2000 United States census

The 2000 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 census. This was the twenty-second federal census and was at the time the largest civilly administered peacetime effort in the United States.

Approximately 16 percent of households received a "long form" of the 2000 census, which contained over 100 questions. It would be the last census to include the "long form", since subsequent censuses, starting with the 2010 census, would be "short form" only, with the more detailed questions being replaced by the new American Community Survey. Full documentation on the 2000 census, including census forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

This was the first census in which a stateCaliforniarecorded a population of over 30 million, as well as the first in which two statesCalifornia and Texasrecorded populations of more than 20 million.

Data availability Microdata from the 2000 census is freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. Personally identifiable information will be available in 2072.

State rankings

Rank State Population as of2000 census Population as of1990 census Change Percentchange 1 33,871,648 29,760,021 4,111,627 13.8% 2 20,851,820 16,986,510 3,865,510 22.8% 3 18,976,457 17,990,455 986,002 5.5% 4 15,982,378 12,937,926 3,044,452 23.5% 5 12,419,293 11,430,602 988,691 8.6% 6 12,281,054 11,881,643 399,411 3.4% 7 11,353,140 10,847,115 506,025 4.7% 8 9,938,444 9,295,297 643,147 6.9% 9 8,414,350 7,730,188 684,162 8.9% 10 8,186,453 6,478,216 1,708,237 26.4% 11 8,049,313 6,628,637 1,420,676 21.4% 12 7,078,515 6,187,358 891,157 14.4% 13 6,349,097 6,016,425 332,672 5.5% 14 6,080,485 5,544,159 536,326 9.7% 15 5,894,121 4,866,692 1,027,429 21.1% 16 5,689,283 4,877,185 812,098 16.7% 17 5,595,211 5,117,073 478,138 9.3% 18 5,363,675 4,891,769 471,906 9.6% 19 5,296,486 4,781,468 515,018 10.8% 20 5,130,632 3,665,228 1,465,404 40.0% 21 4,919,479 4,375,099 544,380 12.4% 22 4,468,976 4,219,973 249,003 5.9% 23 4,447,100 4,040,587 406,513 10.1% 24 4,301,261 3,294,394 1,006,867 30.6% 25 4,041,769 3,685,296 356,473 9.7% 26 4,012,012 3,486,703 525,309 15.1% 27 3,450,654 3,145,585 305,069 9.7% 28 3,421,399 2,842,321 579,078 20.4% 29 3,405,565 3,287,116 118,449 3.6% 30 2,926,324 2,776,755 149,569 5.4% 31 2,844,658 2,573,216 271,442 10.5% 32 2,688,418 2,477,574 210,844 8.5% 33 2,673,400 2,350,725 322,675 13.7% 34 2,233,169 1,722,850 510,319 29.6% 35 1,998,257 1,201,833 796,424 66.3% 36 1,819,046 1,515,069 303,977 20.1% 37 1,808,344 1,793,477 14,867 0.8% 38 1,711,263 1,578,385 132,878 8.4% 39 1,293,953 1,006,749 287,204 28.5% 40 1,274,923 1,227,928 46,995 3.8% 41 1,235,786 1,109,252 126,534 11.4% 42 1,211,537 1,108,229 103,308 9.3% 43 1,048,319 1,003,464 44,855 4.5% 44 902,195 799,065 103,130 12.9% 45 783,600 666,168 117,432 17.6% 46 754,844 696,004 58,840 8.5% 47 642,200 638,800 3,400 0.5% 48 626,932 550,043 76,889 14.0% 49 608,827 562,758 46,069 8.2% – 572,059 606,900 -34,841 -5.7% 50 493,782 453,588 40,194 8.9%   281,421,906 248,709,873 32,712,033 13.2%

City rankings Top 100 Rank City State Population Region 1 New York NY 8,008,278 Northeast 2 Los Angeles CA 3,694,820 West 3 Chicago IL 2,896,016 Midwest 4 Houston TX 1,953,631 South 5 Philadelphia PA 1,517,550 Northeast 6 Phoenix AZ 1,321,045 West 7 San Diego CA 1,223,400 West 8 Dallas TX 1,188,580 South 9 San Antonio TX 1,144,646 South 10 Detroit MI 951,270 Midwest 11 San Jose CA 894,943 West 12 Indianapolis IN 791,926 Midwest 13 San Francisco CA 776,733 West 14 Jacksonville FL 735,617 South 15 Columbus OH 711,470 Midwest 16 Austin TX 656,562 South 17 Baltimore MD 651,154 South 18 Memphis TN 650,100 South 19 Milwaukee WI 596,974 Midwest 20 Boston MA 589,141 Northeast 21 Washington DC 572,059 South 22 Nashville-Davidson TN 569,891 South 23 El Paso TX 563,662 South 24 Seattle WA 563,374 West 25 Denver CO 554,636 West 26 Charlotte NC 540,828 South 27 Fort Worth TX 534,694 South 28 Portland OR 529,121 West 29 Oklahoma City OK 506,132 South 30 Tucson AZ 486,699 West 31 New Orleans LA 484,674 South 32 Las Vegas NV 478,434 West 33 Cleveland OH 478,403 Midwest 34 Long Beach CA 461,522 West 35 Albuquerque NM 448,607 West 36 Kansas City MO 441,545 Midwest 37 Fresno CA 427,652 West 38 Virginia Beach VA 425,257 South 39 San Juan PR 421,958 40 Atlanta GA 416,474 South 41 Sacramento CA 407,018 West 42 Oakland CA 399,484 West 43 Mesa AZ 396,375 West 44 Tulsa OK 393,049 South 45 Omaha NE 390,007 Midwest 46 Minneapolis MN 382,618 Midwest 47 Honolulu HI 371,657 West 48 Miami FL 362,470 South 49 Colorado Springs CO 360,890 West 50 St. Louis MO 348,189 Midwest 51 Wichita KS 344,284 Midwest 52 Santa Ana CA 337,977 West 53 Pittsburgh PA 334,563 Northeast 54 Arlington TX 332,969 South 55 Cincinnati OH 331,285 Midwest 56 Anaheim CA 328,014 West 57 Toledo OH 313,619 Midwest 58 Tampa FL 303,447 South 59 Buffalo NY 292,648 Northeast 60 St. Paul MN 287,151 Midwest 61 Corpus Christi TX 277,454 South 62 Aurora CO 276,393 West 63 Raleigh NC 276,093 South 64 Newark NJ 273,546 Northeast 65 Lexington-Fayette KY 260,512 South 66 Anchorage AK 260,283 West 67 Louisville KY 256,231 South 68 Riverside CA 255,166 West 69 St. Petersburg FL 248,232 South 70 Bakersfield CA 247,057 West 71 Stockton CA 243,771 West 72 Birmingham AL 242,820 South 73 Jersey City NJ 240,055 Northeast 74 Norfolk VA 234,403 South 75 Baton Rouge LA 227,818 South 76 Hialeah FL 226,419 South 77 Lincoln NE 225,581 Midwest 78 Greensboro NC 223,891 South 79 Plano TX 222,030 South 80 Rochester NY 219,773 Northeast 81 Glendale AZ 218,812 West 82 Akron OH 217,074 Midwest 83 Garland TX 215,768 South 84 Madison WI 208,054 Midwest 85 Fort Wayne IN 205,727 Midwest 86 Bayamon PR 203,499 87 Fremont CA 203,413 West 88 Scottsdale AZ 202,705 West 89 Montgomery AL 201,568 South 90 Shreveport LA 200,145 South 91 Augusta-Richmond County GA 199,775 South 92 Lubbock TX 199,564 South 93 Chesapeake VA 199,184 South 94 Mobile AL 198,915 South 95 Des Moines IA 198,682 Midwest 96 Grand Rapids MI 197,800 Midwest 97 Richmond VA 197,790 South 98 Yonkers NY 196,086 Northeast 99 Spokane WA 195,629 West 100 Glendale CA 194,973 West

Locations of 50 most populous cities

Population profile

The U.S. resident population includes the total number of people in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Bureau also enumerated the residents of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico; its population was 3,808,610, an 8.1% increase over the number from a decade earlier.

In an introduction to a more detailed population profile (see references below), the Census Bureau highlighted the following facts about U.S. population dynamics: 75% of respondents said they were White or Caucasian and no other race; Hispanics accounted for 12.5% of the U.S. population, up from 9% in 1990;Census 2000 Brief: The Hispanic Population, https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/2000/briefs/c2kbr01-03.pdf 12.4% (34.5 million Americans) were of German descent; 12.3% were of Black or African American descent; 3.6% of respondents were Asian; 2.4% (6.8 million Americans)Jayson, Sharon. Colorblind' Generation Doesn't Blink at interracial Relationships". USA Today. February 7, 2006: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. October 25, 2010. of respondents were multiracial (2 or more races). The 2000 census was the first time survey options for multiracial Americans were provided. Between 1990 and 2000, the population aged 45 to 54 grew by 49% and those aged 85 and older grew 38%; Women outnumbered men two to one among those aged 85 and older; Almost one in five adults had some type of disability in 1997 and the likelihood of having a disability increased with age; Families (as opposed to men or women living alone) still dominated American households, but less so than they did thirty years ago; Since 1993, both families and non-families have seen median household incomes rise, with "households headed by a woman without a spouse present" growing the fastest; People in married-couple families had the lowest poverty rates; The poor of any age were more likely than others to lack health insurance coverage; The number of elementary and high school students in 2000 fell just short of the all-time high of 49 million reached in 1970; Improvements in educational attainment cross racial and ethnic lines; and The majority (51%) of U.S. households had access to computers; 42% had Internet access.

Changes in population

Regionally, the South and West experienced the bulk of the nation's population increase: 14,790,890 and 10,411,850, respectively. This meant that the mean center of U.S. population moved to Phelps County, Missouri. The Northeastern United States grew by 2,785,149; the Midwest by 4,724,144.

(maps not to scale)

Reapportionment

The results of the census are used to determine how many congressional districts each state is apportioned. Congress defines the formula, in accordance with Title 2 of the U.S. Code, to reapportion among the states the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. The apportionment population consists of the resident population of the fifty states, plus the overseas military and federal civilian employees and their dependents living with them who could be allocated to a state. Each member of the House represents a population of about 647,000. The populations of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are excluded from the apportionment population because they do not have voting seats in the U. S. House of Representatives.

Since the first census in 1790, the decennial count has been the basis for the United States representative form of government. Article I, Section II specifies that "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative." In 1790, each member of the House represented about 34,000 residents. Since then, the House more than quadrupled in size, and in 1911 the number of representatives was fixed at 435. Today, each member represents about 20 times as many constituents.

Adjustment controversy

In the years leading up to the 2000 census, there was substantial controversy over whether the Bureau should adjust census figures based on a follow-up survey, called the post-enumeration survey, of a sample of blocks. (In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that the Constitution prohibits the use of such figures for apportionment purposes, but it may be permissible for other purposes where feasible.) The controversy was partly technical, but also partly political, since based on data from the 1990 census both parties believed that adjustment would likely have the effect, after redistricting, of slightly increasing Democratic representation in legislative bodies, but would also give Utah an additional, probably Republican, representative to Congress.

Following the census, discrepancies between the adjusted census figures and demographic estimates of population change could not be resolved in time to meet legal deadlines for the provision of redistricting data, and the Census Bureau therefore recommended that the unadjusted results be used for this purpose. This recommendation was followed by the Secretary of Commerce (the official in charge of making the determination).

Utah controversy