Maricopa County added 56,831 residents between July 2021 and June 2022, the largest population growth for a county in the nation, with an estimated 4.5 million residents last year - the second straight year the county led the nation in population growth. Read more»

Though the Census Bureau released its first round of official 2020 population corrections in January, many states and cities still await action - and the biggest cases in the largest cities are still pending, especially affecting areas with larger populations of racial minorities. Read more»

Any last hopes of resurrecting the expanded child tax credit as part of Congress’ massive spending package were dashed early Tuesday when the 4,155-page bill was released without a mention of the tax benefit. Read more»

The Census Bureau argues that its categories capture the heritage of the 62.6 million Hispanics that flourish in the U.S. - but heritage that stems from one of the hundreds of Indigenous or Afro-descended groups in Latin America remain outside of the way the U.S. counts race. Read more»

Voters have a right to access voting information in a traditional language, but only seven Arizona counties are required to offer materials in an Indigenous language - and only five Indigenous languages are covered out of the 22 tribal nations in the state. Read more»

The U.S. Census Bureau will allow local governments to ask for reviews of institutions counted in the 2020 census after problems with institutional counts for places such as college dorms, nursing homes and prisons have drawn 34 detailed complaints. Read more»

Many cities and states say the 2020 census wildly underestimated their residents, costing them significant money for the social services and infrastructure their areas need - and while the Census Bureau has created programs to fix the errors, many say they are not sufficient. Read more»

Two Arizona legislators introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would address the state’s housing crisis by increasing construction of affordable homes and providing aid to the homeless. Read more»

A sharp decline in the number of Americans going to college - down nearly a million since the start of the pandemic and by nearly 3 million over the last decade - could alter American society for the worse, even as economic rivals such as China vastly increase university enrollment. Read more»

Starting this week, communities that think they were undercounted can file challenges with the U.S. Census Bureau - but the so-called Count Question Resolution process only allows cities to challenge mapping mistakes that mistakenly placed people outside of city limits. Read more»

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the achievements of Hispanics in the U.S. And Latinos. And Chicanos. And Latines - and as Hispanic numbers and clout continue to grow, so have the terms to describe people with roots in Spanish-speaking or Latin countries. Read more»

In states that have declined to expand Medicaid to all adults with lower incomes, women of childbearing age are more than twice as likely to be without health insurance as those living in expansion states - a disparity that helps explain the United States’ dismal maternal mortality rate. Read more»

The U.S. poverty rate rose from 10.5% to 11.4% last year, reversing years of steady declines, but that increase in poverty was offset by pandemic relief funds and other benefits, according to new Census Bureau data. Read more»

Many states face increased legal wrangling this redistricting cycle - so far, some 49 redistricting suits have been filed in state and federal courts in at least 22 states, and delayed census redistricting data has been the main reason cited in most lawsuits filed so far. Read more»

One of the country’s most important sources of fresh water is in peril, the latest victim of the accelerating climate crisis and a growing population that, even as the drought worsened over recent decades, ranked among the fastest-growing places in the country. Read more»