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We often describe how the data can benefit people when we encourage them to respond to the census or to a U.S. Census Bureau survey. For example, census data affect their voice in Congress through apportionment and in their state and local government through redistricting. 

One of the most motivating benefits we communicate is that these data from the Census Bureau inform the distribution of federal funding each year. Today, we provided an updated estimate of how much federal funding is guided in whole or in part by our data.

The report, Uses of Decennial Census Programs Data in Federal Funds Distribution: Fiscal Year 2021, analyzed federal assistance program spending that used Census Bureau data in whole or in part to determine how much money to allocate or eligibility for an assistance program. For the purposes of this analysis, Decennial Census Programs data include data produced by the decennial census, the American Community Survey (ACS), geographic programs supporting the decennial census and ACS, and related programs such as the annual population estimates.

The findings: 353 federal assistance programs used Census Bureau data to distribute more than $2.8 trillion in funds, including over $700 billion to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the inventory of programs that use our data shifts each fiscal year, this paper further demonstrates how critical the data are to our nation.

It is important to understand that the Census Bureau itself does not determine any particular funding formulas or distribute any funds for these programs, but our valuable data are used as an input into decisions that allocate that funding.

To develop the updated estimates, we analyzed funding allocations that use data related to the Decennial Census Programs, including:

• The decennial census, which counts the population once a decade.
• The American Community Survey, which provides detailed social, economic, housing and demographic characteristics for communities each year.
• Geographic programs. Geographic concepts like “urban” and “rural” are often used in federal funding allocations. The Census Bureau delineates these geographic areas after each census.
• Related data (such as income and poverty estimates, annual population estimates and state per capita income) which all use Decennial Census Programs data as a baseline.

The assistance programs primarily used these data sources to determine eligibility or how much money to allocate. Specifically, they often used a population threshold or a characteristic in their criteria.

The Census Bureau’s publicly available data enable federal programs to distribute funds for a broad range of assistance to state, local and tribal governments, organizations, households and individuals. In fact, we found programs that use our data across all seven categories of federal domestic assistance programs: formula grants, project grants, direct payments for specified use, direct payments with unrestricted use, direct loans, guaranteed and insured loans, and insurance.

We used USAspending.gov, the official source of U.S. government spending data, as the primary source for this analysis. Where the USAspending.gov data were incomplete, we drew the data from other sources, including System for Award Management (sam.gov), federal government budget requests and websites, and reports from the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office.

There may be some inconsistencies between USAspending.gov, sam.gov, and other sources. Any differences among the estimates may be methodological, as some sources aggregate awards received under specific assistance programs, while others cite enacted budgets for programs.

As a result, the program spending figures in today’s paper should be considered approximations.

The breadth of Census Bureau data and its uses have grown over the decades beyond the headcount used for congressional apportionment. Census Bureau data now inform how trillions of dollars in federal funds are distributed each year. Beyond funding, the data also help state and local governments, community organizations and the private sector make numerous decisions.

Ultimately, the value of the data comes from people across the country participating in the census, the ACS, and our other surveys. Your response leads to quality data that affect federal funding in your community and a host of other decisions.

A variety of free resources to learn how to access and use Census Bureau data are available from the Census Academy.

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