The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title 13 U.S.C. § 11) is a part of the
United States Department of Commerce. It is the government agency
that is responsible for the United States Census.
In June 2007, President Bush nominated Steven H. Murdock to become the next director of the Census Bureau, replacing
Charles Louis Kincannon. In 2006, Kincannon said he would leave the agency when
a new director was confirmed. Kincannon said at the time he felt he had lost the confidence of the Commerce Department, which
oversees the bureau.[1] At the time of his nomination,
Murdock was the state demographer of Texas and the Chair of Demography and Organization Studies at
the University of Texas at San Antonio.[2]
Legal mandate
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The Constitution of the United States directs that the population be enumerated at least once every ten years (through the U.S. Census), and each state's number of Federal Representatives in the United
States Congress determined accordingly. The Census Bureau is mandated with fulfilling these obligations: the collecting of
statistics about the nation, its people, and economy. The Census Bureau's legal authority is codified in Title 13 of the United States Code. The first population census taken was in
1790. The Census Bureau now conducts a full population count every 10 years in years ending with a
0 (zero), and uses the term "decennial" to describe the operation.
In addition, the Bureau also conducts surveys on behalf of various Federal
Government and local government agencies on topics such as employment, crime, health, consumer expenditures, and housing.
Within the bureau, these are known as "demographic surveys" and are conducted perpetually between and during decennial (10-year)
population counts. For example, these surveys are: CPS, SIPP, HIS, and CE.
Organizational structure
US Census Bureau Regions, centred on and divided by its twelve regional offices.
Since 1903, the official census-taking agency of the United States government has been the Bureau of the Census. The Bureau is
headed by a Director, assisted by a Deputy Director and an Executive Staff composed of the associate directors.
The Census Bureau headquarters is located at 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland,
Maryland. There are regional offices in 12 cities: Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, Seattle, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and Los
Angeles. The National Processing Center is located in Jeffersonville,
Indiana. Additional temporary processing facilities are used to facilitate the decennial censuses. Out of the 12 regional
offices, thousands of full- and part-time field representatives work in efforts to do follow-up work on interviews for
demographic surveys. Usually, field representatives must visit individual addresses to gain the trust and co-operation of
interviewees.
The Census Bureau also runs the Census Information Center cooperative program that involves 58 "national, regional, and local
non-profit organizations." The CIC program aims to represent the interests of underserved communities.[3]
Census Regions and Divisions
- See also, Template:USRegions.
Official US Census Bureau Regions and Divisions
The United States Census Bureau also has official inter-state divisions, for grouping several states that have similarities
together. There are four official Regions, with nine official Divisions within those regions. They are listed below, with regions
bulletted, and divisions of the regions are grouped below and within.
Four Official Regions, with nine Official Divisions.
Population Radio
The Census Bureau also maintains the Population Radio, a real-time extrapolation of information on population, birth,
and death to give their approximation of the number of people in the United States and the world.
References
Notes
External links
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