Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts a complete accounting of every resident in the United States. The most recent count was conducted on April 1, 2000. The next count is scheduled for April 1, 2010.
This count is required by federal law and the data are used to decide how much federal money will be distributed to states and how political representation will be apportioned. One of the more important outcomes of Census 2000 for Arizona is that the state gained two additional congressional seats.
Every adult and child living in the United States is counted in the Census including all non-citizens residing in the United States and those who do not have permanent addresses or homes, such as migrant farm-workers.
The standard information provided by the Census is household composition, gender, age, date of birth, Hispanic ethnicity and race. Additional information collected from a sample of the population include marital status, educational attainment, ancestry, language spoken at home, disability, employment, travel to work, income, housing structure (age, plumbing, facilities), and housing costs for mortgage/rent and utilities.
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