The U.S. Census Bureau will hold a news conference on Thursday, August 12, to discuss the release of the first local-level results from the 2020 Census. The event will provide an initial analysis on population change, race, ethnicity, the age 18 and older population, and housing occupancy status.
Census data is used to allocate billions of dollars in federal funding for education, health, transportation, housing, community services, and job training. States and local governments also use the data to redraw legislative districts.
The timing of census data, delayed because of the pandemic, will make the upcoming year’s district design an unusually compressed process. The final release of usable data for that formal process may not occur until September or later, according to the discussion on the Conduit Street Podcast earlier this year – leaving district-drawing commissions at every level in a short timetable to develop their final work.