The United States Constitution requires a census to be taken every ten years so that the seats in the House of Representatives can be reapportioned to the states in a fair manner. Census data are also used to apportion government funding for various social and economic programs.

Statutes governing the census are contained in Title 13 of the U.S. Code.

The U.S. Census Bureau is the major federal agency responsible for collecting, maintaining, and publishing census data.

In addition to providing a head count of the total U.S. population, the decennial census gathers data on social, demographic, and economic characteristics, including age, sex, race, household relationships, and home ownership.

To supplement the decennial statistics, which become outdated almost as soon as they are published, an American Community Survey, taken from a small sample of the population, provides annual profiles of the U.S. population.

The easiest way to access population, housing, economic, and geographic data collected by the various programs of the Census Bureau is through the Data.Census.gov website.

The Census Bureau Newsroom provides many informative press releases, articles, data, and other resources useful to journalists and researchers.

Below are a number of resources to assist with accessing and using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.