Beginning with the Congressional Act of March 6, 1902, the U.S. Census Bureau was legally established as the official data collector for the United States of America. The Census Bureau routinely conducts multiple national, large-scale household surveys and censuses to provide the Administration; Congress; state, local, and tribal planners; the business community; trade associations; academicians; and other data users with a vast array of essential information. Most notable is the every 10-year (decennial) census of population and housing.
This section provides an overview of operations and systems in the 2010 Census of Population and Housing. To assist in understanding terms in the descriptions of many operations or to learn more about the 2010 Census, please refer to "www.2010census.gov" or the official 2010 Census glossary of acronyms, where detailed definitions of terms and acronyms can be found at
www.census.gov/dmd/www/glossary.html. Thumbnail descriptions are found in this section as well as the operational timeline for the operations and the contact information for the 12 regional offices.
The mission, upon which we define the requirements and build the systems, is the 2010 Census will conduct a census of population and housing, and disseminate the data to the President, the States, and to the American people. The scope of the 2010 Census is as follows:
- The 2010 Census shall cover the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Pacific Island Area of American Samoa, and Federally Affiliated Americans overseas.
- The Census Day for the 2010 Census shall be April 1, 2010; have a boundary reference date of January 1, 2010; and deliver apportionment counts to the President by December 31, 2010, and redistricting counts to the states by April 1, 2011.
- The 2010 Census concludes upon delivery of all products and the subsequent headquarters closeout activities ending September 30, 2013.
The focus of this section is the 2010 Census. It does not include descriptions of the American Community Survey or the Master Address File/Topographically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing(MAF/TIGER®) database Enhancement Program. It should also be noted that from a strategy and operational perspective, Puerto Rico is treated the same as the 50 States and the District of Columbia, with the exception of language (Spanish) and minor program modifications.