Population Bracketology from the US Census Bureau

Think you know which states or cities have the most people living in them ? Test your knowledge of population data! The Census Bureau has put together its own version of March Madness with a Population Bracket for either states or cities. Click here to go to the Bureau's website and give it a shot.

Start by choosing your geographic level: metro areas or states. Click on the name in each match-up that you think has the larger population. Green shows a correct answer, red indicates an incorrect answer. When you have opposing names picked for the next round, pick again. See how close you can come to a perfect score of 63. When you are finished, play again or mouse-over results to view the most current population estimates for each pair.

Migration Flow Patterns By County Now Available!

Based on data collected during the American Community Survey from 2006 to 2010, county-to-county migration tables are now available from the U.S Census Bureau. These migration tables give added information on the paths of the 17.3 million people who moved to another county. The tables provide the current county of residence, the county of residence one year ago and the estimated number of movers between the counties. Additional tables provide the same information broken down by selected characteristics: age, sex, race or Hispanic origin.

The Census Bureau has developed its first beta version of an online mapping tool called Census Flows Mapper. It is an interactive application that allows users to select a county in the U.S. and view the outbound, inbound and net migration flows for that county. Additionally, users can choose flows based on characteristics such as age, sex, race or Hispanic origin. The application also allows users to download the data for the flow they have selected, zoom in and out on the map to an area of interest, view additional statistics of the selected county and print their map to a PDF file. 

Try out this new feature from the Census Bureau at:

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/cb13-52.html 

And click on the map below to see a sample of what the maps look like!

Gearing Up for 2012 Census of Agriculture

Surveys are now arriving in mailboxes around the nation to help identify all active farms in the United States. The National Agricultural Classification Survey (NACS), which asks landowners whether or not they are farming and for basic farm information, is one of the most important early steps used to determine who should receive a 2012 Census of Agriculture report form. The Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them.

“We are asking everyone who receives the NACS to respond even if they are not farming so that we build the most accurate and comprehensive mailing list to account for all of U.S. agriculture in the Census,” said NASS’s Census and Survey Director, Renee Picanso. “The Census is the leading source of facts about American agriculture and the only source of agricultural statistics that is comparable for each county in the nation. Farm organizations, businesses, government decision-makers, commodity market analysts, news media, researchers and others use Census data to inform their work.”

NACS is required by law as part of the U.S. Census of Agriculture. By this same law, all information reported by individuals is kept confidential. NASS will mail the 2012 Census of Agriculture later this year and data will be collected into early 2013.

“The NACS survey is the first step in getting a complete count, so we ask everyone who receives a survey to complete and return it,” said Picanso. “The Census is a valuable way for producers and rural America to show their strength – in numbers.”

The 2012 Census of Agriculture is your voice, your future, your responsibility. For more information about NACS, the Census of Agriculture, or to add your name to the Census mail list, visit the Census of Agriculture webpage