

- #2020 census gets cautious thumbsup from registration#
- #2020 census gets cautious thumbsup from plus#
Finally, administrative data from the Medicare program, adjusted for under-enrollment, was used to estimate the population ages 75 and older on Census Day since these cohorts were born before 1945 when vital records were less complete.Īlthough the main data for DA is administrative records, not sample surveys, there are a number of sources of potential uncertainty, including, for example, registration completeness, classification errors and differences in reporting between the 2020 census and the external data sources. International migration estimates employed a number of data sources, but mainly the American Community Survey for the foreign-born population younger than 75. Birth and death records for 1945-2020 are used to estimate the U.S.-born population under age 75 for Census Day, April 1, 2020.
#2020 census gets cautious thumbsup from plus#
DA uses the basic demographic accounting equation that the total population is equal to births minus deaths, plus immigration, minus emigration. population by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin using historical data on births and deaths, federal data on international migration and Medicare records. Demographic Analysis (DA) constructs a national estimate of the U.S. This post analyzes results from the two basic means the Census Bureau has used to estimate census coverage for the last seven censuses – the bureau’s Demographic Analysis and its Post-Enumeration Survey. The components include whether people were missed (thus, undercounted), as well as whether they were counted more than once or included in the count when they should not have been (thus, overcounted).īelow are key facts about data quality in the 2020 U.S. The PES not only provides similar measures of net undercount or overcount but also provides the components of that miscount. The result is a measure of net undercount or overcount, or how close the decennial census count is to the estimated population based on other data sources. For DA, the Census Bureau makes estimates of the population from public records and federal data, which the agency then compares with the census count for the total population and for demographic groups, including age, sex, racial and Hispanic origin groups.

The PES sample does not include group quarters such as prisons or college dorms, while the DA does include them in its estimate of the total population.

Its Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) is a sample survey of households whose responses are matched with responses from the 2020 census. Its Demographic Analysis (DA) uses birth and death records and other federal government data to develop a range of three estimates (low, middle and high) of the total population size. The Census Bureau publishes two main indicators of data quality for decennial censuses. By contrast, in the 2010 census, the Census Bureau estimated that no states had overcounts or undercounts. Those with undercounts were Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. The states with overcounts were Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Utah. The latest research, released in May 2022, found that the 2020 census overcounted household populations in eight states while undercounting household populations in six others.

The Census Bureau’s own research on data quality has concluded that the national total in the 2020 census was largely accurate, but has estimated miscounts for some states and demographic groups. Politics, wildfires and extreme weather also may have affected the once-in-a decade count, adding to the doubts among officials, experts and the general public. The coronavirus pandemic broke out in the United States just as the 2020 census got underway, causing an unprecedented disruption of operations and raising questions about the extent of undercounts or overcounts – with implications for political representation and the allocation of federal and state resources.
