The U.S. Census Bureau projects the U.S. population will be 335,893,238 on New Year’s Day, an annual increase of 1,759,535 or 0.53%. By comparison, just before the nation’s independence nearly 250 years ago, the 13 colonies had about 2.5 million residents, according to the American Battlefield Trust.  

Join us as we review some of the year’s key demographic and economic trends and shifts that reshaped the nation.

U.S. Census Bureau surveys document many changes the country experiences, from increased diversity and how and where we live to the aging of the population and economic shifts. 

In addition to the 2020 Census results and more recent population estimates and surveys, several experimental data products provided near real-time household and business statistics. 

As my second year as director of the U.S. Census Bureau draws to a close, I have been reflecting on all that we’ve accomplished in 2023 – and it’s a lot.

Our success lies in the ability to put relevant, useful statistical data into the hands of the public. This year brought a host of new data that enable communities to plan for hospitals and schools, advance economic development, improve emergency services, construct roads, inform businesses looking to add jobs and more. Did you know Census Bureau data guided more than $2.8 trillion in federal funding distributed to states, communities, tribal governments and other recipients in FY 2021?