rose Sheinerman and Nick Mourtoupalas | June 26, 2025
The 19th | News The future of federal abortion data collection is unclear
A government watchdog says it’s unclear when — or even whether — we’ll know going forward how the end of national abortion protections impact Americans’ health outcomes, livelihoods and financial futures as the federal government turns away from abortion data collection indefinitely. A report released Monday by the Government Accountability Office and first shared exclusively with The 19th analyzed the existing data on the economic impact of abortion bans and found that government tracking has been very limited — and could become more so due to changes made by the Trump administration.
Chabeli Carrazana | June 23, 2025
States
New York
Spectrum News | News The fight over the next Census, and the strength of the state’s congressional delegation, begins
The next U.S. census isn’t until 2030, but there’s already an important battle brewing in Washington, D.C. that could lead to a significant undercount in New York, a state that’s already lost 20 congressional seats since the 1940s and could lose more. The fight is over whether to count people who aren’t citizens in the decennial census. This is a critical issue considering the federal government allocates money to states based on population. Whether non-citizens are counted or not, or have legal status or not, they will get sick and go to the emergency room, they will drive on roads, they will take public transportation, and they will use schools – all of which costs money.
Susan Arbetter | June 27, 2025
Washington
Axios Seattle | News Census: Washington’s youth decline, seniors rise
Washington’s older population is growing while its younger cohort is shrinking, per new census data. Why it matters: The latest figures continue a longstanding trend of an aging America and suggest big policy and economic challenges ahead. More older Americans means we’ll need more care workers, for instance.
Christine Clarridge, Alex Fitzpatrick | June 30, 2025
Blog Posts and Reports
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Older Adults Outnumber Children in 11 States, Nearly Half of Counties
The U.S. population age 65 and older rose by 3.1% (to 61.2 million) while the population under age 18 decreased by 0.2% (to 73.1 million) from 2023 to 2024, according to the Vintage 2024 Population Estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The data show the population continued to age, with the share of the population age 65 and older steadily increasing from 12.4% in 2004 to 18.0% in 2024, and the share of children declining from 25.0% to 21.5%. Ongoing growth among the older population, coupled with persistent annual declines in the population under age 18 has reduced the size difference between these two age groups from just over 20 million in 2020 to just below 12 million in 2024. From 2020 to 2024, the older population grew by 13.0%, significantly outpacing the 1.4% growth of working-age adults (ages 18 to 64), while the number of children declined by 1.7%.
Jewel Jordan | June 26, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release 2023 County Business Patterns Now Available
The U.S. Census Bureau today released the 2023 County Business Patterns (CBP). CBP provides annual subnational economic data for businesses with paid employees. The number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll are provided for nearly 1,000 industries, as defined by the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The data are available at the national, state, combined statistical area, metropolitan/micropolitan statistical area, county, congressional district, and ZIP code levels. In addition, the data are presented by legal form of organization (U.S. and state only) and employment size of the establishment.
Kristina Barrett | June 26, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Census Bureau Reports Shipment of U.S. Goods Reached 12.2 Billion Tons and $18.0 Trillion
Shipments of goods in the United States reached 12.2 billion tons in 2022, virtually unchanged from 2017, according to the latest Commodity Flow Survey estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The total value of shipments nationwide over the five-year span increased $3.5 trillion (24.0%) to $18.0 trillion (not adjusted for inflation or seasonality).]
Kristina Barrett | June 26, 2025
The Leadership Conference | Letter The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Urges Congress to Protect the 2026 Census Test
Known as the 2026 Census Test, this test will allow the Census Bureau to research and test new operations and outreach methods. The federal hiring freeze, coupled with delayed and uncertain funding for both the current and next fiscal years, could force the Census Bureau to curtail or cancel altogether the six field sites, as well as the nationally-representative sample, planned for the 2026 Census Test. The bureau must decide soon how to proceed, as preparations must begin this summer. Accordingly, we ask Congress to intervene now to ensure that the full complement of test activities can proceed as planned, to help make sure the 2030 Census counts all communities accurately.
The Leadership Conference | June 25, 2025
International
Study Finds | News Why Millions Are Missing From The World’s Census
A growing number of countries are failing to complete or publish accurate census data, leaving millions of people uncounted and invisible in policymaking. This undercounting crisis has major consequences, including misallocated funding for hospitals, schools, and infrastructure, and reduced political representation for already marginalized communities. While new technologies like AI and satellite data offer hope, experts warn that rebuilding public trust and restoring funding are essential to fixing the global collapse in population data systems.
Sophia Naughton | June 25, 2025
June 23, 2025 Census Coalition Clips
National
Eurasia Review | News More And More People Missing From Official Data
Researchers are warning that millions of people around the world aren’t being counted in census and survey data, leaving policymakers in the dark about the populations they govern. They say a ‘quiet crisis’ is unfolding with census data due to declining response rates and concerns about the accuracy of the data. In a paper published in Science, researchers from the University of Southampton and Columbia University point to a ‘perfect storm’ of disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, declining confidence in institutions, and collapsing international support.
Eurasia Review | June 20, 2025
The New York Times | News New York Gears Up for Fight to Count 1.8 Million Noncitizens in Census
City leaders see threats from the Trump administration and Republican officials that could lead to undercounting immigrants and minority groups. A coalition of elected officials, community activists, and labor and civic leaders in New York City is already stirring ahead of the next census in 2030 amid a brewing battle over whether to include noncitizens in the population count. Even without a citizenship question, there are growing concerns especially among migrants that sharing any personal information with government agencies could be “weaponized to be used as enforcement instead of being used for public good and public benefits,” said Meeta Anand, senior director of the census and data equity program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Winnie Hu | June 19, 2025
BU School of Public Health | News Official US Records Underestimate Native American Deaths and Life Expectancy
Death rates for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are far higher than reported in official vital statistics, according to a new study led by a School of Public Health researcher. Published in JAMA, the nationally representative study found that death certificates for at least 41 percent of AI/AN decedents failed to identify them as AI/AN, in most cases misreporting their race as “White.” As a result of these death certificate errors, official vital statistics greatly underestimate AI/AN mortality, overestimate AI/AN life expectancy, and understate the mortality disparities between AI/AN and other Americans.
BU SPH | June 16, 2025
States
Arkansas
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | News Arkansas data center chief says federal cuts, policy changes affecting grant requests
Incomplete, outdated and insufficient data from federal agencies, the result of recent staff reductions, can have an effect on the grant request process for Arkansas communities, said Alison Wright, who serves as the head of the Arkansas State Data Center. In her position, Wright connects organizations to the data they need. She said over half of the inquiries come from local economic development agencies searching for data needed to request grants and funding.
Cooper Gant | June 20, 2025
Michigan
The Conversation | News Metro Detroit is growing – but its suburbs are telling a more complicated story
Following decades of population loss, Detroit may finally be turning a corner. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent estimates, the city saw an increase in population for both 2023 and 2024. An additional 11,000 people moved into the city in the years 2023 and 2024, a small gain in a city with a population of 645,705 – but one which marked a symbolic shift. The census data shows just over 1% growth in the past year alone and 0.7% the year before compared with a nearly 25% loss between 2000 and 2010.
Grigoris Argeros | June 19, 2025
New York
AsAm News | News Asian Americans tell NYC they refuse to remain invisible
Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the organizer of the rally, has been advocating for data disaggregation for over a decade through their campaign “Invisible No More,” which has the key slogan “AAPIs are NOT a monolith.” “That helps break harmful stereotypes like the ‘model minority myth’ that really impacts how we’re seen as a community, how we’re reported on in regard to data collected and how we’re then served throughout New York City, said Felicia Singh, CACF’s Director of Policy and Government Relations.” According to a Pew Research Center analysis and NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigration Affairs report, Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group both in the U.S. and New York City.
Kathy Ou | June 17, 2025
South Carolina
WRWD | News S.C. Supreme Court hearing congressional map challenge next week
Next year will be a major one for South Carolina elections, with an open governor’s race, statewide offices, and seats in Congress and at the State House all up for grabs. But a case that will be before the state Supreme Court next week will decide which candidates appear on South Carolinians’ ballots to represent them on Capitol Hill. Next Tuesday, justices will hear arguments in a challenge to the state’s Congressional map, which was redrawn after the 2020 census as part of the state’s redistricting process. But some believe its lines are illegal.
Mary Green | June 20, 2025
Reports and Blog Posts
Scientific Data | Report City-Defined Neighborhood Boundaries in the United States
Neighborhoods are frequently cited as impactful for social, economic, political, and health outcomes. Measuring neighborhoods, however, is challenging, as the definition of a neighborhood may change dramatically across places. Researchers lack widespread but locally-sourced data on neighborhoods, and instead often adopt widely available but arbitrary Census geographies as neighborhood proxies. Others invest in the collection of more precise definitions, but these types of data are hard to collect at scale. We address this tension between scale and precision by collecting, cleaning, and providing to researchers a new dataset of city-defined neighborhoods. Our data includes 206 of the largest cities in the United States, covering more than 77 million people. We combine these data with block-level Census demographic data and provide them along with open-source software to aid researchers in their use.
Stephen Ansolabehere, Jacob R. Brown, Ryan D. Enos, Ben Shair, Tyler Simko & David Sutton | June 19, 2025
International
MRWEB | NEws New Zealand Scraps Census
In the same week that governments in Great Britain were advised to keep their decennial census surveys in something like their current form, the government of New Zealand has decided to discontinue its own census, which in recent times has run twice each decade. Now the government has decided that from 2030, census-style statistics will be compiled based on administrative data collected by other government agencies – including tax records – as well as annual surveys of a sample (only) of the population. The last three NZ census surveys have been plagued with difficulties – in 2011 these were from factors outside government control, namely the Christchurch earthquake of 2011 which resulted in a postponement of the exercise scheduled for that year until 2013.
Nick Thomas | June 20, 2025
June 16, 2025 Census Coalition Clips
National
JAMA Network | News Life Expectancy of American Indian and Alaska Native Persons and Underreporting of Mortality in Vital Statistics
In this nationally representative cohort study using data from 2008 to 2019, life expectancy of self-identified non-Hispanic AI/AN individuals was 72.7 years, 6.5 years less than the US average. The AI/AN vs US average life expectancy gap was 2.9-fold larger than that observed in unadjusted official statistics based on race and ethnicity recorded in death certificates. Meaning, the life expectancy gap between AI/AN individuals and other US residents is large and underestimated in official statistics.
Jacob Bor, SD; Michael Bird, MSW, MPH; Jahn K. Hakes, PhD | June 16, 2025
AP News | News Trump gives data of immigrant Medicaid enrollees to deportation officials
President Donald Trump’s administration this week provided deportation officials with personal data — including the immigration status — on millions of Medicaid enrollees, a move that could make it easier to locate people as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown. An internal memo and emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns. Nevertheless, two top advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security, the emails show. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to comply with the directive.
Kimberly Kindly, Amanda Seitz | June 14, 2025
New America | News The Supreme Court Gave DOGE Access to Your Most Sensitive Data
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned 6–3 decision in SSA v. AFSCME that cleared the way for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to have immediate access to troves of sensitive personal data held by the Social Security Administration. The decision, which temporarily suspends a lower court’s injunction, applies to non-anonymized records—data that is protected under the Privacy Act of 1974. These data points—including Social Security numbers, detailed medical histories, and personal banking information—may be bureaucratic in origin, but they carry deeply personal implications.
Sydney Saubestre | June 13, 2025
Fortune | News U.S. data quality has been declining for years. Now Trump’s cutbacks are leading economists to question its figures
A key federal agency is increasingly publishing less accurate inflation data thanks in part to a hiring freeze issued by the Trump administration in January. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the Labor Department, is increasingly relying on data collection methods that are less accurate than usual and has stopped tracking inflation figures in three U.S. cities.
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez | June 13, 2025
JAMA Network | News Decline in US Drug Overdose Deaths by Region, Substance, and Demographics
In this cross-sectional study of 800 645 DODs, beginning August 2023, DODs declined for 15 consecutive months, with the largest decreases in the final 9 months of decline, although adults aged 55 years or older and American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and multiracial individuals had year-over-year increases. Opioid-related deaths decelerated faster than stimulant-related deaths. While overdose deaths rapidly decelerated, the trend was neither uniform nor consistent across demographics or drug types.
Lori Ann Post, PhD; Daniel Ciccarone, MD, MPH; George Jay Unick, MSW, PhD | June 12, 2025
Pew Research Center | News Rising Number of U.S. Households Are Headed by Married Same-Sex Couples
Ten years after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, a Pew Research Center survey finds that two-thirds of LGBTQ adults say the decision made the country more accepting of same-sex couples. Since 2015, the number of households headed by same-sex married couples in the United States has risen steadily from 425,357 to 774,553 in 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The number of households headed by same-sex cohabiting couples has also risen over this period. It started at 433,539 in 2015 and increased to 536,894 by 2023.
Jake Jays, Rachel Minkin | June 12, 2025
Politico | News ‘Survival mode’: Concerns over economic data quality mount amid cuts
President Donald Trump is testing the American economy’s ability to simultaneously withstand rapid-fire tariffs, a sharp decline in immigration and a sweeping overhaul of tax policy. A key federal agency responsible for tracking how the country fares in the face of these challenges is beginning to show signs of strain. The Labor Department has scaled back data-collection efforts that feed into its statistical bureau’s monthly inflation estimate, a step that economists and agency alums say will weaken the quality of economic reports that are critical to businesses and policymakers.
Sam Sutton | June 11, 2025
States
Arizona
Axios Phoenix | News Navajo is Arizona’s third most popular language
Navajo is the most commonly spoken language at home in Arizona after English and Spanish, per new census data. Why it matters: The myriad languages spoken nationwide reflect both the settlement and colonization of centuries long past, as well as more modern immigration patterns. While Spanish is far and away the predominant non-English language nationwide, with about 41.2 million speakers, putting it aside offers insight into other groups and population centers around the country.
Alex Fitzpatrick, Jeremy Duda | June 16, 2025
Texas
Spectrum Local News | News White House pushes Texas Republicans to redraw congressional maps ahead of midterm elections
President Donald Trump’s White House reportedly is urging Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional district lines ahead of next year’s midterm election. The goal of the rare, unscheduled redistricting would be to stack the state’s congressional delegation with even more Republicans and reduce the possibility of Democrats taking control of the U.S. House.
Reena Diamante | June 11, 2025
Reports and Blog Posts
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Business Formation Statistics Monthly Data Release
The U.S. Census Bureau today released new Business Formation Statistics (BFS) for May 2025. The BFS provide timely and high frequency information on new business applications and formations in the United States. The BFS are a standard data product of the Census Bureau, developed in research collaboration with economists affiliated with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the University of Maryland, and the University of Notre Dame.
Julie Iriondo | June 11, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Census Bureau to Embargo New Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin
The U.S. Census Bureau will offer a two-day embargo period for qualified media to view Vintage 2024 Population Estimates for the nation, states, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and counties by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and for Puerto Rico and its municipios by age and sex.
Jewel Jordan | June 10, 2025
June 9, 2025 Census Coalition Clips
National
MedCity News | News Overlooked in the Overdose Crisis: Addressing Substance Use Treatment for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities
Researchers and policymakers must challenge the default framing and stereotypical minority myth mindset which uniformly classifies AANHPI communities as low-risk, hindering both visibility and resource allocation. Most existing research has focused on disparities found in MAT amongst Black and Hispanic patients; by contrast, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities remain notably under-researched and often overlooked due to systemic barriers and stereotypes.
Imeth Illamperuma, Suhanee Mitragotri and David T. Zhu | June 8, 2025
The New York Times | News After His Trump Blowup, Musk May Be Out. But DOGE Is Just Getting Started.
Elon Musk’s blowup with President Trump may have doomed Washington’s most potent partnership, but the billionaire’s signature cost-cutting project has become deeply embedded in Mr. Trump’s administration and could be there to stay. Whether DOGE keeps its current Musk-inspired form remains an open question. Some DOGE members on Friday expressed concern that the president could choose to retaliate against Mr. Musk by firing people associated with the initiative. Others could choose to leave on their own, following Mr. Musk out the door. And DOGE’s role, even its legality, remain the subject of legal battles amid questions over its attempts to use sensitive government data.
Christopher Flavelle, Coral Davenport, Nicholas Nehamas, Kate Conger, and Zach Montague | June 7, 2025
MSNBC | News ‘Data can be weaponized’: Ronan Farrow sounds alarm on DOGE access to private Social Security data
Ronan Farrow, contributing writer to the New Yorker, talks with Jen Psaki about the Supreme Court granting DOGE access to private, personal social security data, and how Elon Musk’s agitated behavior, combined with the sensitivity of personal data, makes our new reality particularly perilous. “There is an erratic person who has his own complicated international alliances and business interests who is controlling key functionality that the American people depend on.”
Jen Psaki | June 7, 2025
The New York Times | News Palantir’s Collection of Disease Data at C.D.C. Stirs Privacy Concerns
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s plans to consolidate data on diseases like measles and polio are raising concerns about patient privacy, delays in spotting long-term trends and ways the Trump administration may use the information. The agency told state officials earlier this week that it would shift disease information to a new system managed by Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm co-founded by Peter Thiel. But news that the Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work across the federal government in recent months, allowing it to compile detailed information about Americans, has introduced a new layer of anxiety and mistrust among state and local officials about sharing data with the C.D.C.
Apoorva Mandavilli | June 6, 2025
JAMA Network | News Health Equity Demands Data Disaggregation—Uncovering Pacific Islander Mortality Gaps
Over the past decade, health equity research has progressed beyond documenting disparities in health outcomes to understanding the upstream social and structural determinants that shape them. Increasingly, researchers have identified how these determinants, such as income inequality, education, and neighborhood environments, exert direct and indirect effects on health. Importantly, the past several years have seen a growing body of literature that explicitly names structural racism and other systems of marginalization as the root causes of health inequities. Despite these conceptual and methodological advances, analyses that disaggregate Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations from Asian American populations remain infrequent. Equally troubling is the omission of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander people, effectively erasing these populations in data.
Carlos Irwin A. Oronce, MD, PhD; Kevin H. Nguyen, PhD | June 6, 2025
NPR | News DOGE’s data push could worsen distrust in government surveys
The Trump administration team that calls itself the Department of Government Efficiency has gathered a ton of data on people in the U.S. — often without providing answers on exactly how it will be used. Data experts fear that will many people wary of answering the census and crucial government surveys that produce monthly jobs numbers and other key statistics.
Miles Parks, Stephen Fowler, Hansi Lo Wang | June 4, 2025
NPR | News How DOGE’s push to amass data could hurt the reliability of future U.S. statistics
Falling public participation in surveys and trust in government have plagued the U.S. Census Bureau for decades. And some of the agency’s current and former workers say there’s a new complication to gathering enough survey responses to produce key statistics for the country. The Trump administration’s murky handling of data, which has sparked investigations and lawsuits alleging privacy violations, has become one of the reasons people cite when declining to share their information for the federal government’s ongoing surveys, these workers say.
Hansi Lo Wang | June 4, 2025
States
Montana
Montana Free Press | News Montana population growth slows, though some hot spots remain
Montana’s population growth rate has declined from the rapid-fire increases of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, though certain communities including East Helena and Kalispell remain hot spots.
Jacob Olness | June 4, 2025
South Dakota
Dakota Scout | News Half of S.D. cities saw population growth, while half saw declines
It’s no secret that parts of South Dakota have grown rapidly since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The rapid increase in both East and West River communities came as many sought to live in a state that best aligned with their political expectations. The rapid increase has also driven a rise in property taxes, fueling discontent in parts of the state that have witnessed the largest population increases.
Jonathan Ellis | June 7, 2025
Reports and Blog Posts
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Census Bureau Hiring Temporary Field Staff Across the United States
The U.S. Census Bureau has launched a nationwide effort to hire a limited number of temporary field representatives and supervisors. This effort is based on a temporary hiring waiver granted by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to help conduct various surveys and special censuses. Field representatives and supervisors serve important roles in completing the Census Bureau’s mission. They connect with members of their communities and collect data that represent the nation.
Public Information Office | June 5, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Business Trends and Outlook Survey Data Release
The U.S. Census Bureau today released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), a survey that measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis. The BTOS includes data for multiunit/multilocation businesses. BTOS will continue to collect data complementary to key items found on other economic surveys, such as revenues, employees, hours, and inventories.
Julie Iriondo | June 5, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Blog Preparing for the 2025 Hurricane Season
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season officially began June 1, following a devastating 2024 season that saw 18 named storms. Of these, 11 developed into hurricanes and five intensified into major (Category 3 or higher) hurricanes, including Hurricane Helene. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s outlook for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which goes until November 30, predicts a 30% chance of a near-normal season, a 60% chance of an above-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season.
Chase Sawyer and Megan Rabe | June 5, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Blog How Native North American Language Use Changed in the United States
Some of the 70-plus Native North American languages spoken across the nation were among the most spoken languages after English in nine states, according to detailed data tables released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Roughly half (47%) of those who spoke a Native North American language spoke Navajo. Given the nation’s large number of Navajo speakers, Navajo was among the top 15 languages in four states: Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
Adrienne Griffiths and Daniela Mejía | June 3, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Blog New Data on Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and the Ability to Speak English
More than 1 in 5 people (22%) age 5 and older in the United States spoke a language other than English at home during the five-year period from 2017 to 2021, according to new data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The newly released table package — Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2017–2021 — provides data on over 500 individual languages and language groups spoken across the country during this time. The information is based on data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). This is the third tabulation the Census Bureau has released of detailed languages in addition to the 42 languages and language groups published annually in the ACS. It updates the last detailed language table package released in 2015.
Patricia Ramos | June 3, 2025
June 2, 2025 Census Coalition Clips
National
Politico | News When DOGE comes for the Census
The Department of Government Efficiency is pledging to go “one-by-one” through the Census Bureau’s 102 surveys, and groups that rely on the government data are fearful of what’s to come. DOGE said it has already cut five of the 102 surveys, but there are more potential cuts on the horizon. DOGE did not specify which of the surveys it was eliminating, highlighting instead that it saved $16.5 million and listing some of the questions on the surveys that were eliminated. Advocates are also calling for President Donald Trump to fully fund the bureau’s 2026 test, which plays a pivotal role in determining the techniques for the full 2030 Census by surveying residents of a select few areas. The robust survey each decade determines the number of congressional seats each state gets, as well as how trillions of dollars in federal funding are distributed across the country.
Andrew Howard | June 2, 2025
Scotsman Guide | News The South is now the most populous region in the U.S., but all parts aren’t equal
Migration trends are reshaping real estate markets across the United States, with the South experiencing the most significant changes. As more people relocate to the region, the effects are being felt across the housing ecosystem — from buyers and sellers to investors and developers. By the end of 2024, the South had become the most populous region in the country, with nearly 132.7 million residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Limited housing supply is driving up prices and fueling competitive markets, with homes frequently selling above asking price and in record time.
Kevin Rodman | May 31, 2025
The New York Times | News Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans
In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power. Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. In particular, they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm.
Sheera Frenkel and Aaron Krolik | May 30, 2025
Migration Policy | News Seeking to Ramp Up Deportations, the Trump Administration Quietly Expands a Vast Web of Data
To help accomplish its aim of mass deportations, the Trump administration is tapping into numerous federal, state, and local databases at an unprecedented scale, and making more of them interoperable. The reach into and communication between information storehouses—including ones containing sensitive information about all U.S. residents’ taxes, health, benefits receipt, and addresses—allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other authorities to harvest, exchange, and share a vast trove of data. The aim of tapping government and commercial databases appears twofold: attempt to secure large-scale arrests and deportations of removable noncitizens, and instill a sense of fear so that others “self deport.”
Muzaffar Chishti and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh | May 29, 2025
States
Georgia
WSB-TV | News Gwinnett County city among fastest growing in US, Census Bureau says
The latest population estimates are out from the U.S. Census Bureau and in Georgia, one city is among the fastest growing in the country. That city is Sugar Hill, in north Gwinnett County. The Census Bureau said in their report that Sugar Hill had a 9.5% increase in its population in 2024, making it among the top 15 fastest growing cities.
WSB-TV | June 2, 2025
Louisiana
Prison Gerrymandering Project | News Federal Census policy harms Louisiana’s democracy — but state lawmakers can fix it
Everyone in Louisiana is supposed to have an equal voice in their government’s decisions, but an outdated and misguided Census Bureau policy that counts incarcerated people in the wrong place gives a few residents of the state a megaphone. It is a problem known as prison gerrymandering, and Louisiana lawmakers can fix it.
Aleks Kajstura | May 28, 2025
New York
Times of Wayne County | News Experts push for state census office to prevent loss of NY congressional seats
Amid projections for New York to lose at least two more congressional seats after the 2030 census count, a bill that would create a state census office for more accurate counting is being considered at the Capitol. Every 10 years, census count results are used to calculate the number of congressional seats each state is entitled to. But since the 1950s, New York has lost at least two congressional seats with every census count — falling from 45 to the current 26. In 2020, the state lost one seat after the count came up 89 people short. Now, experts are advocating for a permanent census office that would push the state to take a more proactive role in census outreach and counting to help minimize undercounting in the future. The proposed state office would work with local governments to help with counting efforts, such as maintaining accurate housing lists for the U.S. Census Bureau’s housing data.
Ashley Soebroto | May 31, 2025
Reports and Blog Posts
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Census Bureau Releases 2024 Annual Survey of Public Pensions
Public pensions in the nation totaled nearly $6 trillion in 2024, according to the Annual Survey of Public Pensions (ASPP) released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ASPP provides revenues, expenditures, financial assets, and membership information about defined-benefit public pension systems. Defined-benefit plans provide a specified benefit in retirement. A separate unit file provides detailed actuarial data for state and locally administered defined-benefit public pension systems. (Actuarial data shows how systems act today, to pay tomorrow’s benefits.)
Mitchell A. Friedmann | May 29, 2025
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release New Product Statistics From 2022 Economic Census Now Available
The U.S. Census Bureau today released two new data tables from the 2022 Economic Census — one presenting data on products by industry and the other on industries by product. Products are categorized based on the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) and industries by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
Jewel Jordan | May 29, 2025
