Censuses are not conducted in a vacuum. They occur amidst internal and external crisis, shifts in cultural interests, and events that become "defining moments" for each decade. Census data reflect the growth of the population as well as the changing values and interests of the American people.

Decennial Historical Facts provides a portrait of the United States both statistically and culturally in the following four areas:

Pop Culture – key milestones from the decade following the census.
Population
Census Details
10 Largest Urban Places

1980

ICONS: Ronald Reagan, Space Shuttle, Personal Computing

Population

226,542,199	U.S. Resident Population
64.0	Population per square mile of land area
11.4	Percent increase of population from 1970 to 1980
50	Number of States

10 Largest Urban Places

Rank	Place	Population
1	New York City, NY	7,071,639
2	Chicago, IL	3,005,072
3	Los Angeles, CA	2,966,850
4	Philadelphia, PA	1,688,210
5	Houston, TX	1,595,138
6	Detroit, MI	1,203,339
7	Dallas, TX	904,078
8	San Diego, CA	875,538
9	Phoenix, AZ	789,704
10	Baltimore, MD	786,775

The 1980 Census

Cost	$1.1 billion
Cost per Capita (cents)	486.5
Total Pages in Published Reports	300,000
Number of Enumerators	458,523
Census Bureau Director	Vincent Barabba
Number of Questions on the Questionnaire	19
Number of Questions on the Long Form	52

Pop Culture

On April 12, 1980, the United States Olympic Committee voted to boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Mark David Chapman murders John Lennon outside the Dakota Hotel in New York City, NY, the evening of December 8, 1980.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana marry at Westminister Abbey on July 29, 1981.
The musical Cats debuts on Broadway, October 8, 1982. It would hold the record for most performances (7,484) until surpassed by The Phantom of the Opera in January 2006.
Apple Computer® launches its Macintosh computer in 1984.
The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 74 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986.
Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express wins the 1986 Caldecott Award.
The stock market loses 22.6 percent of its value on "Black Monday," October 19, 1987.
Sylvester Stallone stars in 1988's Rambo III following the success with Rambo: First Blood (1982) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985).
Best selling author Tom Clancy concludes a successful decade with the publication of Clear and Present Danger in 1989. The book follows previous bestsellers The Hunt for Red October (1984), Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot Games (1987), and The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988).