FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
CONTACT OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
202-482-4883

“Today’s Census Bureau report shows that not only was the 2010 Census delivered on time and significantly under budget–but even more important, it was extremely accurate,” said Deputy U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank. “I am proud of the extraordinary accomplishment by the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department in its success with the massive 2010 Decennial Census effort that gathered data vital to understanding our nation’s population and to allocating equal representation in our democratic system. The accuracy of the 2010 Decennial Census is particularly impressive considering outside predictions of failure. The Census was able to reverse a decades-long decline in survey response rates of all kinds.

“However, as has been the case for some time, today’s release shows that certain populations were undercounted. More work remains to address persistent causes of undercounting, such as poverty, mobility, language isolation, low levels of education, and general awareness of the survey, in addition to duplicate counts among the elderly and college students living away from home. As a nation, it is imperative that we work to address economic inequalities that impact those populations by promoting education, opportunities and jobs–particularly those in high-paying, high-quality science, technology, engineering and math fields. Today’s Census Coverage Measurement (CCM) program results provide useful information that will pave the way for the Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Bureau to achieve an even better and more inclusive 2020 Census.”