2001 Press Releases

Shifts in U.S. Population Will Affect Congressional Seats

Jan. 5, 2001

The population of the United States is more than 281 million people, as announced by the U.S. Census Bureau on December 28, 2000. The total has increased 13.2 percent from the last official census conducted in 1990.

U.S. law requires a census be taken every ten years, an undertaking that has been performed every decade since 1790. It forms the basis for determining how the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are equitably distributed among the 50 states. The census also is critical in determining how federal funds are distributed to states and localities.

The detailed data sought from census participants about age, education, income, family size and households are also used for a variety of academic and analytical endeavors conducted by both government and the private sector. In a brief statement issued upon receiving the 2000 information, President Clinton called the census "the longest continuous scientific effort in American democracy."

The 2000 census reveals significant regional shifts in population that will change the number of representatives some states hold in the U.S. Congress. The Census Bureau press release reports that the Southern and Western regions gained the most citizens.

Media reports following the announcement indicate the population shifts will mean a two-seat gain in the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas, but a two-seat loss for New York and Pennsylvania. As many as 12 other states will be affected by the new census totals, with a gain or loss of a single congressional seat.

State legislatures will work in the next year to re-draw the boundary lines for congressional districts so that each representative will have about 647,000 constituents.