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.
November 25, 2024 Census Coalition Clips
National
Jama Network | News Disaggregating Asian American Data to Enhance Medical Education and Patient Care
While limited disaggregated data on Asian American students is collected and available for medical schools, there is room for improvement. Disaggregated data are seldom used in evaluation of learning environment, student outcomes, and undergraduate or graduate medical education accreditation processes. We recommend broadening racial categories in data collection to prevent further obscuring already marginalized groups, like Hmong, Thai, and Burmese individuals. We support broad efforts to collect data on languages spoken and use a free text option to allow learners to provide additional specificity as they wish. Furthermore, the diversity of the Asian American history and experience can inform innovative approach to support and data analysis by understanding the disparity in economic and educational experiences among Asian American subgroups. By incorporating intersectional socioeconomic approach to understanding and supporting Asian American students, medical schools can overcome potential sample size and legal post–Supreme Court of the United States affirmative action ban limitations of using disaggregated Asian groups
Mytien Nguyen, Dowin Boatright, Tonya L. Fancher | November 19, 2024
Tech Target | News Harnessing SOGI data to advance patient-centered care
Sexual orientation and gender identity data is critical to ensure patient-centered care, according to Kellan Baker, executive director of the Whitman-Walker Institute. “LGBTQI+ people have so often been left out of healthcare and been made to feel unwelcome by providers, other staff and health insurance companies that don’t cover the care they need,” Baker said. “SOGI data are really a foundational element of making sure that everyone is seen.” However, 2023 research shows that SOGI data is missing from upward of 60% of adult EHR records.
Hannah Nelson | November 18, 2024
States
California
SFGate | News California is losing more workers than it’s gaining, new report shows
California swiftly rebounded from its alleged pandemic “exodus,” with several counties now growing in population in recent years as residents spread throughout the state. But the Golden State is still losing more workers than it’s gaining, according to an October report from the National Association of Realtors that used U.S. Census Bureau data as of third-quarter 2023. California lost almost 87,000 professionals in 2023, compared with the approximately 69,000 that entered the state in the same time period. Study authors blame the state’s high housing costs, coupled with the lower state income taxes that many other nearby states offer those hunting for other job opportunities.
Tessa McLean | November 25, 2024
Utah
Axios Salt Lake City | News Utah’s American Indian population counts are skyrocketing. Here’s why.
Nearly 79,000 Utahns — 2.3% of the state’s population — identify as American Indian, per 2023 census data. The big picture: Utah’s estimated Indigenous population is growing sharply, even by conservative estimates. Annual census calculations based on five years of data show the number of Utahns identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native grew by nearly 50% in the past decade or so. Between the lines: Federal counts of Indigenous Americans have skyrocketed nationally in recent years — a phenomenon that demographers largely attribute to how respondents are describing their race or ethnicity.
Erin Alberty | November 18, 2024
Blog Posts and Reports
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. Additional details on artificial intelligence use and types used were added for one cycle and released March 28, 2024.
Julie Iriondo | November 21, 2024
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Press Kit: 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
The ACS provides a wide range of statistics about the nation’s people and housing, such as language spoken at home, education, commuting, employment, mortgage status and rent, income, poverty, and health insurance coverage. It is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40-plus topics it covers. The statistics will be available to embargo subscribers beginning Dec. 10, at 10 a.m. EST for a variety of geographic areas. This includes all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, congressional and state legislative districts, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, counties, places, and other geographies down to census tracts and block groups.
Public Information Office | November 21, 2024
U.S. Census Bureau | Blog Updating the Race/Ethnicity Code List for the American Community Survey and the 2030 Census
The U.S. Census Bureau is conducting its Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project and is currently seeking public feedback through a Federal Register notice (FRN) on how detailed race/ethnicity and American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) populations will be coded in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census. The way in which detailed race/ethnicity responses are coded connects directly to how published estimates and counts are tabulated for the ACS and the decennial census. The Census Bureau classifies and tabulates race/ethnicity data following the standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15), which was updated earlier this year.
Alli Cortiz and Rachel Marks | November 18, 2024
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Census Bureau Seeks Public Comment on Race/Ethnicity Code List
Today the U.S. Census Bureau published a Federal Register notice (FRN) asking for public comment on proposed updates to its race/ethnicity code list as part of the Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project. The updated code list will be used when the combined race/ethnicity question is implemented in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census. This effort is designed to ensure that detailed race/ethnicity responses are accurately coded and tabulated in future data releases. Coding is the process of assigning a numeric code to each response to the race/ethnicity question. The race/ethnicity code list shows how detailed responses to the race/ethnicity questions are coded and classified, which informs how data are tabulated in ACS and decennial census data products.
Veronica Vaquer | November 18, 2024
As always, you can find earlier clips here.
November 18, 2024 Census Coalition Clips
National
Union of Concerned Scientists | News Federal government implements more inclusive standards for collecting race and ethnicity data
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued new standards updating how federal agencies will collect and report data on race and ethnicity. Earlier this year, OMB’s new Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, among other things, added a new “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA) category that will appear on federal forms and surveys, like the US Census. These revisions are the result of a nearly two-year process led by the Interagency Technical Working Group of Federal Government career staff who use race and ethnicity data. The updated standards were developed based on input from nearly 100 listening sessions and more than 20,000 comments submitted by members of the public and research and advocacy organizations like UCS.
Darya Minovi | November 14, 2024
The Scioto Post | News U.S. Census: Households with Children Decline Among Both Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Couples
The proportion of households with children under 18, including both same-sex and opposite-sex couples — married and unmarried — has declined from 2019 to 2023, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). This trend reflects an ongoing decline in fertility rates across the United States. The new ACS tables reveal that in 2023, married same-sex couples were more likely than their unmarried counterparts to have children in the household.
Jeremy Newman | November 14, 2024
The Advocate | News A nonbinary Census? American Community Survey tests questions on sexual orientation and gender identity
What percentage of Americans identify as LGBTQ+? Academic institutes and polling firms have produced a wide range of estimates, but the U.S. Census Bureau will soon try and get the most accurate count ever. It will also potentially track the size of the population over time. The bureau last week announced it would test the inclusion of questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in theAmerican Community Survey, a regularly updated survey tracking the nation’s changing population and workforce. It’s a move that could mean strides for representation and recognition of LGBTQ individuals by the federal government.
Jacob Ogles | November 13, 2024
States
Utah
KSLNewsRadio | News 2030 census could bring Utah another House seat
When population numbers are assessed after the 2030 census, Utah could be among the states that gain another seat in the House of Representatives. The Brennan Center for Justice reviewed new population estimates from the Census Bureau and reported that Utah is among seven states projected to gain at least one House seat after the 2030 census. At the end of 2023, Utah was among the top ten states for population growth based on 2020 census numbers. The strongest population growth, as listed by the Brennan Center, has consistently been in the American South. Accordingly, the Brennan Center predicts Texas could gain four seats after 2030.
Michael Camit | November 13, 2024
Blog Posts and Reports
U.S. Census Bureau | Blog Updating the Race/Ethnicity Code List for the American Community Survey and the 2030 Census
The U.S. Census Bureau is conducting its Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project and is currently seeking public feedback through a Federal Register notice (FRN) on how detailed race/ethnicity and American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) populations will be coded in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census. The way in which detailed race/ethnicity responses are coded connects directly to how published estimates and counts are tabulated for the ACS and the decennial census. The Census Bureau classifies and tabulates race/ethnicity data following the standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15), which was updated earlier this year. Public feedback on the code list is essential to making sure future data on race/ethnicity groups accurately reflect our nation’s diverse population.
Alli Cortiz and Rachel Marks | November 18, 2024
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Census Bureau Seeks Public Comment on Race/Ethnicity Code List
Today the U.S. Census Bureau published a Federal Register notice (FRN) asking for public comment on proposed updates to its race/ethnicity code list as part of the Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project. The updated code list will be used when the combined race/ethnicity question is implemented in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census. This effort is designed to ensure that detailed race/ethnicity responses are accurately coded and tabulated in future data releases. Coding is the process of assigning a numeric code to each response to the race/ethnicity question. The race/ethnicity code list shows how detailed responses to the race/ethnicity questions are coded and classified, which informs how data are tabulated in ACS and decennial census data products.
Veronica Vaquer | November 18, 2024
League of Women Voters | Comment Letter LWVUS Urges Complete Census Data Collection
LWVUS joined coalition partners in urging the Census Bureau to conduct small-scale testing for collecting home addresses to count incarcerated people at home. The undersigned criminal justice, voting rights, and census and data equity advocate organizations submit this comment in response to the Census Bureau’s federal register notice regarding Generic Clearance for 2030 Census Small-Scale Tests, Evaluations, and Database Updates. We urge the Census Bureau to conduct one or more small-scale tests of methods for collecting home addresses of incarcerated people to determine how best to implement a revision of the Residence Criteria and Residence Situations for people who are in correctional facilities on Census Day.
LWVUS | November 14, 2024
As always, you can find earlier clips here.
November 12, 2024 Census Coalition Clips
National
GovCIO Media & Research | News Census Bureau Embraces Modernization, Data Innovation
The growing need for timely, accurate and detailed data about the American people and economy poses new demands on the U.S. Census Bureau. To adapt to modern data requirements and sourcing, the bureau is transforming the way it leverages emerging technologies. While the agency continues traditional surveys, it is increasingly leveraging administrative data, business data and other innovations to create a better statistical snapshot of American life. Census Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer Ron Jarmin outlines how the bureau is expanding its data collection, using AI to make Census staff more efficient and spearheading modernization efforts to better meet 21st century data needs.
GovCast | November 8, 2024
AGNest West | News U.S. Census Bureau Finds Child Supplemental Poverty Rates Lower Than Official Rates in Most States
The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest report, Poverty in the United States: 2023, highlights a significant trend: in 46 states and the District of Columbia, the child Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate was lower than the official poverty rate among children. Only California, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey saw no significant statistical difference between the two rates. The SPM and the official poverty rate offer different perspectives on child poverty. While the official measure focuses on basic income thresholds, the SPM includes factors like tax credits (such as the Child Tax Credit), necessary expenses, and variations in housing costs. The SPM also accounts for the effects of government aid programs on low-income families, painting a broader picture of economic hardship and assistance.
Sabrina Halvorson | November 7, 2024
AP News | News Questions about sexual orientation and gender ID on track to be on US Census Bureau survey by 2027
Questions about sexual orientation, gender identity and changes to queries about race and ethnicity are on track to be asked in the most comprehensive survey of American life by 2027, U.S. Census Bureau officials said Thursday. The new or revised questions on the American Community Survey will show up on questionnaires and be asked by survey takers in as early as three years, with the data from those questions available the following year, officials told an advisory committee.
Mike Schneider | November 7, 2024
States
Utah
The Salt Lake Tribune | News Will Utah population growth mean another seat in Congress after the 2030 Census?
Utah’s increasing population has led to some growing pains, including a housing shortage, but may lead to more power in Washington, D.C. Three groups that follow reapportionment predict Utah will get a fifth seat in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2030 Census. As Utah continues to grow — reaching 4 million people by 2033, according to projections from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute — it will be one of nine states the Brennan Center for Justice predicts will gain at least one seat.
Megan Banta | November 12, 2024
Blog Posts and Reports
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Nearly Two-Thirds of U.S. Households are Family Households
Newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s historical America’s Families and Living Arrangements tables show that about 64% of households were classified as family households in 2024. This marks a significant change from 50 years ago, when 79% of households were family households. Family households are defined as those that include at least one person related to the householder by birth, marriage or adoption.
Angelica Vasquez | November 12, 2024
Springer Nature | Journal Article Towards a More Accurate Count: Identifying State-Level Predictors of the Undercount of Young Hispanic Children in the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Censuses
Even though young Hispanic children have experienced a high net undercount in the past three U.S. Censuses, we know very little about what explains the undercount. We examine how every state experienced the undercount in 2010 and 2020. We also investigate the association of state-level factors grouped into six domains—racial/ethnic and immigrant composition; political affiliation and immigrant policy climate; housing; family structure and living arrangements; socioeconomic status; and census response/return rates—with the net coverage rate of Hispanic children under age five in the 2010 and 2020 Census.
Susana M. Quiros & William P. O’Hare | November 8, 2024
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release Census Bureau Releases Intercensal Estimates of Total Population and Housing Units: 2010-2020
The U.S. Census Bureau today released the first set of 2010-2020 intercensal population and housing unit estimates. Intercensal estimates are produced once every 10 years after the decennial census. They revise the prior decade’s estimates to align with the most current census. Population estimates are available for the nation, states, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, counties, incorporated places and minor civil divisions, and Puerto Rico and its municipios. In addition, housing unit estimates are available for the nation, states and counties.
Kristina Barrett | November 7, 2024
U.S. Census Bureau | Blog Implementation of SPD 15 in the American Community Survey
Earlier this year, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published the results of its review of Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15) and issued updated standards for maintaining, collecting and presenting race and ethnicity data across federal agencies. The updated 2024 SPD 15 requires the use of a combined race and ethnicity question, the addition of a new “Middle Eastern or North African” minimum reporting category, and the collection of detailed race and ethnicity responses. Since then, programs across the U.S. Census Bureau have been assessing how and when to implement the updated race and ethnicity standards set by OMB in the 2024 SPD 15. We expect race and ethnicity data that align with the revised standards will enhance the entire range of Census Bureau data products that describe the demographic makeup and socioeconomic characteristics of our country and our diverse communities.
Donna M. Daily and Karen Battle | November 5, 2024
As always, you can find earlier clips here.
November 4, 2024 Census Coalition Clips
National
IPM Newsroom | News Some worry ‘Middle Eastern North African’ census designation will be misused if Trump wins
The category of Middle Eastern North African, or MENA, was added to the U.S. Census earlier this year. It’s a change the MENA community had been trying to achieve since 1997 when the last major changes to race and ethnic categories in the Census were made. The MENA race category was proposed during the Obama presidency and was ignored by the Trump administration in 2016. Then, in March, the Biden administration announced adding MENA as a race category to the next Census. But with a potential Trump presidency on the horizon, some are concerned that the census might become a tool to fuel xenophobia and target the MENA community.
Layli Nazarova | November 4, 2024
KFF | News Understanding Racial and Ethnic Identity in Federal Data and Impacts for Health Disparities
How we ask for, analyze, and report information on race and ethnicity affects our ability to understand the racial and ethnic composition of our nation’s population and our ability to identify and address racial disparities in health and health care. This brief provides an overview of how the concepts of race, ethnicity, and nationality have been defined and measured by the federal government through the U.S. Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) over time and the implications for health disparities. We acknowledge that this brief does not cover all the nuances and complexities of the topic of racial and ethnic identity and that there is variation in how people think, talk, and relate to race, ethnicity, and national identity.
Nambi Ndugga, Drishti Pillai, and Samantha Artiga | November 1, 2024
NBC News | News Rapidly rising rents squeeze millions in the middle class
Rent costs have long weighed on lower-income households — now it’s coming for the middle class. Nearly 4 in 10 middle-class renter households are burdened by costs, an NBC News analysis of Census Bureau data found. That’s up almost 20% since 2019, while the already high share of cost-burdened, low-income households rose just 2%.
Jasmine Cui | October 31, 2024
New Scientist | News Simple fix could make US census more accurate but just as private
The US Census Bureau processes data before publishing it in order to keep personal information private – but a new approach could maintain the same privacy while improving accuracy.
Jeremy Hsu | October 30, 2024
States
Arizona
AZ Capitol Times | News Census reveals where Arizonans are going to and coming from
Wondering where all those new Arizonans are coming from? New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that more than 256,000 people moved here last year from somewhere else. And close to a quarter of them arrived here from another country. Still, there was a lot of what’s called domestic migration. That includes more than 54,000 former Californians who, if you believe some of the political rhetoric, are people fleeing because of that state’s liberal policies.
Howard Fischer | October 28, 2024
Florida
Public Service News | News Florida’s census undercount poses risks to funding for vital services
According to some experts, a significant undercount in Florida’s 2020 census may have lasting consequences for the state, jeopardizing vital funding and representation for communities in need. The census affects funding allocations for key Medicaid and early education programs. Dominic Calabro, president and CEO of Florida Tax Watch, said the 750,000 uncounted residents have left the state “shortchanged,” costing Florida billions in federal resources and potentially reducing its influence in national elections.
Trimmel Gomes | November 4, 2024
Washington
Washington State Hospital Association | News SOGI in the spotlight
In 2021, the state of Washington directed hospitals to report patient sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data (WAC 246-455-025). It was soon clear that tricky questions needed answers before the law could be effectively implemented. How could caregivers ensure patients felt safe providing very personal information? Did different collection methods — like spoken, written or entered in online portals — face different privacy concerns? Were staff trained on LGBTQ+ health? To help address these challenges, WSHA convened subject matter experts to design a new data collection framework for hospitals.
Abby Berube | October 30, 2024
Blog Posts and Reports
U.S. Census Bureau | Press Release New Financial Data for the Census of Governments Now Available
The U.S. Census Bureau today released the 2022 Census of Governments Finance Component which provides detailed data on revenues, expenditures and debt by level of government including state, local, and state and local figures combined. Local government data include counties, cities, township governments, special districts and public school systems. The Census of Governments Finance Component is the only known comprehensive source of state and local government finance data collected across the nation using uniform definitions, concepts and procedures.
Jewel Jordan | October 31, 2024
Prison Policy Initiative | Blog If the Census Bureau truly values accuracy, it should count incarcerated people at home
If the Census Bureau truly values accuracy, it should count incarcerated people at home. The Census Bureau’s current method of counting people in prison and jail is prone to errors with sizable consequences. Counting incarcerated people at home can produce more accurate data. It is no secret that the Census Bureau counts incarcerated people in the wrong place — a prison or jail cell — instead of in their actual communities. As a result, when states and local governments use census data to draw new political boundaries during their redistricting process, they inadvertently give residents of districts with correctional facilities greater political clout at the expense of everyone else — a problem known as prison gerrymandering.
Aleks Kajstura | October 30, 2024
