The Basics
 
We all know that the Census is the decennial (every ten years) count of the US population. There are two main ways the government counts national population data: the census, which occurs every ten years and the American Community Survey (ACS) which is gathered every year. 
 
Most federal funding from Medicare to education is determined by formulas using some part of the count. In reviewing the impact of the 2000 Census, the GAO found that” 85 percent of federal government obligations in grants to state and local governments were distributed on the basis of formulas that use data such as state population and personal income.”  Much of the stimulus package going to states and locals will use this data as a guide. Some more common place examples:
 
School funding is based on several factors including the number of school aged children in the district. This means that counting families accurately is critical to ensuring adequate funding. State funding for Medicare is allocated according to a formula that relies on calculations that include state per capita income divided by US per capita income – data derived by the American Community Survey.   This means that the bigger the difference between your state’s per capita income and the nation’s, the more resources. The fewer low income people counted, the fewer the resources. The same goes for calculating affordable housing costs. Most jurisdictions use local median income to determine affordability. Where do the income figures come from? You guessed it: ACS and the Census.
 
Census data is also used to draw political and geographic boundaries. Of course, the fight for congressional seats is the most famous aspect of this use of the census. By law, there can be only 435 Congressional seats. The number each state gets in the House of Representatives is reviewed after the Census results are in and a new plan is drawn up to reapportion or redistrict seats according to shifts in population. Each of the two major parties vie for redistricting plans that place them in the strongest position for building electoral power. Small shifts in district lines can dramatically affect a community’s voice at the federal level.   Reapportionment plans can help consolidate communities so that they have a better chance of electing representative officials, or isolate them as marginal minorities of districts where the majority of residents have little common ground. Beyond Congressional lines, census tracts are used to draw school districts, county lines, community development districts and more. Counties will review population changes and, in some cases, attempt to annex unincorporated areas or independent cities (cities not incorporated into a county) in order to boost their population figures.  
 
Another tactic counties have increasingly looked to for increasing population is prison construction. Offenders are now counted where they serve so jailing counties not only make money from the prison industry, they get more power and electoral clout, too.
 
There are at least four primary organizing handles to consider in census work:
 
1)    Watch the count/Watch out for our folk
2)    Make sure we count
3)    Change the count
4)    After the count: win better funding formulas and political maps