Census Bureau releases 2020 apportionment, population data.
The U.S. Census Bureau has completed data processing for the first 2020 Census results. This includes state population counts used to apportion the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states.
Apportionment is the process of distributing the 435 memberships, or seats, in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states based on the apportionment population counts from the 2020 Census. The apportionment population consists of the resident population of the 50 states, plus the overseas military and federal civilian employees and their dependents living with them who could be allocated to a home state.
The Census Bureau held a virtual news conference to release the results on Monday (see below).
While Mississippi’s overall population shows a slight decrease from 2010, the state will retain its four Congressional seats. Whether adjustments will be made to those four district boundaries is still to be determined. The Census Bureau will deliver local data to the states by August 16.
Mississippi’s population now stands at 2,961,279. That is a decline of 0.2% from the 2010 Census, or roughly 6,000 people.
Only three states experienced a decline in population. The other two were Illinois and West Virginia.
The population of the United States increased by 7.4% from 2010 to 2020, and the total U.S. population now stands at 331,449,281. This is the second slowest rate of increase in the nation’s history. The U.S. saw a 9.7% rate of increase in the 2010 Census.
The Southern states increased the most in the 2020 Census by a rate of 10.2%.
Seven Congressional seats will be shifted among 13 states. The average Congressional District population now represents 761,169 citizens, up over 50,000 from the 2010 Census.
In Mississippi, the four Congressional seats represent 740,979 Mississippians.
On the final day of the 2021 legislative session, Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann named 10 members of the Mississippi Senate to the Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment and Standing Joint Congressional Redistricting Committee. They were:
- Senator David Parker
- Senator Angela Turner-Ford
- Senator Briggs Hopson
- Senator Derrick Simmons
- Senator Josh Harkins
- Senator Dean Kirby
- Senator Dennis DeBar
- Senator Brice Wiggins
- Senator Jeff Tate
- Senator Hob Bryan
State statute states the Committees must include the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Elections Committee, and two members from each of the state’s congressional districts.
Speaker Philip Gunn named Rep. Jim Beckett and Rep. Dan Eubanks as Chair and Vice Chair of the House Apportionment and Elections Committee early in the 2021 session.
According to a release sent by Hosemann’s office at the close of session, the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House will call an organizational meeting of the Joint Committees to begin work on redrawing the maps during the off season in preparation for their memberships’ return in January 2022.
Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution mandates an apportionment of representatives among the states every 10 years, based on the state population counts from each decennial census. Congress has apportioned seats based on each decennial census from 1790 to 2020, except when members could not agree on how to reapportion seats after the 1920 Census.
You can watch the 2020 Census announcement from today below.
Frank Corder
