A Texas-sized census count will take a lot of coordination. Many local communities are already working hard to ensure a complete count for their area. Tell us what’s happening in your community?
The first census was conducted in 1790, as required by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
The goal of the decennial census is to get a complete count of all residents of the United States. This means counting everyone once, only once, and in the right place.
Census records are kept confidential for 72 years until they are released by the National Archives.
For the first time, households will be able to submit response to the census online.
Online
Mail
PhoneCensus research has shown some populations historically have been, or are at risk of being, missed in the census at disproportionately higher rates. The latest estimates indicate approximately 25%, or nearly 7 million, of Texans live in hard to count neighborhoods. For the first time, households will be able to submit response to the census online. In 2017, nearly 20% of Texas households had either no internet access or dial-up only. Here are some of the areas that are hard to count:
Click on each "Hard to Count" category to see description.
Texas has the second largest number of Hispanics and African Americans and third largest number of Asian populations of all states in the U.S.
An estimated 5 percent, or about 2.2 million, of kids under the age of 5 were not counted in the 2010 Census, including about 75,000 Texas children. [Read more...]
Over one in three Texas households are renter-occupied.
Approximately 5% of Texas households are considered crowded households, where more than 1 person per room is living in the household.
An estimated 1.2 million Texas households are single-parent households, and all of these households are households with children under 18 years of age.
An estimated 4.85 million foreign born reside in Texas and make up 17% of the total state population.
Texas leads the nation in population living below poverty. An estimated 14.7%, or over 4 million Texans live below the poverty level, and an additional 20%, or over 5 million people, live just above the poverty level, with incomes between 100 and 200% of the poverty level.
Approximately 8% of Texas households are limited English speaking households, with 85% of these households speaking Spanish, 9% speaking an Asian or Pacific Islander language, 4% speaking Indo-European languages, and 2% speaking other languages.
Nearly 1 in 4 Texas housing units are in buildings with 2 or more units and 15% of Texas housing units are in buildings with 10 or more units.
Local Update of Census Addresses Operation – once a decade, voluntary opportunity for tribal, state, and local governments to review Census Bureau addresses and provide new and updated existing addresses to be included in the decennial census. –Completed.
Participant Statistical Areas Program – once a decade, voluntary opportunity for state and local governments to review and update selected Census Bureau geographies, including census tracts, block groups, and census designated places. – On-going. Contact us or attend one of our webinars to get involved.
Count review provides the opportunity for states to contribute to the accuracy and completeness of the Census count by identifying potentially missing housing units and missing or misallocated group quarters. After the 2010 Census, the Texas Demographic Center was able to identify 10,000 potentially missing housing units. – On-going. Contact us for more information.
The New Construction Program provides the opportunity for states and local governments to submit city-style mailing addresses for new units where construction began during or after March 1, 2018 and the address was not submitted to the Census Bureau as part of another geographic program. – On-going. Contact us for more information.
