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Blog Category: Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves

U.S. Launches Interactive HIV/AIDS Database on Census.gov

Submitted on July 23, 2012 - 10:45am
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AIDS 2012 logo

The U.S. Census Bureau today launched an interactive global resource on the prevalence of HIV infection and AIDS cases and deaths. The database was developed in 1987 and now holds 149,000 statistics, an increase of approximately 10,800 new estimates in the last year, making it the most complete of its kind in the world. The launch comes as thousands of people worldwide meet in Washington, D.C., for the International AIDS Conference this week.

The resource is maintained by the Census Bureau with funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby, head of PEPFAR, said on the launch, “This release of the HIV/AIDS database will expand global access to data that are critical to understanding the epidemic. This information is invaluable for the evidence-based response PEPFAR is championing.”

Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said “This database provides the people who need it with quality statistics — supporting the life-saving efforts of our partners at PEPFAR and USAID and the doctors, nurses and public health officials working to reach the end of AIDS.”

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Census Innovation Day: Government at the Speed of Business

Submitted on June 11, 2012 - 12:37pm
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Groves address the adience

Guest blog post by Robert Groves, Director of Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau

I’m blogging from the Census Bureau’s Innovation Day event. We’re highlighting for all our staff the newest tools and techniques that we’re developing to do our work more efficiently.

These are the fruits of programs that seek ideas from every staff member, from the newest to the most senior, about how to do our work for less money, to do it faster, and to complete it with higher quality. Hundreds of proposals were submitted and scores of projects are underway to introduce the new procedures. The depth of creativity within the staff rivals that of any organization.

What are we up to?

The Census Bureau produces most all information we know about the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics continuously. We also are the key supplier of information on the economy—retail sales and other service sector volume, manufacturing, foreign trade, state and local government finances, and a host of others. Almost every week, information that answers the question, “How are we doing?” is released.

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2010 Census Statistics Showed Asians Were Fastest-Growing Race Group

Submitted on May 3, 2012 - 8:00am
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Director Groves at Profile America Forum

Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau counts every resident in the United States. It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the decennial census determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities.

Yesterday, the Census Bureau held "Profile America Forum on the Asian Population," a presentation on the release of a 2010 Census brief on the Asian population in the United States.

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Census Director Robert Groves to Leave the Commerce Department This Fall

Submitted on April 10, 2012 - 1:00pm
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Secretary Locke, Acting Deputy Secretary Blank and Census Director Groves Stand Before the Official Population of the United States (April 1, 2010)

Guest blog post by Deputy Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank

Census Bureau Director Robert Groves has been an exceptional and dedicated leader. Over the past several years, Dr. Groves has done outstanding work to transform and modernize the Census Bureau. So our announcement today is bittersweet: Dr. Groves is resigning as Director of the Census Bureau in August to become the provost of Georgetown University. This is a significant and highly deserved honor for him–and a major capstone to his notable academic career. 

Dr. Groves has led the Census Bureau for almost three years. During that time, his remarkable leadership of the 2010 Census resulted in a historic, successful operation that was completed on time and $1.9 billion under budget. Dr. Groves helped shape a strategy for planning a more cost-efficient 2020 Census and launched an employee-led operational efficiency program that saved millions of additional taxpayer dollars. He also led a formal reorganization of the Census Bureau, reestablishing the research directorate to spur technical innovation. With the implementation of a corporate hiring and job rotation program, Dr. Groves has worked to expand the breadth of skills among Census staff to effectively lead the Bureau into the 21st century.

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Back to the 1940s

Submitted on April 2, 2012 - 1:27pm
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Census Bureau Director Rober M. Groves Release Records from 1940 Census

Guest blog post by U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves

On April 2, 2012 the Census Bureau did something unique, a once-in-a-decade action. Throughout all other times, we focus on keeping confidential the social and economic data that households and businesses provide us. Once every decade we release the individual records of a 72-year-old census. This year it was the 1940 Census.

Approaching that day, the buzz in the genealogy world was deafening; they have been waiting 10 years to fill in their family trees, to learn new things about their ancestors, and to expand their insight into their lives.

As the genealogist of my family, I can’t wait to look up my grandparents, aunts and uncles, as well as my parents’ forms. The forms won’t be indexed by name immediately, so we’ll have to link addresses of our ancestors to enumeration districts and then browse the enumeration district looking for our relatives. Right now, my tracking of the Groves’ family goes back to 1670 on the Isle of Wight, off the coast of England, but it ends in 1930. The 1940 Census allows me to see records of people I remember meeting in my youth.

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Census Bureau Releases National-Level Data on Education Levels, Bachelor's Degree Attainment Tops 30 Percent for the First Time

Submitted on February 24, 2012 - 11:37am
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Census Bureau Releases National-Level Data on Education Levels, Bachelor's Degree Attainment Tops 30 Percent for the First Time

The U.S. Census Bureau yesterday released five data products that show many facets of educational attainment across the nation and present statistics on the levels of education achieved by various demographic characteristics. In March 2011, for the first time ever, more than 30 percent of U.S. adults 25 and older had at least a bachelor's degree, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. As recently as 1998, fewer than one-quarter of people this age had this level of education. In addition, more than one-third (20 million) of the nation's 56 million bachelor's degree holders held their degree in the broad field of science and engineering, including 4 million each in the social sciences and engineering and 3 million in biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.

This information comes from Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011, a collection of national-level tables from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). Historical tables go back to the late 1940s, when the CPS first began collecting data on attainment.

“This is an important milestone in our history,” Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said. “For many people, education is a sure path to a prosperous life. The more education people have the more likely they are to have a job and earn more money, particularly for individuals who hold a bachelor's degree.”

From 2001 to 2011, the number of Hispanics with a bachelor's or higher education increased 80 percent from 2.1 million to 3.8 million. The percentage of Hispanics with a bachelor's or higher education increased from 11.1 percent in 2001 to 14.1 percent in 2011. Overall, the increase in the proportion of the population with a bachelor's degree or higher went from 26.2 percent to 30.4 percent. Release

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Census Bureau and National Urban League Host Forum on Black Population

Submitted on February 1, 2012 - 5:40pm
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High and members of the panel

The Commerce Department's U.S. Census Bureau today hosted a forum with the National Urban League on the black population at Black Entertainment Television studios in Washington, D.C. The event highlighted statistics from the 2010 Census, providing a portrait of the black population in the U.S. Following the presentation, an expert panel discussed the statistics and their implications. Kristal Lauren High of Politic365 moderated.

Joining Census Burea Director Robert Groves and other Bureau officials were National Urban League officials, including Marc Morial, chief executive officer and president. Experts on the panel from public and private universities and centers for population, political and economic studies responded to questions submitted via Facebook and Twitter and broadcast on the Census Bureau's Ustream channel.

In his remarks, Groves noted that today is the beginning of Black History Month. In 1976, as part of the nation’s bicentennial, the original 1926 Black History Week was expanded into a month. Each year, U.S. presidents proclaim February as National African-American History Month. The U.S. Census Bureau has gathered data and facts relating to Black History Month in its Facts for Features: February 2012.

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2010 Census Shows Nearly Half of American Indians and Alaska Natives Report Multiple Races

Submitted on January 26, 2012 - 5:30pm
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National Museum of the American Indian Director Kevin Gover (Photo: Heather Schmaedeke )

U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves released a 2010 Census brief on the American Indian and Alaska Native population (PDF) yesterday and joined an expert panel in addressing the current social and economic impact of this population and at a forum held at the National Museum of the American Indian. The event highlighted statistics from the 2010 Census, providing a portrait of the American Indian and Alaska Native population in the U.S. and its size and growth at various geographic levels.

The brief, The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010, shows almost half (44 percent) of this population, or 2.3 million people, reported being American Indian and Alaska Native in combination with one or more other races. This multiracial group grew by 39 percent from 2000 to 2010.  Census infograph

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Census Report Reveals Shifts in State Populations, Texas Gains Most

Submitted on December 21, 2011 - 2:55pm
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Alternate TextMap of U.S. showing population shifts

First population estimates since 2010 show slowest national growth since the 1940s

A new report from the Commerce Department's U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the United States population grew to 311.6 million between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011, an increase of 2.8 million. This marks the lowest overall growth rate for the U.S. since before the baby boom, according to Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. “Our nation is constantly changing and these estimates provide us with our first measure of how much each state has grown or declined in total population since Census Day 2010.”

The report shows that Texas gained more people than any other state during the Census period (529,000). Other fast-growing states included California (438,000), Florida (256,000), Georgia (128,000) and North Carolina (121,000). Combined, these five states accounted for slightly more than half the nation’s total population growth. California remained the most populous state, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. While the District of Columbia experienced the fastest growth, with a population climbing by 2.7 percent, Rhode Island, Michigan and Maine each saw a decrease in total population. The Census Bureau will release 2011 estimates of the total population of counties and incorporated places beginning in 2012.  Census release  |  Comunicado de prensa en español

Census Bureau Releases Most Up-to-Date Statistics for Every Community Nationwide

Submitted on December 8, 2011 - 11:47am
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Data collected from the American Community Survey are used by transportation planners to improve roads and modes of transportation and reduce traffic congestion

The U.S. Census Bureau today released findings from the American Community Survey — the most relied-on source for detailed, up-to-date socio-economic statistics covering every community in the nation every year — for the combined years from 2006 to 2010.

Consisting of about 11 billion individual estimates and covering more than 670,000 distinct geographies, the five-year estimates give even the smallest communities timely information on more than 40 topics, such as educational attainment, income, occupation, commuting to work, language spoken at home, nativity, ancestry and selected monthly homeowner costs.

“These estimates are ideal for public officials to use to make key decisions,” Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said. “School boards will find them helpful in forecasting demand for classroom space, teachers and workforce training programs, and they will be a tremendous asset to planners in identifying traffic concerns and building roads and transit systems to ease commutes. Local governments will also find them useful in forecasting needs for services such as police and fire protection.”

Today's release is based on completed interviews with almost 2 million housing units each year from 2006 through 2010. By pooling several years of survey responses, the American Community Survey can generate detailed statistical portraits of smaller geographies. The Census Bureau issues new sets of these five-year estimates every year, permitting users to track trends in even the smallest of areas over time.

Visitors to the Census Bureau website can find their community's estimates in the American FactFinder database. Release

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