It’s the U.S. Census Bureau’s mission to measure America – our people, places, and economy.
The essential information we collect makes it possible for decision makers to understand how our country is changing. It helps the public analyze whether the nation is dedicating the right resources to the right places. And, in a critical way, it gives researchers the tools to determine what works and what needs improvement in our democracy.
The 2018 “Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act” (Public Law 115-435, “Evidence Act”) recognizes the value of evidence for government to run effectively and efficiently.
Learn more about how the Census Bureau supports evidence-building across government through our core mission, and how we measure the effectiveness of our own work.
See how the Census Bureau is implementing the individual components and requirements of the Foundations for Evidence Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) within the Census Bureau.
Our evidence-building program is grounded in strong commitments from leadership and a team of evidence-focused professionals from across the agency. These include program administrators, performance managers, strategic planners, policy and budget staff, evaluators, analysts, and statisticians. They work together to ensure that we are meeting our goals and working effectively.
The Census Bureau shares its expertise so Federal, state, and local governments can better understand the populations they serve. Advances in data science allow us to safely and securely combine data sets from multiple sources. This allows us to advance the Census Bureau's mission of providing timely and unbiased data to support evidence-based decision making.