First 2020 Census Data Release Shows U.S. Population of 331,449,281

First 2020 Census Data Release Shows U.S. Population of 331,449,281
First 2020 Census Data Release Shows U.S. Resident Population of 331,449,281
First 2020 Census Data Release Shows U.S. Resident Population of 331,449,281
U.S. Census Bureau Today Delivers State Population Totals for Congressional Apportionment
April 26, 2021
Written by:
Brynn Epstein and Daphne Lofquist
The U.S. Census Bureau today
released
the first population counts from the 2020 Census.
At the same time, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo delivered to the President population counts used for
apportionment
, along with the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives that will be allocated to each state based on the 2020 Census.
The population counts used for apportionment include the total resident population for each of the 50 states, plus a count of U.S. military and federal civilian employees living overseas (and their dependents living with them) who could be allocated to a home state.
The 2020 Census shows that the resident population of the United States, including the 50 states and the District of Columbia, was 331,449,281 as of April 1, 2020, an increase of 7.4% since the 2010 Census.
Apportionment calculations based on the 2020 Census show that Texas, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon will gain seats, while California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia will lose seats.
What is Apportionment?
Apportionment is the process of distributing the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states. Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires that apportionment happen every 10 years based on population counts from the decennial census.
The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are not included in the apportionment process because they do not have voting seats in Congress, but population counts for those areas were also released today.
The populations of the U.S. Island Areas — American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—will not be included in this release, but resident population counts for those areas will be released later.
For more details on who was counted (and where they were counted), see the
Residence Criteria and Residence Situations for the 2020 Census
An
Apportionment Fact Sheet
is available that provides easily accessible and sharable information about apportionment in a one-page document.
Calculating Apportionment
The population counts used for apportionment include the total resident population for each of the 50 states, plus a count of U.S. military and federal civilian employees living overseas (and their dependents living with them) who could be allocated to a home state.
For more information about who is included in the apportionment population counts, visit our
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When calculating apportionment, each of the 50 states gets one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The rest of the seats are distributed based on each state’s apportionment population.
Following the 1940 Census, Congress adopted the
Method of Equal Proportions
for calculating how the rest of the seats are distributed. It has been used every decade since.
The method first calculates values based on each state’s total population and the number of potential seats each state could receive. It then ranks those values to determine how many additional seats each state gets.
A recently published
blog
describes the calculation process in more detail.
The video below describes the purpose and importance of apportionment. It also explains the apportionment process and how it’s calculated to ensure equal representation for all.
2020 Census Apportionment Results
The 2020 Census apportionment population for the 50 states is 331,108,434. The apportionment population is the sum of the resident population for the 50 states (330,759,736) and the overseas population for the 50 states (348,698).
Apportionment Population = Resident Population + Overseas Population
331,108,434                       330,759,736                     348,698
Based on the 2020 Census apportionment population counts, 7 House seats will shift among 13 states. One state will gain two seats (Texas), and 5 states will gain one seat (Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon). Seven states will lose one seat (California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia).
California, Texas, Florida, and New York are the four states that will have the largest number of representatives, and Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming are the states that will have only one representative each.
The average congressional district population size will increase. Each member of the House of Representatives will represent an average of 761,169 people based on the 2020 Census. This will be an increase of 50,402 (7.1% increase) compared with the average of 710,767 people per representative based on the 2010 Census.
Delaware will have the largest average district size (990,837), while Montana will have the smallest average district size (542,704).
2020 Census Resident Population
The 2020 Census resident population of 331,449,281 includes all people living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia as of April 1, 2020.
Of the U.S. resident population, 37.2% (123,425,864) lived in the five most populous states in 2020 and over a quarter (27.2%) were in the three largest states: California, Texas, and Florida (Table 1).
The five least-populous states had a combined resident population of 3,619,080. Those five states – Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota – made up 1.0% of the U.S. resident population.
The five least-populous states had a combined resident population of 3,619,080. Those five states – Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota – made up 1.0% of the U.S. resident population.
2020 Census Overseas Population
The 2020 Census overseas population for the United States, including the 50 states and the District of Columbia, was 350,686. This included military or civilian employees of the U.S. government who were stationed or assigned outside the United States on April 1, 2020, as well as their dependents living with them outside the United States.
U.S. government agencies and departments provided the Census Bureau with counts of their employees and their dependents living overseas by the employees’ home state listed in agency administrative records.
The five states with the largest overseas populations had a combined 41.7% (146,368) of the total overseas population. Three of the states with the largest overseas population were also the states with the largest resident population: California, Texas, and Florida (Table 3).
The five states with the smallest overseas population had a combined overseas population of 3,575, or 1.0% of the total overseas population. Three of the states with the smallest overseas population, Vermont, North Dakota, and Wyoming, were also some of the states with the smallest resident population.
More 2020 Census Apportionment Data
The 2020 Census apportionment data tables were published on the
apportionment press kit webpage
today, along with many other resources for information about apportionment.
A few days after the apportionment release, a set of supplemental tables will be published on a new 2020 Census Apportionment Results webpage that will be linked to the apportionment press kit webpage.
These tables will include additional data on the apportionment population and its components, as well as historical changes in the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Brynn Epstein is a statistician and an apportionment project analyst at the Census Bureau.
Daphne Lofquist is a statistician and an apportionment project analyst at the Census Bureau.
Story Ideas and Statistics
Director's Blog
The 2020 Census: Our Growing Nation
April 26, 2021
The U.S. Census Bureau released results from the 2020 Census, marking the 24th time the nation’s population has been counted.
Random Samplings Blog
Apportionment Population Counts and What to Expect on Release Day
April 26, 2021
Here at the U.S. Census Bureau, we’re excited to be nearing the important milestone of delivering the first results from the 2020 Census — the apportionment population counts.
More Blog Posts
This article was filed under:
Congressional Apportionment
Population
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