Brookings, March 31, 2020: Census Day Is Here. How Is Our Nation Changing?
Once every decade, April 1 transforms into a little-known, if pivotal, holiday: Census Day, the official reporting date of the decennial U.S. census. Millions of Americans, many sequestered at home, are now completing their 2020 census information online, by phone, or by mail. In doing so, they are fulfilling an important civic duty, as mandated by the Constitution.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has required the Census Bureau to revise some of its schedule, the fruits of this mammoth survey will be rich and detailed information about the demographic state of our nation which will roll out over the course of next year. After, we should have the complete, precise picture of America’s population that only comes every ten years.
While we do not have the specific details of this picture yet, it is possible to make some educated predictions about what the 2020 census will tell us. Two decades into the 21st century, we are a country whose growth, spatial distribution, age structure, racial and ethnic diversity, and congressional apportionment will look much different than what is commonly perceived. Drawing from recent population estimates, surveys, and projections conducted by the Census Bureau and others, here are some headlines we can expect to find once the 2020 census is complete.
