2010 Census Release

[Htown Harry]

The Census Bureau will release the official "number" representing 2010 U.S. population tomorrow morning: Census 2010 News | Media Advisory — U.S. Census Bureau to Present A New Portrait of America, First 2010 Census Results

The 2000 number was 281,421,000.

The Census Bureau's "clock" shows 311 million right now, based on estimating methods that are repeated year-to-year.

My guess for tomorrow's number? 309 million.

 

[mickeyd]

PEOPLE: 308,745,538
DEBT: $13,868,461,000,000

You were pretty darn close. Glad that Texas will be getting 4 more seats in Congress.

 

[Htown Harry]

You were pretty darn close. Glad that Texas will be getting 4 more seats in Congress.

Nothing but luck on the guess...

I guess I'm glad for Texas at some level, but there's no joy in thinking about the Texas legislature going into session in January with redistricting as a major distraction.

140 days of sausage-making once every two years is bad enough as it is.

This NYT graphic summarizing the population change and redistricting data by state is pretty good:

Which States Will Gain or Lose Seats in Congress - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

Having lived in Texas all of my adult life, I had assumed bitterly partisan congressional redistricting fights are something that every state goes through. The Times' data show it isn't so:

• 7 states have only one representative in Congress, so there is no need to draw up districts
• Another 6 use some sort of commission structure to draw up districts, presumably with at least some insulation from direct political influence
• Iowa and Nebraska have their own way of doing things, apparently non-partisan

One other fact I found interesting: the only state to lose population the last 10 years was Michigan.